The New Hamiltonians

[LikeHamilton]

The New Hamiltonians

BY STUART BERMAN | PHOTOGRAPHY BY DAVE GILLESPIE | JUNE 21, 2017 | Toronto Life

Diehard Torontonians who’ve had it with tiny houses and giant mortgages are moving to a refuge of space, quiet and $500,000 homes. Why Hamilton is the future of Toronto real estate

For many people, the future of Toronto real estate is in Hamilton. The city has become an oasis of value and space, where properties list for roughly half of what their Toronto equivalents would, where there’s a bounty of detached houses with sprawling yards, where you can get the big-city experience at a discount. The average price of a home in the city of Hamilton is $541,720—a bargain compared to Toronto, where the average is nearing the million-dollar mark. People are buying into something you just don’t get in Oakville or Burlington: the opportunity to become part of a historic city, not a suburb, that’s undergone a dramatic grassroots transformation over the past few years. In the first quarter of 2017, 23 per cent of people who bought homes in the Hamilton area were from the GTA.

http://torontolife.com/real-estate/t...-hamiltonians/

[lucasmascotto]

Is it me or does this article scream "entitled" and "out of touch"? Take a look at some of these quotes:

We’ve found out the hard way that some businesses still adhere to pre-1990 operating hours—like when we promised Ellis a Sunday-night grilled cheese at his favourite Locke Street joint, the Burnt Tongue, only to discover it was closed for the day.

In Bloorcourt, we had an abundance of health food stores, fruit stands and butchers at our doorstep; now we get in the car and head to the nearest Fortino’s. Where we used to hop down to the College Street YMCA for some indoor play time on a winter day, now we drive over to Burlington and enter that parental twilight zone known as the suburban industrial-park jungle gym.

It’s a place where we can get a same-day reservation at a popular restaurant on a Friday night, and where there aren’t doormen with clickers counting capacity at every little bar.

[LRTfan]

I actually really enjoyed that read. I visit Toronto enough to know that big city life is much different than life in Hamilton. By no means did the author trash Hamilton, but was honest and equally honest on the frustrations associated with big city living.
I know the usual social media warriors are going berserk over this piece. That segment of our population has always existed, but thankfully small. They would have been the same ones bashing the Polish immigrants back in the day, and all the Euro immigrants. I have friends from Asia and Africa who have sad stories to tell upon their arrival, but again, in the minority. I have no use for these small groups who consider themselves 'real' Hamiltonians and criticize everyone who wants to move here for a better life. At the end of the day, that is exactly how we all got here if we trace our roots back far enough. I welcome hundreds of thousands of new residents and businesses to our great city. I hope people flock here.

[realcity]

Hamilton has to get over the 'fold up the carpets at 6p,'. I was once in Gore and a family came out of the Crowne Plaza looking for something to do. I directed them to James St. but only (I am assuming) everything was closed. A casino/hotel 24 hours would be something. I still remember the look on their faces "like what is wrong with this City"? It pretty much sucks after 6. I should of told them to take a GO Bus to Niagara Falls... that doesn't sleep.

[realcity]

Seriously... once all the downtown public sector workers leave at 430, with security to take them to their car. Hamilton is dead.

Their is no nitelife in Hamilton. Even in the 90s 2000s there was at least 5 clubs to go downtown. Now we go to Dragonfly in the Falls or many clubs in Burlington. I don't believe you are close to revitilizaion downtown. It still sucks... for 30 years.

[LikeHamilton]

Originally Posted by realcity

Seriously... once all the downtown public sector workers leave at 430, with security to take them to their car. Hamilton is dead.

Their is no nitelife in Hamilton. Even in the 90s 2000s there was at least 5 clubs to go downtown. Now we go to Dragonfly in the Falls or many clubs in Burlington. I don't believe you are close to revitilizaion downtown. It still sucks... for 30 years.

Hess Village basically killed the downtown club. And when the Mac kids go home for the summer everything quiets down.

[king10]

Originally Posted by realcity

Seriously... once all the downtown public sector workers leave at 430, with security to take them to their car. Hamilton is dead.

Their is no nitelife in Hamilton. Even in the 90s 2000s there was at least 5 clubs to go downtown. Now we go to Dragonfly in the Falls or many clubs in Burlington. I don't believe you are close to revitilizaion downtown. It still sucks... for 30 years.

Been going out in downtown Hamilton for over a decade.

Started off at Hess village, the usual Gown and Gavel, Sizzle, Ora, Blu.

