Quote:
Originally Posted by ShavedParmesanCheese
Hamilton was first settled about 1816.
For 82 years it grew as the industrial centre of the province before the first car was brought into town by John Moodie Jr. In 1898. Short line railways supplied those industries with networks all over downtown, as well as the harbourfront. Electric streetcars moved the masses and 3 railway stations - 2 on mainlines - connected the city to the rest of the world. Not to mention the incline railways.
In the 1890s, Hamilton was the 4th largest city in the country, larger than Winnipeg, Halifax, Ottawa, Vancouver, and anything else out west.
Not every city in Canada is Mississauga. We have history, and even the younger cities across the country have decades of it before the car was even invented. Just because it's comfortable to drive, doesn't mean it was always that way.
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I get that. But Hamilton was much much much smaller back in 1816. Choose to face the reality or not, Canada is a car centric country and society. And it pretty much always will be because of how sprawling our cities are (that can't really be changed, they're simply not dense cities). Sure, the downtown centre may become more pedestrian friendly. But bottom line, if you live in Ancaster in work somewhere in the lower city, you're going to be driving.
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