flar

[CaptainKirk]

In late spring, the Real Estate Investment Network, Canada’s top real estate research organization, delivered a report that put smiles on the faces of many locals. Entitled Top Ontario Investment Towns 2011-2015, the report analyzed hundreds of cities and towns and pegged Hamilton as the top city for real estate investment opportunities. (The scoring was an upgrade from a similar five-year ranking in 2009, when Hamilton took second spot behind K/W and Cambridge’s Technology Triangle.) But where to buy? We looked to Aaron Segaert, a selftaught photographer and longtime civic booster, for some thoughtful direction.

While Segaert was holed up at McMaster, laying the groundwork for a doctorate in sociology, he was also making a name for himself in another community. That name, Flar, was an online identity that is, elsewhere, an acronym for “fl ash-augmented reality” – linguistic kismet that hinted at a passion for photography, specifi cally targeted toward the urban landscape.

Read the entire article http://www.hamiltonmagazine.com/site...d'%20Hoods

[ue]

Very cool to see the great flar getting some exposure. And now I finally know what his username means!

[ScreamingViking]

Originally Posted by ue

Very cool to see the great flar getting some exposure. And now I finally know what his username means!

Same here.

I think Flar is an exceptional photographer, and his pictures tell some terrific stories.

He's actually part of the reason I started following this forum. A couple of years ago I was searching for material on an urban issue and found related posts here. But then I discovered the Hamilton photo threads. Hours later I was skipping sleep to do a number of virtual neighbourhood tours, and I have been coming back ever since.

[Beedok]

His photo threads help me feel like I'm back in town. Also I like that his username is an acronym for something.

[flar]

It could be four letters at random. Perhaps a bit of journalistic flourish, but it sounds cool.

I actually get emails occasionally from people who decided to move to Hamilton based on the photo threads. My aim was always to dispel the myths about how bad Hamilton is and raise the city's collective self esteem a tiny bit. Around the same time I was posting photos, a lot of grassroots interest in urban issues was starting to gain traction. I like to think I was a part of that and hope it will continue (even though I had to move to a less interesting city).

[matt602]

Yay flar I also joined in part due to your photo threads, and I've showed them to a lot of friends, both native Hamiltonians and otherwise. It's always a treat when you visit and give us a new photo tour. Even more so now that the entire city is changing so much, its fun to go back and compare to your old tours.

[Frankenrogers]

Originally Posted by matt602

Yay flar I also joined in part due to your photo threads, and I've showed them to a lot of friends, both native Hamiltonians and otherwise. It's always a treat when you visit and give us a new photo tour. Even more so now that the entire city is changing so much, its fun to go back and compare to your old tours.

Adding to the chorus that I also joined after finding some of flar's photo galleries while doing Google searches on Hamilton. I grew up on Gibson near Cannon and loved the nostalgia of the north end neighbourhoods that he photographed.

[rousseau]

Terrific article on flar, I enjoyed it. It's always good to hear about the optimism of others for Hamilton.

[mr.John]

Isn't it Dr. Flar now , he's got a phd show some respect

[Dr Awesomesauce]

^Indeed.

It's funny to look back at some of the early threads from 2006 and 2007. In those days, even the most optimistic of Hamiltonians was feeling pretty low about the city's prospects. Remember when the Spec suggested the city change its name to Macassa? Rough times, man. So while the city doesn't look particularly different six or seven years on, attitudes have definitely changed. Hamiltonians are optimistic again. Anyway, congrats to Flar and let's hope we get the Flar treatment again someday.

[flar]

I think Hamilton had pretty much sunk to its lowest point when I arrived in 2002. It was pretty depressing.

[oldcoote]

Kudo's

Love your photo tours, especially the gritty ones.