Locke Street

[NuclearNerd]

Originally Posted by highwater

My friends and acquaintances in the arts community uniformly despise holey poley. The gallery owners on James N would never go for it. The only place HP is good for is the parking lot at Limeridge or Meadowlands E.

Dear god me too. Plus, since the paint job will not cover such a large piece of steel evenly, we can expect rust stains streaking down the bright pink and blue columns. Ugh. How did this happen? When I checked the site, the votes looked overwhelmingly in favour of the street poetry (such a better idea!)

[markbarbera]

I completely disagree with Highwater's biting criticism of Holey Poley entry. The poles are nothing like what would be found in a suburban mall. They are specifically designed for visual effect on a more narrow streetface. They have a functional design to them to allow for holding banners and stringing a zigzag of lights along and across the road for various events. Their colorful design and unusual angles are eyecatching during the day, and at night they would liven up the street by casting illuminating ellipses along the sidewalks and neighbouring storefronts. This is ideal for a high street shopping area, certainly not a suburban shopping centre.

The Locke Street merchants have decided against them in favour of embossed words on brass plates forming some kind of poetry along the sidewalk. If they prefer brass plates that will invariably lift and become tripping hazards as we progress through a few Canadian winters, than so be it. The whimsical holey poley can be appreciated on a more upbeat, funloving stretch of the city.

[markbarbera]

Nuclearnerd Locke merchants have discarded the vote that did not support their preferred choice of art and have gone with the sidewalk poetry. Notwithstanding, the holey poley's coating would be similar to that which coats streetlight standards. Rusting would only theoretically happen on a poorly coated pole.

[highwater]

Originally Posted by markbarbera

The whimsical holey poley can be appreciated on a more upbeat, funloving stretch of the city.

Every artist and gallery owner I know hated holey poley. Good luck finding an 'upbeat', 'fun loving' stretch of the city that doesn't include the arts community.

[adam]

Holey Poley belongs in Disney World - but ONLY in the under 10 section. It is too "whimsical" (as markbarbera so kindly puts it) for any other group. Fortunately, I don't think there are any store owners in this age category to support it in any area. (Thank goodness)

[NuclearNerd]

adam and I are maybe being a bit too harsh. Holey Poley is the result of somebody's vision and I don't want to go so far as to insult the artist. Your description of the lighting effects has even made me give it second thought. But I still prefer the concrete poetry proposal, not because it's more subtle, but because it has more depth. It rewards people who interact with the street. It is also compatible with future art works, so if we want to do something as daring as Brussels, we can add it later.

[FRM]

i am not an artistically minded person very much, so i will agree with the arguments against holey poley. However i wish there were a better alternative than a bunch of words placed across the sidewalk. Most visitors to locke won't probably even notice or care.

[highwater]

Originally Posted by NuclearNerd

But I still prefer the concrete poetry proposal, not because it's more subtle, but because it has more depth. It rewards people who interact with the street.

Bingo! Couldn't have said it better myself.

I admit I was being a bit snotty when I suggested holey poley belongs at a mall or power centre, but I was giving it a little more thought this morning, and the more I think about it, the more I think it would be a great addition to Meadowlands E. ME is a power centre masquerading as a village. They've made an attempt at a village feel with winding streets, and some retail immediately adjacent and opening to the street. It's a bit cargo cultish in that it apes some of the outward trappings of dense, established neighbourhoods while missing their essence, but it's a nice try, and it's definitely 'upbeat and fun-loving'. Plus the empty, clutter-free space would give holey poley more room to breath, hence more opportunity to appreciate the lighting effects.

Why should the lower city get all the art? We should spread the art around just like we should spread social services.

[adam]

In all honestly, I think Holey Poley might also look nice in a park.

[SteelTown]

City wants to cash in on parking
Plan would raise fees, install meters on Locke, Ancaster and Stoney Creek

January 07, 2010
Ken Peters
http://www.thespec.com/News/Local/article/698398

The meter is running out on free on-street parking on Locke Street and Hamilton’s suburban downtowns.

City staff want parking meters installed on the trendy west Hamilton commercial street as well as in Stoney Creek (King Street), Ancaster (Wilson Street) and Waterdown (Dundas Street).

The city also wants to bump on-street parking meter rates to $1 per hour city-wide, up from the 50 cents per hour charged for most streets and the 85 cents an hour rate in Dundas, the only suburb that now has metered downtown parking.

