Not bad for a newcomer

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By Daniel E. Lenart
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Your column (“Cheers to the elites among us,” Nov. 11) wasn't bad for a newcomer to our city, even if you are not one of us.

There are some things you should know about this town, and its largest employer.
London is the most conservative city in the known universe, much to my chagrin. Everyone knows it’s a ‘college town,’ but for some strange reason, we don’t mention it much. There is a disconnect somewhere. 
 
Maybe these numbers will help you understand my point. Eighty per cent of Western's graduates leave the city after they get their piece of paper. At Fanshawe College, however, 80 per cent stay behind when they're done. Those facts speak for themselves.
 
London is more utilitarian than intellectual. Other cities with universities nurture those relationships with internship programs and placements designed to keep youth. Such ‘radical’ planning is not encouraged around here. London City Hall has shown poor leadership towards the higher education of its youth, and those who move here to learn.
 
Many, if not most, big cities in Canada, with big schools, also have a proper housing standards by-law, which would outline minimum levels of decent accommodations; but not here. Why not? I'll tell you why. It’s a dirty little secret. Many private landlords are milking the students for all they can. We call them absentee landlords. Ghettos of sub-standard dwellings surround each institution of higher learning here. No one says anything about it. I guess it’s bad for business.
 
Things might be different if London's population was more than a third of a million. If this was the case, it might possibly raise more eyebrows up on University Hill. It doesn't help much that this place refuses to act like a big city. Believe it or not, we are Canada’s 10th largest in population. This infuriates me to no end, since I moved here from the largest metropolis in the country 36 years ago.

Daniel E. Lenart

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