as an artist I find the food places popping up are too expensive for too little food, esp. on king william st, (40 bucks for what classifies as an appetizer, a regular drink and a dessert? Come on) and that there are too many artists in the city and not enough people willing to lay down big prices to buy art. It's one reason I branched out into toronto as well to showcase my work.
As for good things to do in the city - you can basically hike for miles and miles all over the place if you know all the right paths - hamilton is wonderful for its natural beauty