While in university did the whole 77/ Dirty Dogs scene.

As I grew up moved on to Augusta, big fan of Radius, Plucker and Galaghers. Absinthe still great for Motown on Wednesdays.

Hess, Augusta James st. still very much packed in the summer. If i'm feeling adventurous ill stop by Liquid Kitty. Feel like some drinks and ping pong I'll head to serve. Something a little quieter I'll grab drinks at Nique or Brux House on Locke.

Been to dragon fly many a times. It was great when it opened 15 years ago. It's past its prime, over priced bottle service, interior hasn't been revamped since its opening.

I don't think a downtown needs an abundance of "clubs" to make the downtown announce its comeback. Last thing we need is a Rebel or Guv in downtown Hamilton where more pills are popped than drinks served. Heck if thats somones thing, 77 fits the bill.

It appears we have differing views. You say in the 90s and early 2000's the downtown had all these great "clubs." Thing is they would have been dead during the day. Now we have patios, bars, pubs that have nightlife but aren't completely dead during the day. Much rather have what we have today. Also the amount of people with disposable income living downtown has increased dramatically compared to 15 years ago. More amenities will come to serve them.

[matt602]

Obviously you're gonna think downtown Hamilton is a dead zone if your idea of nightlife is workin the slots at the casino. Outside of that, Niagara Falls is a hell of a lot more dead than Hamilton after 5-6, especially in the winter.

[movingtohamilton]

Originally Posted by lucasmascotto

Is it me or does this article scream "entitled" and "out of touch"? Take a look at some of these quotes:

Nope. Not out of touch or entitled at all.

When we moved here, I felt just the same about the lack of a neighbourhood high street (old-fashioned term). Main St, near us, is a 4-lane highway deadzone. I have to recreate a suburban experience and drive to shops and a grocery store.

That's not modern city life.

[eatboots]

There is only a relatively small section of Hamilton that is of any interest to people from Toronto, which goes from Dundurn to Gage Park across the lower city. There is very little heat on the Mountain or anything past Ottawa. I'm pretty sure Barton is going to look substantially different in 5 years, Kenilworth and Parkdale, not so much. As for clubs they are pretty passe, it's like being upset that disco's are not around anymore.

[SteelTown]

I find that millennials version of nightlife is different from generation X. Generation X loved going to big venues with huge crowds of people, nowadays I found millennials prefer smaller crowds and like going to restaurants/lounge/martini/oyster bars that stays up until 2am. It's my theory that staying behind a computer 24/7 has contributed to social anxiety for millennials, so they stick to smaller crowds.

[JHikka]

Originally Posted by SteelTown

I find that millennials version of nightlife is different from generation X. Generation X loved going to big venues with huge crowds of people, nowadays I found millennials prefer smaller crowds and like going to restaurants/lounge/martini/oyster bars that stays up until 2am. It's my theory that staying behind a computer 24/7 has contributed to social anxiety for millennials, so they stick to smaller crowds.

Let's counter this:

Generation X (and especially Boomers) grew up in a time where they outnumbered every other demographic or had significantly higher % of population than young people today. Events with hundreds of similarly aged people weren't difficult to find because there were so many of them. Boomers still linger onto this mindset that something isn't happening unless there's a few hundred people milling about. They always loved the large, open spaces because that's what they were accustomed to when they were younger. It's why when all their bars and clubs shut down and never re-opened they blamed their children for not being as fun when really they didn't have enough children to keep those places afloat in the first place.

It's why music festivals are more popular today...when boomers were younger it would have been large arena shows or pubs/bars. Music festivals are havens for millenials because it takes a once annual event to scrap enough of them together to make sense economically for the organizers. You could make money in the 60s and 70s simply by propping up a stage in a bar and getting an incredible number of young people out. Simply not achievable to the same extent anymore

Millenials like smaller, closed-in spaces for a number of reasons (one you may have touchd on) simply because there's fewer of them in total number and being outnumbered by people twice your age who loathe you leads to seclusion in general.

[HillStreetBlues]

Originally Posted by JHikka

Let's counter this:

Generation X (and especially Boomers) grew up in a time where they outnumbered every other demographic or had significantly higher % of population than young people today. Events with hundreds of similarly aged people weren't difficult to find because there were so many of them.
....
Millenials like smaller, closed-in spaces for a number of reasons (one you may have touchd on) simply because there's fewer of them in total number and being outnumbered by people twice your age who loathe you leads to seclusion in general.

