Adore your core.
 

What would you suggest?

The Spec
Re: Got ideas for improving Gore Park? (Aug. 29)
How to improve the Gore Park area? Make it "mine," in the same way that I consider other parts of the city mine.
Locke Street, McMaster and Westdale, the waterfront, James Street: they're streetscapes or landscapes that I return to repeatedly even though I live in east Hamilton. I imagine that other Hamiltonians feel the same way. Today the Gore Park area is not ours.
We have effectively ceded the park and surrounding area to patrons of discount stores, beer taverns, tattoo parlours, a bingo parlour, fast-food joints and peep shows -- and, of course, to the seedy souls who make the park virtually their second home anyway.
My Gore Park area would include a bookstore, a music store selling classics and jazz, a museum, a sporting goods-running store, a theatre, cafes and high-end restaurants -- and perhaps a few decent clothing stores for other members of my family. It would be a forum for occasional music festivals, art shows, specialty displays, a photo montage of historical Hamilton.
It would be the kind of place I would be proud to show visitors from out of town.
Today I stopped downtown and asked a bored-looking policeman monitoring the park what he would do with it. He offered a "radical" idea: flatten the park, remove the benches and rocks that provide seating for the undesirables.
I surprised myself with my visceral reaction to the cop's plan. Strip the park, I said, and you do us all a disservice. Leave the park alone. Remake the streetscape around it to bring back the area's true owners.
Despite rarely visiting there, some part of me considers the Gore Park area mine. How many other Hamiltonians feel the same way? And how do we turn that feeling into reality?
Maybe a start would be to attend the planned information sessions tomorrow and offer ideas about the city's Gore master plan.
No, not the city's plan. My plan. Our plan.
:banana: :banana:

Even money says the officer's home address isn't even in Hamilton.........

For my money here are some suggestions (some already planned/underway);

1. Move plethora of bus stops out of all the Gore Park area, including all along King from John to James (and Hughson from King to King William). I know the McNab Terminal will aid in some, but I don't think all.
2. South side of Gore Park to be pedestrian focused.
3. Family friendly events in the Park at all hours of the day/evening and different days of the week.
4. Lunchtime events for office workers, i.e. BBQ's, Sponsored Events - jazz, art, theatre, busking, etc., Outdoor Farmer's Market on days the Hamilton Market is not open - Mondays & Wednesdays.
5. Bike racks.
6. Enforcement of loitering & littering bylaws.
7. Encouragement of outdoor cafes.
8. Hamilton BIA Ambassadors out at peak times & events
9. The City of Hamilton to focus their attention to the park with encouragement for employees to get out for special events, instead of hibernating in their cars and office complexes.
10. This is where a skating rink/reflecting pool should be located, not at City Hall.

11. King as a 2-way street, so the park isn't situated next to a highway.

12. How about a non-smoking park? Wouldn't that be progressive, and generate a lot of positive attention for Hamilton on the national stage. It's a good thing to be a leader.

Non-smoking would do a lot for that park - and the whole core.

I read this article a little while back, and I like their idea of having 10 destinations each with 10 things to do.

Okay, I'll offer odds the officer didn't live in Hamilton.

Lucky 13. Public Art with at least one or two pieces that can be changed every 3 or 4 months.

A great list!

Gore Park - Info Session Info
 

September 9th
Noon to 2:00pm
Gore Park (weather permitting)

3:00pm to 5:00pm
Crowne Plaza Hotel, Pavillion A
150 King Street East, Hamilton
Presentation at 3:30pm

6:00pm to 8:00pm
Crowne Plaza Hotel, Pavillion A
150 King Street East, Hamilton
Presentation at 6:30pm

14. Rock solid free wi-fi.

I wonder if we could brainstorm the 10 destinations, each with 10 things to do, around Gore Park. What would that look like?

A few more for the list, though:

15. Permits, a process, and encouragement for quality street artists, buskers, musicians, etc.
16. More recycling/garbage bins within easy sight and walking distance from anywhere in the core - not just garbages.
17. Information about the city's attractions, history, etc. prominently displayed and well-kept.