[davidcappi]

I guess sometimes I just get a little tired of people thinking every building in Hamilton is AmAzInG but it also has to do with my own bitterness and now generally jaded feeling towards the city.

I was pretty fortunate to get to visit a lot of places all over Ontario at my previous job and I got to see a lot of city cores and downtowns, and by comparison Hamilton has one of the most unimpressive remaining collections of historic buildings in the province. This isn't so much a criticism as it is an observation. I was amazed to see that places like Windsor and London had managed to hold on to more substantial buildings, including generally better modernist buildings during the 50s-70s boom.

Toronto and Hamilton in spite their differences share so many similarities when it comes to built form and urban geography that it's hard not to see the two as linked. Hamilton can learn a lot from Toronto when it comes to policy, planning, and especially architectural conservation, but it's unlikely that will happen until the (contagious) bitterness and desperation for an identity figures itself out.

So until then I'm gonna continue to draw parallels based on the way I experience Hamilton and I'm sorry if that makes some people feel insecure.