The city has close to 3,000 parking meters.

The meter rate hikes are expected to add $800,000 a year to city coffers. Putting meters on the four proposed streets would generate another $650,000, including more than $150,000 from Locke Street alone.

Hamilton politicians are set to consider the recommendations next Monday.

If approved, the new meters and rate increase would go into effect July 1.

Tony Greco, chairperson of the Locke Street Business Improvement Area, said he has been battling to keep meters off the commercial street for close to 30 years.

He would prefer to see the city beef up enforcement of the bylaw permitting a maximum of two free hours of parking.

Barring that, Greco, who has had a hairstyling shop on Locke for 42 years, would like to see the city provide a parking lot for area shoppers.

“This is such a unique place and we don’t want to lose that,” he said, adding that charging for parking on metered streets is likely to result in shoppers parking on residential streets instead.

Hamilton Councillor Brian McHattie, who represents Locke Street, hopes to convince his colleagues to provide a parking lot in the area in exchange for the paid parking on the street.

“I only support it (paid parking) if there is an off-street lot,” he said. “The two have to go hand in hand and have to go simultaneously.”

McHattie said it could be two years before a parking lot is provided.

Two suburban councillors support the meters.

Stoney Creek’s Maria Pearson sees it as a matter of fairness given that paid parking in the old city and Dundas subsidizes the other areas.

And Ancaster’s Lloyd Ferguson said he is leaning towards supporting the Ancaster BIA, which has voted unanimously to support the meters on Wilson Street.

“Parking is in such short supply that the merchants want the turnover. I suspect the general public will not like it. But I have not heard anyone say they are strongly opposed to it,” Ferguson said.

Prior to the 2001 Hamilton amalgamation, local municipalities operated their own parking programs.

City staff say the average fee for one hour of parking in Ontario is $1.46.

[highwater]

Wow! Three cheers for Pearson and Ferguson.

Greco's out to lunch. Shoppers already park on the residential streets because the spots on Locke St. are all taken because of the unlimited parking. Locke St. needs meters for the turnover more than it needs a lot. And just where will they put this lot? I can't think of any vacant lots in the area.

[markbarbera]

Back in September, the Ec Dev committee passed Brian McHattie's motion to ask staff to explore parking lot options for Locke, including assessing the level of interest in adjacent property owners to lease or sell their properties to accommodate a parking lot (i.e. see if a couple houses on side street abutting Locke would sell so the homes can be torn down and made into a parking lot). I don't know where this stands today.

[SteelTown]

Citywide parking fee hikes start July 1

January 11, 2010
Emma Reilly
The Hamilton Spectator
http://www.thespec.com/News/BreakingNews/article/703167

Parking in Hamilton just got more expensive.

City council voted today to double parking meter rates to $1 per hour across the city and install paid parking on Locke Street, and in Stoney Creek (King Street), Ancaster (Wilson Street) and Waterdown (Dundas Street).

The move, which will be implemented July 1, is expected to bring in an extra $1.45 million each year.

The decision didn’t come without a fight. Councillor Brian McHattie moved to delay installing parking machines on Locke Street until a city-owned parking lot is up and running in the area. That motion lost on a tie vote after council learned it could take up to two years to open the new lot — a decision McHattie called “very, very disappointing.”

“Any time you work hard as the ward councillor to find a compromise solution and your colleagues don’t support you, you feel betrayed,” he said.

The city is still moving forward with plans for at least one parking lot off Locke.

[highwater]

RTH writer Ted Mitchell just posted this over at RTH:


Let's do math!

On MLS, close to Locke: 275 Main W $200,000 for 1450 sq feet lot, 90 Locke $490,000 for 3450 sq ft lot. Both examples are within 3% and average $140/sq ft.

Let's assume the buildings are 50% of the value, unimproved lot the other 50%. The lot is then valued at $70/sq ft. That's $3 mil/acre, sounds large, but this is prime retail.

Assuming parking area = empty lot area for value, the average parking space is 320 sq feet (wikipedia). So using the Locke st business area as our reference, that's $22,400 to buy a parking space.

An investment expecting a 10% ROI, 3% inflation, net 13% gives $2912/year in perpetuity.

Charging M-F 8am-6pm (10 hours), that's 2607 parking hours per year.

So, ballpark $1.12 / hour. Not counting pavement, maintenance and density lowering effects.

