[Jon Dalton]

I agree that Hamilton's problems are typical of industrial cities in the decline of industry. You could find many examples in the US if you don't think Windsor is a good comparison.

Downtown malls are a mistake of the 70's - one which other cities have taken steps to correct. Now that I'm on such a Quebec City kick, even they had a downtown mall of sorts. They put a roof over a whole section of street essentially turning it into an indoor shopping mall. When they removed it in the 90's and restored the streetscape, it became a very trendy street.

I often wonder walking around Jackson Square, as one cannot avoid it living downtown, if there would be any way to restore the grid of streets that originally ran through it. If they could demolish sections of hallway and lower the rooftop paths to street level we would end up with solid walls of 2-3 storey buildings. Probably wishful thinking.