In the short strop, "In the lower town" written by Norman Levine, the author creates a sense of the area by describing all the buildings, roads, people and how he felt about it. The lower town is a neighbourhood in Rideau-Vanier Ward in central Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, to the east of downtown. It is the oldest part of the city. The author describes this place as a poor place a how it represented failure when he grew up here as a kid. He would try to stay optimistic with current things like the billboards he mentions, "The large billboards standing on stilts in the vast lots with their doll faces and yard long smiles advertising soft drinks, cars, cigarettes, and shoe polish"(Levine). Many of the houses were not built and are described as run down and sinking to the ground. The paints on the wall were worn off and there is trash everywhere. When Levine was growing up, he mentions that there were many French signs and writings in French as the area was primarily French Canadian. As a child, the author explains one street that was considered home was Murray Street. On that street were shopkeepers, small business men, as well as scholars. Levine creates a sense of the religion in the area, "as many of the citizens were Jewish, a few Christians" (Levine). In lower town and Murray Street, it's described as a village. People in the Murray Street have left and know want to starts a new life way for this town, the town of failure.