Culture branded neighbourhoods
 

It's a given that Canon and Vine Sts. between James and Bay should be officially designated Chinatown.

Recently i discovered that just east of where Barton Village ends, it could easily be branded Little Poland or Little Warsaw. Barton St from Sherman to Gage.

There's a Polish Credit Union, Polish Catholic Church, Ukranian Othordox Church, Polish School, Polish Veterans Legion Hall, Polish Food store, and a Polish Social Club.

i think its a great idea

What about James St North? Little Italy? I'm sure the Portuguese will be ticked. Little Portugal? I'm sure the Italians will be ticked as well. Little Europe?

Even Toronto's Little Italy is more Portuguese now. They just made Little Portugal a little further down on College. Interesting that that's what has happened here too.

That was my thought as well... I think with the street names (e.g. Corso Racalmuto) and the slightly stronger connection, that section's still "Little Italy".

There's some strongly Portuguese areas along Barton as well with grocers and restaurants and other shops.. they'd be Little Portugal in my opinion.

So you'd designate a Little Portugal from James east along Barton?

Toronto and other cities aggressively brand neighbourhoods. I don't know why Hamilton doesn't do it more? Modern land developers realize the importance (value) in giving a development a brand. ie Meadowlands.

We have; Chinatown (Vine/Canon), Fabrictown (Ottawa), Antiquetown (Locke), Little Italy (instead its called 'Jamesville'), Little Poland (Barton East), Little Portugal, Corktown.

'International Village' to me is a nothing name. I don't know what that means, and I don't know what to expect, or what it promises?

And... I'm know i'm going to take a hit for this but..... "James North" could've been branded (named) something stronger in regards to art. Sorry with all due respect, and with all the success James North and the art crawl have had, I always just wished it was branded something better. But I guess if a brand-name works then who cares what the name is?

I'm excited for Wee Britain... although Little Israel and Little Jamaica should be fun as well.

Five years ago. Now that business seems to be migrating to Ottawa North.

Locke is becoming more Salontown. Not to be confused with Saloontown (Hess).

Would love to have an Uptown for the Mountain. Perhaps a redeveloped Limeridge Mall area or Upper James with BRT or LRT A-Line.

Ok. That's the second time this week you've made me LOL.

Watch out for the Poppins.

For Little Portugal, I was thinking of a couple areas along Barton further east than James with several Portuguese businesses (e.g. wentworth area)

But since James is already known for being Little Italy (as far as I know, that's the more established label, and that seems to be better-known) then better to establish a Little Portugal in a distinct geographical location, especially one that would benefit from the branding.

And here's a geographical parallel: NYC’s Mulberry Street is familiar to fans of the Godfather (the Don’s assassination attempt in I was filmed on Mott as a stand-in for Mulberry, which appears as itself in III) and Donnie Brasco (Pacino's Lefty Ruggiero, "Lefty from Mulberry Street").

Hamilton should brand the Polish area on Barton. It even has two churches and a community centre.
I've always found it strange that Hamilton, with over 70,000 Italians, doesn't have a Little Italy. Ottawa even has a Little Italy with only half the Italian population of Hamilton. Though I haven't explored it fully, Ottawa's Littly Italy doesn't seem very Italian (I noticed some Thai restaurants and British pubs). It doesn't take much for Ottawa to brand a neighbourhood, they have a "gay village" that appears to consist of a bookstore and a nightclub. On the other hand, Ottawa's Chinatown looks decent.

I remember Sheila Copps tried hard to designate neighbourhoods in Hamilton when she was Heritage Minister. But obviously that got nowhere.

Designating neighbourhoods helps to define an area and spurs interest. Which leads to development and a strong focus to improve the area.

Does everyone really think branding parts of the city based on ethnicity is the way to go?

I mean we already have areas branded without mention of ethnicity, i.e. Locke, Westdale, Concession, James North. Why would we want to fall into the trap of ethnicity.

Can't we just brand neighbourhoods based on their attributes and diversity? Start calling it Barton Village, or BV East, or whatever, all the time. Never mention just Barton, or anything else, just talk the brand. Develop a buzz, a cachet, visit the nicer establishments frequently, walk the street, take people there, and perhaps it will thrive.

I agree that, without a compelling logic/history, there's a fine line between profiling and branding. That was the point of my earlier joke.

This highlights the problematic nature of such designations. The majority of the neighbourhood's businesses (landmarks like the Sieu Thi and Tan Thanh markets, Ben Thanh and Pho Dau Bo restaurants, the banh mi shop, D’s Café, Kim Hoa BBQ and businesses continuing up York as far as Locke) are Vietnamese as far as I can tell (yes, possibly even the Chinese BBQ), and if that's the case, calling it "Chinatown" is misleading at best.

Again, James North has its share of ethnic history (thanks in part to the train station) but if you established branded areas by resident population, you’d probably find Little Italy and Little Portugal in the suburbs. (As long as we’re profiling communities, most of the city’s Catholic schools are east of the Red Hill and south of the Linc.)

Yes.
It's a celebration of culture. It's offensive to call it profiling. Saying most catholic schools are east of Red Hill and south mtn is profiling. Ethnic brand neighbourhoods are tourist destinations.

Where do you go when you visit Detroit? Greektown. Or why bother going all the way out to Toronto's Greektown, if not for the branded culture of the area. When you visit NYC, one has to visit Hells Kitchen and Little Italy because they are part of the tourist destinations. Just take a bus tour and see where it goes and what it says about the areas.

I think branding a neighbourhood has economic benefit as long as it's based on an element of truth. Unlike what was mentioned about Ottawa's ethnic areas. That's funny about O-towns Gay Village... one bookstore and one nite club and its contrived Little Italy.

And as far as the brand goes, make it mean something. What does 'International Village' mean to anyone? It might as well be called 'Mustard Village'. The brand doesn't HAVE to be ethnic based, Ottawa and Locke are good examples. But an ethnic brand usually works the best. Restos, cafes, food stores, sport/social clubs and lesser retail and maybe a church usually only make up the neighbourhoods non-residential. How many Italians live on the side streets off College? Probably not a lot. The shop keepers probably live in Woodbridge.

I agree that there can be a destination appeal to a branded area, but what I was getting at (painted most broadly in my "as long as we're profiling" aside) is the tricky matter of who decides what's called what. Would a "Little ____"/"___town" be conferred by the city or invoked by the community? In either case, what would be the criteria for suggesting/reviewing/approving the designation?

This one has always bugged me. Could never understand using a business that's in another neighbourhood (in this case, GS Dunn on Park North & Vine) as the highlight of your BIA's social calendar.

Their name is pretty bland, yeah, but like most Hamilton neighbourhoods, the International Village BIA has changed its business/residential constituency with every generation. That's a hurdle in branding -- having a stable population in a single neighbourhood over multiple generations makes it easier to reach consensus on a snazzy name.