Postcards are displayed outside a shop along the Royal Mile in Edinburgh, Scotland. The contrast between the capital and Kilmarnock is startling and highlights the wide social divide among Scots ahead of a September 18 referendum when Scottish residents will decide whether to leave the United Kingdom after more than 300 years to become an independent country. Suzanne Plunkett / Reuters
A busker plays the bagpipes on Princes Street, the main shopping street in Edinburgh. Suzanne Plunkett / Reuters
A pedestrian walks along King Street, the main shopping street in Kilmarnock. Suzanne Plunkett / Reuters
Pedestrians walk along the Royal Mile, a busy street which runs from Edinburgh Castle to Holyrood Palace, in Edinburgh. Suzanne Plunkett / Reuters
Pedestrians walk past a row of flats across from the former site of the Johnnie Walker distillery in Kilmarnock, Scotland. Suzanne Plunkett / Reuters
Demolition work takes place on the Howard Park Hotel in Kilmarnock. Suzanne Plunkett / Reuters
A man leaves the Burns Monument Centre in Kilmarnock. Scottish poet Robert Burns grew up near Kilmarnock and his first book of poetry, “Poems, Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect”, known as the Kilmarnock volume, was published there. The Burns Monument Centre houses many of Burns’ rare texts and local history archives. Suzanne Plunkett / Reuters
A woman walks her dogs outside Dean Castle in Kilmarnock. Suzanne Plunkett / Reuters
British and Scottish flags fly outside the Lloyds Banking Group’s Scottish headquarters in Edinburgh. Suzanne Plunkett / Reuters
A busker plays the accordion on King Street, the main shopping street in Kilmarnock. Suzanne Plunkett / Reuters
Souvenir merchant Steve Wright poses outside his shop, Clans of Scotland, in Edinburgh. Mr Wright, who plans on voting “Yes” to independence, says he thinks “The word ‘no’ should not be in the Scottish vocabulary this year.” Suzanne Plunkett / Reuters
While Edinburgh has an air of prosperity with residents unwilling to risk the changes independence may bring, it is a different story in Kilmarnock - recently named in worst place in Scotland to live - where unemployment is high and discount stores dominate.