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sudbury is the drug capital of canada it has two major intersecting highways and the housing was deemed cheap for quite some time and now with the rising housing costs and the lack of people willing to stay to combat the prices caused a major up tick in homelessness. not to mention the place is littered with needles and people literally doing fent folds in front of the police station makes the appeal alot less to anyone looking to build the community by bringing/building a family. lived in and around sudbury my whole life and i can say that its just not safe anymore. at 15 i felt safe and thought i was okay walking through downtown and now when i go passed the tim hortons its just chaos and drugs everywhere.

Amazing video!

Nickel led to the the decline of Downtown sudbury. End of story no further details needed

What led to Sudbury's decline? Miss-management by city leaders.

I grew up in the 80s and 90s in sudbury. It was awesome downtown at christmas. Really magical and busy.

Downtown sudbury use to be booming because it was the only place to shop. Since new Sudbury and 4 corners built up malls ,,,downtown has not been kept up with shopping

Our Federal politicians sold our lifeblood to a foreign corporation, drugs and destitution followed. Our local politicians have made such terrible laws at the local level for example closing downtown business down at six pm to keep crime down? You're not doing that anyway! killing night life and tourism, this was years before the current crime problem. Since I've grown up as long I can remember. We have College's and University's. But a horrible night culture? I don't exactly where the weak points in our law enforcement is, it's easy to say police don't do there jobs, but what about the crown attorney's, local politics should be harder on crime. As I writing this 50-100 people are standing within 100 ft of our police department openly doing and dealing drugs. Even as man I don't go downtown unless I absolutely have too. From my perspective it seems like no one is doing anything about any of this. Of course the pandemic hurt Sudbury but in reality on only sped up it's eventual decline. What kills me, is that we could have a nice city, we have a beautiful lake, the scenery here is gorgeous, but environmentally it's dirty, older buildings run down feel adds to the oppressive "down and out" feeling to every person who comes here. The Fentanyl epidemic has consumed this city's soul. Everyone has lost someone. It would be nice if my downtown did not look like the zombie apocalypse has begun.

Kai, I guess you are way too young to know or understand the history of downtown Sudbury. It was always a $hithole for the past 100yrs. As someone who was born and raised in Sudbury, and has a History degree from Laurentian University, and has done a great deal of research on Sudbury, your impression of Sudbury's downtown is not real. If you have the chance, go to Laurentian University and go to the library and look in the archives. There are a few books that have a pictural history of Sudbury. In the early years, Sudbury was a cesspool. It was full of rats, garbage, and sewage. What little plumbing there was, all the sewage and wastewater went into Junction Creek. They didn't want to build a waste water treatment plant, and the entire city stunk like hell, many people died from cholera. There was a time when Junction Creek was open, can be seen and ran through the city. Because it stunk so much and was full of rats, garbage and sewage, the city council decided the cheapest way to deal with the problem, was to cover it up and continue to use it as the main sewage trunk. To this day, Junction Creek still runs through the city, they just built over it. It goes under the roads, around Brady Square, stays under the roads and comes out down Brady Street after the bridge. Some time in the 80s or 90s, it actually caved in at the intersection of Elm and Paris. Downtown was popular because there was nowhere else to live. In the townships, there were very few people, there were farms and dirt roads. Sudbury was one of the very few places in Canada that was actually booming during the Great Depression. The smelter was being built, there were good jobs, and people from all around the world were coming to Canada and Sudbury looking for work. What happens when you get a lot miners and others making lots of money in a booming mining community, you get growth and development, but you also get a lot alcohol abuse. Downtown had lots of bars, and other businesses, but it was also a place where lots of people went to get drunk, gamble, have sex with prostitutes. Yes, the city's downtown grew, many businesses, doctors, lawyers, and in the 60s, Woolworths build a department store, and later came the City Center (now know as Elm Place) in the early 70s, then a Canadian Tire where the bus station is today. There was no other places to shop. By that time, the townships also grew, but there were no malls, and New Sudbury was just starting to grow as a business and shopping center. During the day, families would go downtown, have dinner, shop at the mall, and other business. That is where people went to see their doctors, lawyers, and other commerce. At night, downtown was also booming with bars, clubs and other forms of adult social establishments. There were drunks everywhere, people on drugs of all types. It was what people did at night, downtown was a place to party and get drunk or high. By the 80s-90s, the townships is where growth was happening the most. The town had their own bars, their own places to shop for cloths, there were good roads, transits to and from the city. By the 80s-90s, there was lots of drugs in town, you couldn't walk down Elm Street without someone asking if you wanted whatever assortment of drugs they had available. There was a time when there were tunnels under the roads so you didn't have to cross the busy streets in downtown, but they got so full of criminals and rapists, muggers, etc they had to fill them and permanently cover them. The building that were built in 50s-60s and 70s were getting old, old fashion, families moved out of the downtown area and moved to the suburban areas of the townships where there was less crime, bigger yards, and a place to raise a family. The void was filled with lower income families and crime increased. It didn't help the city build a bunch of low income housing all around the city core. There were gangs (like the Louis St. Gang) and organized crime. Today, there is nothing downtown for people to do except for doctor appointments, legal appointments or work in those offices. The parking is poor, the buildings are old, (I wont step foot in the Elm Place out of fear it will collapse like it's sister mall in Elliot Lake), and there are junkies and meth heads everywhere. You cant walk down any of the streets without finding needles. You can't go to Memorial Park, it is full of junkies, and people getting drunk and homeless people. However, there is nothing new about any of that. From the begging of Sudbury, downtown was always full of drunks, drug addicts, homeless people, and crime. Sudbury's downtown has always been a $hithole, there are just more people now.

