The City of Brantford has come a long way since the depths of a recession left thousands unemployed in the 1980s and 90s.
Businesses are slowly moving in, but the city remains cautious about its economic recovery, as empty storefronts and dilapidated building remain in the city's downtown.
Nonetheless the city is trying to take that negative image in stride, and says it is changing.
City councillor Dan McCreary says "What others would see as impediments with empty storefronts, I think we're starting to see bits and pieces of investment coming in here, and a resurgence in this downtown core."
Brantford's Harmony Square is booming with business and has become a destination for families.
It's a reminder though that as the city grow, issues like crime continue to tarnish its image.
Brantford is frequently named one of the most crime-ridden cities in the country by Maclean's Magazine.
But Mayor Chris Friel rejects that claim.
"Instead of being complimented for actually addressing the roots of crime, actually going after, and getting people to understand and working to resolve the core of this, is we get criticized because of some ridiculous coding system."
Unemployment in Brantford remains higher than in neighbouring communities, hovering between seven and 10 per cent in the last year and a half.
But McCreary says there's more to those numbers, "For everybody that gets counted in the stats, there's two or three likely that miss out because they've fallen off the radar, or perhaps they're working a succession of temporary part-time jobs."
John Whitney, owner of Casey's Welding, says the problem lies in a shortage of skilled labour.
"The amount of available quality, skilled trade guys is few and far between," he says.
The city hopes to deal with the issue as local universities and colleges continue to grow.
But there is another issue facing the city, Six Nations protests and occupations.
Friel says "We are already on the path of creating a cutting edge relationship."
But, while he's confident they're close to a resolution, he's concerned about what could happen if the federal and provincial governments interfere with the process.
"So this'll be a relationship between our municipality and with Six Nations that would be a model for the rest of Canada to follow."
Friel believes it's all about listening to what both sides want, but McCreary insists that Six Nations have to be on board for it to work.
"What the City of Brantford will be expecting is something in return, which is to have a unified voice out there to discourage folks from coming here and acting up on construction sites, and driving away the investment that we need to better this economy."
One of the biggest problems, McCreary says, is people dwelling on the city's past issues.
"I think what we're going to do is take good advantage of some of these people that have moved here from say, Mississauga or Toronto, because they love the lifestyle. They ignore the stigma that's been attached to Brantford, which is justified in the past, but we're well beyond that now."
Coming up in part three: How Brantford continues to transform itself into a 21st century city and why small- and medium-sized businesses are choosing to set up shop there.
