The National Post hearts Hamilton

[highwater]

Thanks to Ryan at RTH for highlighting this great article:

http://www.nationalpost.com/story.html?id=961981&p=1

The author is an architect with ERA, the firm that quit over council's move to cover City Hall in concrete. I had the privilege of speaking with one of the other principals in the firm and it's quite clear that they have developed a great affection for Hamilton and are devastated by what council is doing. Our leaders are tragically out of step with Hamilton's resurgence. If only they could see what others see.

[adam]

"The city is one of sharp contrasts"... nicely put.

[emge]

Wow. Well-written.

That article will make sense to Torontonians and help them "get it" --- but for those who don't live in Toronto or another major city, I think the article will fly right over their heads.

[adam]

I think it appeals to the kind of people the downtown needs to attract

[raisethehammer]

I'm going to send it to all of council...not that they'll care.

[matt602]

Excellent article.

[Blurr]

Great read. Thanks.

[realcity]

that's awesome

I like the parts about "Durand being compared to Westmount" I always thought that too, even the geography.

and the part about Gore Park "Canada's finest urban square" and
the little dig on Tourism Hamilton **ahem David Adams** ahem ahem**

o and yea "visit Raisethehammer.org to get a vibe on Hamilton"

[FairHamilton]

Here's the text from an email I received from an old Senior Public School friend who came to Hamilton on the GO with her sister for The Who concert a few weeks ago. It was her first time in Hamilton and she was trying to describe where they had dinner (the restaurant is not important).

It was a street off the main drag (after exiting the GO station we turned left and at the intersection, we made a right) Ruth and I were walking on, it appeared to be very pedestrian friendly

I'm guessing she was in the Gore Park - King William area, and I love how an outsider described it as "pedestrian friendly", and if all goes as planned it's only going to get better.

If you can get the people off the Skyway (as mentioned in the article), they'd all be impressed, and at the very least surprised, by Hamilton.

[markk]

Great article... I would encourage people on this forum to share this link with friends, colleagues, and family to spread some good press on our fair city.

This is exactly the type of marketing Hamilton needs, especially because its coming from an outside voice.

I forwarded the link on to about a dozen people, including several of my friends who think they're hipsters living in T.O =)

[FairHamilton]

Originally Posted by markk

Great article... I would encourage people on this forum to share this link with friends, colleagues, and family to spread some good press on our fair city.

This is exactly the type of marketing Hamilton needs, especially because its coming from an outside voice.

I forwarded the link on to about a dozen people, including several of my friends who think they're hipsters living in T.O =)

Go one step further and share with them the growing body of articles about how great Hamilton is all from 2008.

http://www.thestar.com/living/article/290629
http://www.torontolife.com/features/...own-revisited/
http://www.nationalpost.com/story.html?id=961981&p=1

Now we need to top 2008, in 2009.

Though I wonder where I'm going to live when all the others catch on to Hamilton and need to move to the next up and coming area. Hello Brantford

[oldcoote]

Great article, but perplexing.

I don't see hip kids leading the charge to Hamilton. I think it will likely be young families who can afford a decent house with a yard, close to green space.

Before attracting hip kids from Toronto, Hamilton needs to concentrate on keeping the hip kids (MAC and Mohawk grads) who already live here. It's a golden opportunity missed.

[raisethehammer]

Originally Posted by oldcoote

Great article, but perplexing.

I don't see hip kids leading the charge to Hamilton. I think it will likely be young families who can afford a decent house with a yard, close to green space.

Before attracting hip kids from Toronto, Hamilton needs to concentrate on keeping the hip kids (MAC and Mohawk grads) who already live here. It's a golden opportunity missed.

with all due respect, most Mac/Mohawk students seem to come from suburban 905. I wouldn't call them 'hip kids'. Sure, it would be nice to keep more of them and be able to offer jobs in their field, but Hamilton is so foreign to them. I mean, where are all the huge front lawns and 5 car driveways???

Based on the past few years of real estate transactions and media articles, it seems that artists and hipsters already are leading the charge from TO to Hamilton. It's a common theme in the Toronto arts scene now.

Yes, families are too, thankfully, but I think both demographics have both already started the trend.

[adam]

The James North art crawl has done wonders to attract artists from the GTA to our downtown. And they simply love it. I'm going to go out on a limb and state my opinion that the small cost of the 2 way conversion was a necessary step to make the area useable for the artistic community. A value cannot be placed on what's happening in this area and I hope that city counsel starts taking notice.

Its done the following:
- attracted young GTAers to Hamilton
- attracted the arts community and helped along gentrification (most will see gentrification of the area as helping bring balance to downtown)
- given the city free publicity through word-of-mouth and articles in several newspapers

How much do you think the city would have had to spend to get the same buzz about the city? The city has to keep making our streets more liveable. Some won't have much effect right away, but these things take time and conditions have to be just right. As things happen, the streets of our downtown have to be ready for them.