Can we get how Sudbury municipal help community And it's unsuccessful what will be the other resources

I think this topic has been beat to death already. The message from the people of Greater Sudbury, to the sudbury downtown BIA has been clear. Parking sucks! Lose the crackheads! And a lot of what the downtown has to offer can be a bit pretentious and overpriced….. with just these points combined…People just aren’t going to come! We can get almost anything that the downtown offers cheaper, more conveniently, and crackhead-free! Literally anywhere else in town! Oh and you can’t spit in this town without hitting somebody that has been or has an immediate family member that has been booted and shook down for cash in a downtown parking lot. The Sudbury Downtown BIA can make whatever excuses they want for that not being their fault/problem…. Nobody buys that, they could do something about it, they don’t. Believe me the anger and resentment after a booting “poisons the well” for years after!!!!!!!! A close friend of mine suffered one of these shakedowns 10 years ago. In winter, with her two infant children in a stroller. Freezing. Having to find an atm to pay cash to this scumbag tow truck driver. Ask her if she has spent a dime downtown since? And again, Sudbury Downtown BIA claiming they have no say in that?!?!?! No control over that?! The F**k You don’t! 😂😂 keep that status quo downtown. Doing an amazing job you losers🖕🏻

I need that recipe for that WoolWorth's White Birthday Cake. That was the cake.

Drugs and homelessness

I cant wait for Sudbury to cancel cars from downtown. They have a plan to make it car free, add over 200km of bike lanes and remove some car lanes. I used to live downtown in the late 90s early 00s, it was fun then. The mall had a great food court and an arcade, there was so much to do downtown and less cars. Now, you cant have a snack or meal on a patio without choking on exhaust fumes, its disgusting which suck because there is lots of great food downtown. For me its the traffic that ruins downtown, nobody watches where theyre going and youre likely to be hit crossing a street. The homeless arent so bad if you talk to them. Its funny to me how grown men are scared of the homeless downtown yet so many older ladies live downtown and walk around like they own it. Ive seen many just lip smack somebody trying to ask for change giving them a hard time. Then, they walk away.

Its straight up dived into shit there is crack heads all over...some naked during yoga not kidding you uts😢fucked

Anyone remember the crazy old lady at the bus station downtown who used to play tiny cards on her purse for 20+years straight?

What happened to Bonnie-mart, Woolworths and Kresge’s?

Thanks you for your introduction I will come here in few days ,it will be a challenge to me

If you look again there downtown in Europe have apartments and condos. That could help Sudbury. If you go to north York or York Mills in Toronto there busy and again they have apartments and condos.

Don't go downtown it's full of junkies and the cops just watch them instead of keeping our streets safe and it's caused massive homelessness and crime is way up.

A while back businesses complained of lack of law enforcement.

Loved the video, just a couple points I'd like to make, and by all means correct me if you feel I'm wrong. The first, which has already been pointed out, was that it was the City Centre far before the Rainbow Centre. The other, comparing Sudbury downtown designed for cars vs the downtowns of European cities isn't exactly fair, considering many of those cities cores were developed centuries ago, not just decades, with no concept of cars at the time. There's a reason that they're different, and it's hard to fault them for THAT (they're are many other faults you can find anyway)

Hmm Sudbury not being business friendly…the absurdly high taxes…..all the people all on hard core drugs walking around and harassing people for money the homeless going to the bathroom in plain site …and the city doing nothing about it needles all over the place …the city infrastructure is garbage…roads are deteriorating….the city politicians are grossly over paid and do nothing but line there pockets…..work hand and hand and get major kick backs from the contractors …Sudbury needs a major clean up way too many friends helping friends get some really good and powerful jobs …..all of the city politicians need to be removed cleaned up and new people need to be put in ….from city workers to the police ..fire departments etc etc etc etc …I’ll tell you this if I was mayor I’d turn this town upside down clean it up and then move on to prime minister and clean up Canada and make it the best country in the world

I grew up in the Sudbury area, but moved away for better career opportunities. What happened in downtown Sudbury has happened in many areas in Ontario. Kitchener was the place to go, when I moved to Cambridge, but Cambridge grew because a lot of people found housing cheaper …so, big box stores sprung up in Cambridge, and we didn’t have to leave town to do all our shopping. Kitchener adapted to try to stay relevant, and has done ok in that respect. Needs change. Busy lives, the price of gas, two working parents mean we have less time to drive to a town centre 20 minutes away. Change is good, if it’s done right.

