Twilight of the Industrial Age

[mrherodotus]

I've been to Hamilton several times, yet I've never seen this area.

[ikcyzrteip]

A couple of these pics remind me a little of East Chicago, Indiana.

[Boris]

What the? Is this Canada.

Looks like you get a hard on for old 70's cars eh?

Loved the bird shot.

[Winnipegger]

Wow. Those shots were simply amazing. It caught a perfect glimpse of how...how...I can't even describe it. Those are beautiful shots.

[Urban Zombie]

Damn dude, this is an entire documentary crammed into one little thread. Great work!

[Peter]

It's hard to believe people are actually living in areas that are rotting away like this. I look at these images and wonder if there is any order there at all? It's completely rotten. It's so gruesome, but somehow gorgeous. I would love to see the same area 30 years ago when it was newer and cleaner. Thanks for sharing this photography.

[Raraavis]

I must have been poorer than I thought growing up because all these pictures bring back memories of my childhood. I remember visiting aunts and uncles and playing in streets and alleys just like these with my cousins.

Lots of American cities have gutted old neighborhoods like these. Tearing down the buildings and throwing up small cheap suburban looking homes in their place. It is good for the working class families that get cheap houses but tearing down old houses that match the age and style of a neighborhood and replacing it with cheap poor quality modern houses destroys the character of the place.

[flar]

Thanks for the compliments!

Originally Posted by PA Pride

I can't believe anyone would be suprised by seeing industrial grit in Canada. It's an industrialized country just like the USA with cities, farms, and factories... Why is this suprising?

You'll see grit like this here and there in Canada, but I'm not sure of any other Canadian city that has such a concentration of gritty neighbourhoods and old industrial buildings like this. Canada's industrialization was a little behind the US's, and Hamilton has historically had Canada's largest concentration of heavy industry.

Originally Posted by mrherodotus

I've been to Hamilton several times, yet I've never seen this area.

You really have to dig to find stuff in Hamilton. A lot of interesting neighbourhoods are way off the main roads, this one is in the North End, right beside all the harbourfront industry.

Originally Posted by Boris

Looks like you get a hard on for old 70's cars eh?

They add atmosphere and nostalgia.


Here are the other Hamilton threads I've posted:

Conquer and rule or serve and lose, suffer or triumph, be the anvil or THE HAMMER
Twilight of the Industrial Age
Old school suburbia: A profile of one of Canada's first and finest suburbs
Spring in the Valley: Dundas, ON
Another incredible Hamilton neighbourhood: Kirkendall
The Hammer Lives!
A leisurely stroll through the inner city
A Crazy Melange of Imagery from Hamilton
"possibly the largest concentration of early 20C mansions in Canada"
Five Miles of Grit: A long walk down Barton St. in Hamilton
Old Man Winter vs. Hamilton
"The largest fabric and textile district in Canada"

[raisethehammer]

for the US folks looking at these pics, the areas are not nearly as unsafe or chaotic as they look.
I've seen neighbourhoods like this in the US and am shocked I got out alive.
Here in Hamilton I've walked these areas day or night and don't think twice about it.
I had friends growing up who lived here and have friends today who have families here.
Hamilton is much different than the US experience.
We have about 6-8 murders every year in the city and I'm going to guess that maybe 2 or 3 in the past decade were random killings.
You rarely hear about pickpockets or street muggings in these areas, let alone killings.
If you live in the northeast, come check us out. As you can see from Flar's photos, Hamilton has a bit of everything. And all of it can generally be seen on one 15 minute bus ride!

[Wheelingman04]

There are so many different sides to Hamilton.

[CBBC]

I just changed my opinion of Hamilton

thanks, this is a wonderful batch as it shows the grit and toughness that comes with a steel town.

Hell Yea!

[Ex-Ithacan]

Whoa, sure glad this thread came back to life, I missed the first go-round. Much like hero, I've been to Hamilton a couple of times, and seen flars (and others) threads, but I had no idea parts of the city are this gritty. Amazing tour flar. Just too many stand out pics to comment on. But I will say it looks like 50% Off Liquidators got liquidated. Thanks for the tour (bet I revisit this rascal too).

[Daver]

Yep, undoubtably the worst Canadian city yet. Hamilton needs enforcement and one hell of a lot of it!


yyeeesshhh

[Daver]

Originally Posted by SteelTown

Me personally what I was surprised and I live in Hamilton is how that alley could be so dirty. The city has some pretty tight rules on keeping allies clean and garbage free. Guess nobody in the area has called the city to get it cleaned up. Guess the neighbourhood doesn't mind it.

Poor enforcement, How many By-Law officers does Hamilton have....none?

[cincyimages]

Originally Posted by DC83

Hamilton is probably the dirtiest of all cities in this country (sorry, you know I love you, H-town), and yet it's still insanely clean compared to cities like Buffalo, Detroit or Cleveland (all of which I have spent time in).

Buffalo & Detroit... sure.

I have never seen that much grit in Cleveland. Even East Cleveland didn't look that run down.

That is also the most decay and grit I have ever seen in a Canadian city.

[mrherodotus]

Originally Posted by montecarloss

Buffalo & Detroit... sure.

I have never seen that much grit in Cleveland. Even East Cleveland didn't look that run down.

That is also the most decay and grit I have ever seen in a Canadian city.

I'll be doing a Cleveland "grit" thread soon.

[Evergrey]

best thread ever

[flar]

Originally Posted by Daver

Poor enforcement, How many By-Law officers does Hamilton have....none?

I doubt many by-law officers check on these areas. The difference between my neighbourhood and this one is that in my neighbourhood people volunteer to clean up trash every spring and have a barbecue afterwords while in this neighbourhood people either complain that the city neglects them or don't care.




Anyway, thanks everyone

[wisla_krakow]

Holy shit I'm glad this was bumped.
This is gorgeous, but sad.
Amazing thread.

[BUFFALOVE!!]

Wow I never knew. Love the sea gull photo!