At $1/hr that's a deal. If Locke has 100 parking spots at 85% occupancy that's about $220,000 annual revenue, like Donald Shoupe suggests, for the neighbourhood.


(The Donald Shoupe he's referring to is the author of 'The High cost of Free Parking'.)

[SteelTown]

Paid parking 'Locke'd in
See-saw vote OKs meters, McHattie calls council 'dysfunctional'

January 13, 2010
Emma Reilly
The Hamilton Spectator
http://www.thespec.com/News/Local/article/703931

For 20 minutes at yesterday's council meeting, Councillor Brian McHattie successfully kept paid parking off of Locke Street.

But by the end of the day -- and after two votes on the issue -- plans to install paid parking on Locke were back in place.

The back-and-forth began Monday, when council voted to raise parking meter rates to $1 per hour and install paid parking in several new areas of the city, including Locke Street.

At Monday's meeting, McHattie tried to convince his colleagues to maintain free parking on Locke until a city-owned parking lot was available in the area. That motion lost on a tie vote after council learned it could take up to two years to get a lot up and running.

Yesterday, McHattie re-introduced his amendment. He argued staff should come back in two months with a business case for the potential parking lot. If the plans weren't moving ahead quickly enough, council could then revisit paid parking.

To his surprise, his amendment passed 9-6.

"I was expecting to lose," he said.

However, after McHattie's victory, the mood began to turn against his proposal. Councillor Maria Pearson argued the decision left a door open to maintain free parking in other areas of the city. Councillor Bob Bratina -- who initially voted in favour of McHattie's plan -- said he made a mistake in supporting the amendment.

"This is a political game to show people 'I fought the good fight,'" Bratina said.

Some councillors said they would vote against installing paid parking in any new areas of the city if Locke Street kept free parking.

That prompted McHattie to call for a new vote on his amendment -- the third in two days on the same issue. This time, however, he was the only council member who supported free parking on Locke.

"It was just pandemonium and chaos," he said, adding that council is " fundamentally dysfunctional."

He also argued that his amendment failed because other council members were threatened by the compromise he worked out with area residents.

"If other councillors haven't thought about it for their areas they get jealous," he said. "There's a lot of pettiness that occurs at city council. These guys think I'm playing the games they play."

[highwater]

Strong words from McHattie. When I read this this morning, I couldn't help wondering if he's not running again. Certainly sounded like some bridge burning.

[Jon Dalton]

Ridiculous. I have to say I'm 100% against McHattie on this one and I visit locke regularly. Can anyone name any decent retail street anywhere else that has no parking meters? Free parking is, at best, a last ditch effort incentive in districts so far gone that the usual rules don't apply. At worst, part of a vicious cycle. Locke Street is a rare case of a functional (though imbalanced) neighbourhood commercial strip: It's working the way it should. It doesn't need free parking to operate. There is more demand than supply so people will pay for it. This is normal. It's almost like we don't know success here when it hits us in the face.

[matt602]

The part of that article that caught me is how they say it could take up to 2 years to get a parking lot up and running. Funny. Haven't developers knocked over abandoned buildings and put up parking lots in less than 6 months following?

Not that I care either way... 'jus sayin.

[adam]

Businesses along Locke should be clamouring for paid parking. Once someone has put money in the meter, they are more apt to walk up and down the street and discover other shops they wouldn't otherwise have tried.

[SteelTown]

The Locke Street Merchants’ Association welcomes you to the 11th annual Locke Street Festival on Saturday, September 11, 2010!

Each year, the attendance for the Locke Street Festival has increased dramatically reaching 15 000 people in 2009. This is one of the largest and most successful one day events in Southern Ontario.

Over two hundred vendors from Ontario and Quebec will participate by displaying unique wares such as jewelry, crafts, art, pottery and much more. We will have musicians to entertain, a variety of foods for all palates and a festive atmosphere for all ages.

Locke Street is a unique enclave that has become one of the most popular destinations for Hamiltonians and visitors from the surrounding areas who enjoy browsing the wide variety of shops, eateries, and services. For many, this charming area is one to which they return again and again.

Join us for this wonderful festival so that you too may enjoy the day. We are sure that this will not be your only visit!

This event would not be possible without those who donate their time and those give so generously to make this event happen. We welcome new sponsors ArcelorMittal, OLG, and the RBC on Locke... and also thank long time supporters Judy Marsales Real Estate, Mackesy Smye Lawyers, Molson Canadian and Canadian Club.