That's not right. The millennial generation is larger than Generation X. Until recently, it was termed Generation Y, and before that the "echo boom" as they are children of the boomers. They are greater in number than Generation X, who were at one point termed the "baby bust" or the "baby busters."

I think there's a lot of misapprehension about what years the millennial cohort encompass, too. The youngest of them are in their mid-twenties now. Club-goers now include plenty of members of the Generation Z cohort. They're not a particularly small cohort, either, at least not compared to Generation X.

I'd never before heard that clubs were less popular among young people today than in past years. It always seemed to me that club-going was pretty popular among my cohort (mid-Millennial). But I was never too into clubs, so hmm, maybe I'm not as peculiar in that respect for someone of my age group as I had thought.

[HillStreetBlues]

Originally Posted by movingtohamilton

Nope. Not out of touch or entitled at all.

When we moved here, I felt just the same about the lack of a neighbourhood high street (old-fashioned term). Main St, near us, is a 4-lane highway deadzone. I have to recreate a suburban experience and drive to shops and a grocery store.

That's not modern city life.

What you describe is why we chose to move on from Hamilton. It has plenty of advantages, but we didn't want to raise kids near a "Main Street" that looked more like an expressway (this was near Locke Street). I don't think it's entitled to expect not to have near-misses on the walk to the grocery store.

[bigguy1231]

Originally Posted by HillStreetBlues

What you describe is why we chose to move on from Hamilton. It has plenty of advantages, but we didn't want to raise kids near a "Main Street" that looked more like an expressway (this was near Locke Street). I don't think it's entitled to expect not to have near-misses on the walk to the grocery store.

You didn't have to live near a main arterial road. It's a big city with lots of places to live.

I was on Main Street earlier this week mid afternoon and I never got over 40kph. It was stop and go right through downtown.

[bigguy1231]

Originally Posted by eatboots

There is only a relatively small section of Hamilton that is of any interest to people from Toronto, which goes from Dundurn to Gage Park across the lower city. There is very little heat on the Mountain or anything past Ottawa. I'm pretty sure Barton is going to look substantially different in 5 years, Kenilworth and Parkdale, not so much. As for clubs they are pretty passe, it's like being upset that disco's are not around anymore.

Are you kidding. The market on the mountain is red hot and Torontonians are fueling it. My newest neighbour moving in this week is a young couple from Toronto. The house sold the first day of listing for 35k over asking price. My next door neighbour moved here from Toronto 10 years ago. The value of my house has doubled in the last 4 years. It is just ridiculous to think that they are only looking at the lower city. Speaking to a friend who sells real estate he says they get more interest outside of the lower city than they do in the lower city.

[LikeHamilton]

Originally Posted by eatboots

There is only a relatively small section of Hamilton that is of any interest to people from Toronto, which goes from Dundurn to Gage Park across the lower city. There is very little heat on the Mountain or anything past Ottawa. I'm pretty sure Barton is going to look substantially different in 5 years, Kenilworth and Parkdale, not so much. As for clubs they are pretty passe, it's like being upset that disco's are not around anymore.

My son bought on the east mountain and he has seen the houses on his street go up more than $100,000 in one year.

[thistleclub]

"People are buying into something you just don’t get in Oakville or Burlington: the opportunity to become part of a historic city"

A pithy premise that belies a complex reality. Those priced out of Toronto (or the wider GTA) are looking for all sorts of things, which they may find in any corner of Hamilton. The notion that Hamilton's historicity is limited to the downtown is dubious indeed, and one can arguably "become part of" that "historic city" while living at considerable remove. Or one can choose to live in historic neighbourhoods in Ancaster, Dundas, Stoney Creek, Flamborough, Waterdown etc. To wit: Population growth 2011-2016, the period that has inspired the lion's share of real estate coverage like this, has been strongest in suburban wards. Within the "old city", population growth was stagnant, falling in Wards 1-5 by a slightly larger margin than it grew in Wards 6-8. And this has been the case since amalgamation, with population of the "old city" essentially the same as it was in 2001.

[king10]

new neighbors beside me in lower stoney creek just moved in from Brampton.

GTA residents are interested in all different areas of Hamilton. price being the main attraction.

[Berklon]

Yea, the idea that there's only a small portion of Hamilton that GTA people are moving to is wrong. In my search of homes in the east end of Hamilton/Stoney Creek - I kept bumping into Torontonians at open houses. My realtor kept letting me know every time a house sold to someone from the GTA - which was often.