[geoff's two cents]

Yes and no in my opinion, adam. It's kind of a chicken and egg question, isn't it? Given that the Gore is probably the nicest place in the core to spend time without spending money, I can't picture those without money just up and moving on their own. Given the demographic downtown, I would think this would make the gentrification process more gradual than it might be in a city with less endemic issues with poverty. What will happen first? Will people who don't spend money find somewhere else to go (if there is, indeed, anywhere else for them to go), or will businesses and/or the city take the initiative in displacing some of the less reputable businesses that line the city's main commercial corridor? How would LRT play into this?

Don't get me wrong - I think LRT is great, possibly the best thing the city could do to help itself. It would be probably the most significant transportation decision made since that which changed the roads to one-way.

I don't think good public transit will solve every problem afflicting the core, however. Most of the people I know in town (mid-20s people at that) still adhere to what I would say are outdated notions of what downtown Hamilton is - in fact, what urban life anywhere amounts to. They prefer the more sanitized neighborhoods in Westdale, Oakville, Ancaster, Dundas, even Burlington. Even downtown Toronto doesn't fare too well (Fortunately, I also know people who do not adhere to this model). In general, most I've met have ideas about the city (as scary, unsafe, etc.) that were current in other major urban centres like New York and Vancouver twenty years ago, that have long since been displaced by much more upbeat notions of city living. I don't know exactly why this is. . .

Granted, there will likely always be at least some people who prefer the suburban lifestyle, but until a large proportion of citizens change their mind about the city (and about urban life generally), and there's actually a sizable market for downtown living in market (not social housing) condominiums, I think many of the issues we see today are going to be around for awhile. Maybe there's still something of a GTA-suburban psychology here, even though Hamilton is itself a large urban area on its own - I don't know. Let's hope LRT plays a huge role in changing this mentality, but it can't do that on its own.