Neighbourhood revitalization

[fastcarsfreedom]

realcity, the Mothers in the photo was actually on Main East in the Delta vicinity. Post-Mothers it went through a few different restaurant incarnations--not sure of it's present status. Mothers was great--we most often frequently location no. 1, which was in Westdale Village. The original old-style design with the tiffany lights and antiques was the best. Their later attempts at modernizing and opening delivery/takeout only locations doomed them--along came Little Caesars and it was all over. I find it interesting to note that Boston Pizza's success has used what was essentially Mother's concept--minus the decor elements.

Indeed there was a Fortinos in the Greenhill/Kings Forest area--Fortinos was a foreign concept to me as a kid as we spent most of our time in the lower city and it was almost exclusively a Mountain phenomenon at the time. Smaller, traditional format grocers like that have disappeared everywhere--it's certainly not a trend that's unique to Hamilton. It's interesting that the Dundurn Fortinos is so busy--but it is on unbeatable real estate sandwiched amongst King, Main and the 403. Last time I was there it was a dump--I'm stretching, but let's just say much it was heldover from it's original incarnation as Super Carnaval. Is there seriously talk of a traditional format Loblaws on Queen Street? Where? That would be a complete surprise as they tend not to overlap their traditional grocery banners--although there is some Loblaws/Fortinos overlap north of T.O. Most Loblaws growth currently is on the Superstore format. Queen Street could be No Frills--they are making more of an urban push with that format, and although they are franchised, Loblaws generally buys/owns the real estate they locate on.

I have a lot of nostalgic childhood memories--I must say TH and McDonalds are among them--mind you neither proliferated to the degree they do today. As a pretty major treat we'd visit the McDonald's in Aldershot--talk about a throw back--it's was a well-built place on Plains Road surrounded by willow trees--as fast food joints go it was downright classy compared to the junk they throw together today--drove past a few years ago and noticed it had been bulldozed and relocated further east in a tacky looking box. The old-school TH of choice was in Dundas in the York Road Plaza. I remember it complete with red stools, dark red drapes and a cigarette machine. Long since demoed and rebuilt. Spent some of my high school days toiling next door at Subway.

One bit of my childhood nostalgia that survives is Tally Ho. I could get in my car right now and drive 3 hours just to taste that gravy.

[SteelTown]

I remember Mothers! I had a birthday party when I was I think 6 or 7 at Upper Gage, now a funeral home.

[raisethehammer]

if anyone wants some nostalgic Mothers coke glasses:

http://hamilton.craigslist.ca/clt/544617059.html

[raisethehammer]

does anyone know if the current Aceti's Pizza and Pasta House on Main East used to be a Mothers?? It kind of has that look to it.
By the way, the pizza (and food in general) is friggin amazing there.

[raisethehammer]

one of the least walkable neighbourhoods in Portland:

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=146173

Yes, I said LEAST walkable. Yet, living here in the Hammer I would gladly take this vibrant commercial strip through central Hamilton near Gage Park or pretty much anywhere in town for that matter.
I hope you're all noticing a trend in these Portland tours:
- green, green, green
- artistic
- colourful (when will Hamilton start doing murals, neighbourhood signs and artistic paint jobs all over town.
- vibrant commerical districts ...in other words, open for business, and lots of it. Contrast that to Hamilton where we have all the big box stuff and sprawl (just like suburban Portland) yet we have a fraction of the walkable, urban-city vibrancy. The reason I love using PDX as an example is because it's a smaller city than Vancouver or Toronto or Montreal, yet is still downright vibrant and bustling.
It's a great model for Hamilton to follow....if and when we start electing politicians who understand city-building and more importantly, care enough to do the right things.

[raisethehammer]

awesome ideas here...especially parking lot tax:

http://www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/305654


quote:

They also said a parking lot tax of $25 on non-residential surface parking spaces in the Greater Toronto Area and Hamilton could generate $80 million per year.

[raisethehammer]

good report here from Remax:

http://files.newswire.ca/348/REMAX_Decade_Review.pdf

I bought my downtown home with the expectation that downtown area would end up being more expensive and sought after than suburban areas....so far the trends are positive.
Good to see Aberdeen/Aberdeen South go from having less value than west Mount/Dundas to more value. Bayfront area has almost caught up to West Mountain too. Another 10 years and Hamilton will function like a proper city...waterfront/downtown areas being the most sought after with highest price increases.

by the way, I bought my home 5 years ago for $136,000! Would sell in the low $200,000's today.