The two year long INCO strikes in early 1980s and later 1980s were two massive economic blows to the place went from over 100K in population to mid 86,000 people. That’s when I had to go.

Nicely done, great place to grow up in during the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. Left here in 1980s, but always want the best for this place.

Sudbury is a strange place, I lived there for 18 years and thank the good Lord above that I left that one horse town 14 years ago. It's a city in the middle of nowhere full of bars. I'm from Kingston, Ontario and their downtown core is amazing because it's a city with people who have intelligence. Visit Kingston and you'll see a stark difference.

Miss you Rainbow Cinemas

When walk through downtown there’s always some druggie nodding off on the curb somewhere. Great views. Wish I saw that old Sudbury lol.

I’m a life long resident of Capreol; a small community that was amalgamated into the GCS in the early 2000’s by the Mike Harris government. My experiences echo much of what has been documented here. However, due to work responsibilities I travel across Ontario and find the downtown cores of other major cities in the same state of decline. This is not just a Sudbury problem, it is a societal one. It’s our responsibility along with that of elected government officials to identify core issues and introduce policies to reverse these trends. Unfortunately any fact finding mission on why downtown cores have fallen in to such decline will surely find opposition. Sadly, many of the so called “progressive” social experiments of the last half decade have contributed greatly to the current state of decline across many downtown cores.

There is ONE reason why people stopped going downtown: People don't want to pay for parking and they are too lazy to walk. Plain and simple. Now they can drive right up to a big box store and park for free. And then complain that downtown is dying. No one else to blame but YOU, dear Sudburian. Enjoy your free parking while you get the kind of downtown you deserve.

I hope your talents, your inquisitiveness and your initiative take you on a fantastic journey called life!

Congratulations on producing a great documentary. I suspect you have taken a few media and journalism courses. I lived in Sudbury for the first 18 years of my life and left in 1962. I attended Sudbury High School from 1958 to 1962. They were the most miserable years of my life. If you talk to French Canadians who attended that school during those years you will be shocked at the stories you will hear.

Well done 👍

YOu gotta get a better mic dude

Worthless video, you don't even know what city hall looks like. You showed a nuclear plant and insinuated it was INCO. And your street view videos of downtown were probably taken during Covid. Yes things are changing but its not only a Sudbury problem. Your drive up Elm St at 2:55 is not typical and you know it so shame on you.

Sudbury is still great, but economic decline in the area and the nation as a whole has hurt Sudbury. The downtown in particular is full of crime, homeless and of course drugs...all symptoms of economic decline...

This is so well researched and put together, fantastic job!

It’s a zombie apocalypse down here

Quite clear. Most of councilors in Sudbury are not business people,,,,, no experience in budgets, planning etc etc ! Until that changes,,, Sudbury stays the way it is perceived by the outside population ?

Big box stores and cars kinda ruined everything about well everything

The city council is too absorbed in spending money on stupid expensive projects and should be spending on roads and dealing with homeless and derelict buildings. Sudbury looking very shabby. Council ( many are useless) should realize that tourists come here to go fishing, hunting, skidooing, canoe tripping etc not visiting arts centre, entertainment districts or watching hockey. money should be put in to the out lying rural towns. Tourists avoid sudbury and go to espanola. A much cleaner, nicer and safer city.

Informative and helpful, thanks.

Great video man! If you ever want to work on something together here in Sudbury, get it touch!

Greed, nepotism and a healthy criminal underbelly has transformed Sludgebury into an even larger mess. This place was beautiful and busy at one time.. ..then crept an in crooked money that got washed through the downtown Chamber Of Commerce to the benifit of a small few.. ..be a cool documentary to do..example Interpaving with its mafia ties shorting the aggregate in the roads is why the roads so crappy..

In the 1970s, Sudbury produced one of Canada's greatest progressive rock bands, CANO. The band's leader, André Paiement, was also a brilliant playwright, who wrote plays that celebrated the city and were written in colloquial Northern Ontario French. CANO played a direct and important role in creating Sudbury's two important festivals: Northern Lights Festival Boréal and La Nuit sur l'étang.

For me it's all about the parking. You have to pay ridiculous amounts for parking now. Yes, I know of the "few" places that you could park for free but it's such a struggle, even PAID parking spots are difficult to find and the mall is a ghost town. In New Sudbury, it's free parking EVERYWHERE so I don't even bother going downtown anymore.

I used to live in Sudbury about 10 years ago and I know this lady I remember her she came to my business she probably don’t remember me

I left Sudbury in 1989 for Vancouver where the downtown is vibrant. It's vibrant because 80,000 people live in the downtown core. You are right that Sudbury's low density and sprawl has led to the downtown decline. I returned to Sudbury 24 years later and noticed a deteroriation of the downtown but I made it a point to try and patronize businessess there. I also supported keeping the Arena downtown. Sadly It's of course a bit of a chicken and egg argument but if people don't support their downtown it dies.

We let all the small down out cast fiends come here and populate the core.. just get the drugs dealers and then relocate and treat the homeless. Rehab centers is what we need.

How about a Sudbury Saturday Night