“It felt like the eyelids had popped on all of these shops!” – Laura Ryan, Hamilton, ON

“There was a lot of vacant storefronts, and you would see people try to open up a business in some of those vacant storefronts, and they just wouldn’t survive.” – Joey Coleman, Hamilton, ON

“That neighborhood, James Street North, was our whole life. We didn’t venture out of it.” – Ron Corsini, Hamilton, ON

“James Street,of course, it was Little Italy.” – John DiLiberto, Hamilton, ON

“It hit me then that I don’t know a soul here.” – Sandra Hudson, Hamilton, ON