royal_progression past there's three paths to take, but let's go up the middle. start where the lake greedily laps against the snow covered shore, exposing the frozen rocks to an icy foam. pass between the hotels whose reach and bulk blocks the city from the shore. the slight incline, the bulky modernism, and the rumble of engines hides the water from sight, smell, and sound, passing a few low lying and low income shops and restaurants. gentrification hits hard and fast, with an intersection pointing towards a rink, a designer coffee shop. we continue still into a district of clothing stores, bars, and restaurants. homeless sleep, curled tight, in door frames and uncaring merry goers pass the gauntlet of commercial entities (ever more the dollar store than the clothing store these days) to get from bar to bar. up further things get weird. clubs predominant. the young, scantily clad, freeze while they clutch id and cover money, ignoring the beggars just beyond the narrow barricade. the kids might be out there for an hour, waiting to get hammered, the poor men and women all night, hoping for charity. quickly tattoo parlours, chinese restaurants and pizza shops claim the street, quickly, too, followed by broader parking lots and car rental agencies. the city spreads out and thins, tall buildings that are never quite at home in this town become anomalies, and where they stand they're surrounded by asphalt. parking lots are the lowest use of any land. ruins rise, charred from fires, collapsing into themselves, ever in the process of their own decay. crack houses and high end private dormitories peak out between shattered roofs and decayed facades. here a construction site, made of match sticks, that burned so fiercely but a year ago, rises again, built to burn, built for the rich young students who pass through these streets in the fall and winter. to more car lots, abandoned gas stations, old stone houses standing bravely against time. discount retail outlets, a head shop, a christian outreach homeless house, a board game shop, sushi places whose unkempt appearance ward off the adventurous. soon bike lines appear, lower lamps, wider side walks. the street remains filled with parking lots but the shops tick upwards, an old dinner and a martial arts centre, a liquor store, and then the vast parking lots of big box stores ever into the distance. 150322 what's it to you? who go blather from