[LikeHamilton]

Originally Posted by raisethehammer

does anyone know if the current Aceti's Pizza and Pasta House on Main East used to be a Mothers?? It kind of has that look to it.
By the way, the pizza (and food in general) is friggin amazing there.

Aceti's has been around since the late 50's earlt 60's.

[fastcarsfreedom]

RTH--an excellent city to look at from a "renewal" perspective in terms of a vibrant commerical core is Grand Rapids, MI--a city which is fairly close to Hamilton in terms of size and bears some economic and georaphic similarities.

http://www.downtowngr.org/

[DC83]

Art project a good fit for Jerry's


SPECIAL TO THE HAMILTON SPECTATOR

Nicole Macintyre
The Hamilton Spectator
(Mar 11, 2008)

The wrecking ball is set to swing on a historic downtown corner as James Street North continues its arts revival.

The city has given Hamilton Artists Inc. permission to demolish part of the old Jerry's Man Shop to create a courtyard for its new art centre.

"Just as Jerry's was a landmark, we (hope to become) a landmark, a cultural landmark," said administrative director Donna Lee Macdonald.

The $1.2 million project is expected to be completed by the fall.

Philanthropist and businessman Carl Turkstra purchased the property -- a collection of three buildings -- for $385,00 last year on behalf of the nonprofit arts group. Macdonald said the loan will be paid back this spring once the organization has received all its government grants, including $750,000 from the city.

The organization planned to renovate the entire property, but discovered the middle building wasn't structurally sound because of fire and water damage.

A city inspector ordered the building be vacated and shored up. Restoring the 1867 heritage structure would have cost an estimated $300,000.

The demolition and courtyard are only $100,000.

A glass walkway will link the two remaining buildings and allow passersby to see into the courtyard that will be used for exhibitions and arts events.

The project's location at the busy corner of James and Cannon is significant, said Councillor Bob Bratina.

"The traffic going by will no longer see a sad building and a business in decline," he said, praising artists for revitalizing the strip.

"They've brought this energy. Their vision for the street is awesome."

Jerry's Man Shop went bankrupt two years ago after 90 years in business.

[raisethehammer]

they should put a glass facade all along that south-facing wall too while they are at it. It's a pretty ugly one-storey strip.

Great sounding project. Can't wait.

[DC83]

I'm happy to see progress here, but I'm pretty disappointed in the "building wasn't structurally sound" trend with have going on in this city. I understand their limited finances, but c'mon... I'm sure they could have gotten some grants! This Hamiltonian attitude that 'demolition is a sign of progress' is so old and tired.

Let's just hope this project gets off the ground and is a little flashier than what this rendering suggests... I really liked the original:


thanks for Steeltown for this pic

[the dude]

so, these buildings will be demolished? disappointing...and as already pointed out, unnecessary.

i hope the final product will be a little 'artsier' than the drawing.

[raisethehammer]

actually, the middle building will be demolished, not the one on the left.
They were in the midst of renovating the building to the right and beginning work on the centre building when the structural problems were found. It's a shame because it's a beautiful building full of history.
Yea, the new rendering isn't nearly as eye-catching as the original proposal. I guess that's what we can expect until the arts community is flush with cash.

[BrianE]

I'm not too familiar with the history of Hamilton, how old is this building? Does anybody remember the fire that caused the damage?

I'm also not familiar with architectural features. To me this building is lacking in any distinguishing features at all, unlike the building to it's right.

[flar]

The distinguishing feature of the middle building is that it's old. It is basically the "default" style of row in central Hamilton. There are many like it, there were probably tons of them where all the downtown parking lots, Jackson Square, City Hall and all the highrises in north Durand are now. There were probably so many of these back in the day that they thought we would never run out of them. The one pictured above does look to be in pretty bad shape.

[block43]

Originally Posted by DC83

I really liked the original:


thanks for Steeltown for this pic

This was a separate proposal, from a different architecture firm. Sadly, the final product won't look anything like this.

[JT Jacobs]

Originally Posted by block43

This was a separate proposal, from a different architecture firm. Sadly, the final product won't look anything like this.

Does anyone know who the architect is for the current project?

[SteelTown]

^ RF Lintack Architect

[SteelTown]

I like the glass wall for James St but it would be nice to have it all along Cannon St as well. Hopefully they'll have projectors and shine art and stuff on the glass walls at night. They sorta do that during Art Crawl.