Hamilton's public profile - Page 5

sofasurfer · #81 Posted **Nov 3, 2008, 3:31 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Boomtown_Hamilton

I think the other area here is, generally speaking, Hamiltonians are their own worst enemy. Many Hamiltonians have a very low image and opinion of the city and tend to be negative and very pessimistic.

Substitute 'Hamiltonians' with 'English' and you've got one of the reasons I'm glad to have left...

(Half-)Joking aside, there do indeed seem to be parallels with places in England that are now in the process of rediscovering and reinventing themselves in a post-industrial light. And having seen how such cities over there have fared to date, it feels like something's bubbling under here.

Boomtown_Hamilton · #82 Posted **Nov 3, 2008, 4:27 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by sofasurfer

Substitute 'Hamiltonians' with 'English' and you've got one of the reasons I'm glad to have left...

(Half-)Joking aside, there do indeed seem to be parallels with places in England that are now in the process of rediscovering and reinventing themselves in a post-industrial light. And having seen how such cities over there have fared to date, it feels like something's bubbling under here.

You know something? that's quite all right. If you left because you didn't like Hamilton all that means is that we are left with a higher percentage in town who still live here because they love our city.

The more folks that we have here in town that are happy to call Hamilton home then the more sales people and ambassadors this city will have and that is always a good thing.

The last thing that I want to see happen is someone tell me and everybody else that they hate living in Hamilton....you hate living in Hamilton then fine, get the hell out....would be great if the person who hated Hamilton told us why they hated it so that maybe we could do something about making it better....even better than that would be for that person to stay and help us make Hamilton a better city in which to live, work and play.

omro · #83 Posted **Nov 3, 2008, 12:31 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Boomtown_Hamilton

You know something? that's quite all right. If you left because you didn't like Hamilton all that means is that we are left with a higher percentage in town who still live here because they love our city.

The more folks that we have here in town that are happy to call Hamilton home then the more sales people and ambassadors this city will have and that is always a good thing.

Unfortunately that's not quite how it works.

The people who leave Hamilton, because they hated it, are the ones spreading the word throughout the world.

Case in point.

One of my best friends moved to London from the US with one of his friends, who is Canadian. When I mentioned that some of my family had moved to Hamilton and that more of us, myself included, were going to move there, my friend told me that his friend was from Hamilton, that he had worked hard to get out of the city and carried on saying how awful he'd heard it was.

highwater · #84 Posted **Nov 3, 2008, 3:31 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Boomtown_Hamilton

Hi Helen,

We now know some of the things that you don't like about Hamilton but I was just wondering if you'd like to share with us what are some of the things that you like about Hamilton because there must be something you like about it since you live and work here in Hamilton?

Just curious.

I don't expect you to pay any particular attention to my comments, but if you're not going to pay attention, then you should at least not generalize. Anyone who has been paying attention to my comments would know that I have a deep and abiding love for this city. I consciously chose to live in Hamilton. We were living in St. Catharines and my husband was working in Oakville (my hometown). We could have lived in Oakville, Burlington, Grimsby, you name it, but we chose Hamilton partly because I have family ties here, but also because it's beautiful and we love cities in general, and Hamilton in particular.

The only thing I hate about Hamilton are the people who hate Hamilton. The people who have no regard for it's history and heritage, or its beauty, built and natural, who would gladly pave it over or destroy it to make a buck or save a buck. The people who have no clue how real cities work, and even if they did, they wouldn't apply those principles to Hamilton because their contempt for Hamilton blinds them to the fact that it is a real city. I hate the fact that too many of our political and business leaders have this mindset, and they are actively preventing the city I love from reaching its full potential.

I live and work here because I have hope. I have hope that the haters and squelchers won't do too much irreparable harm before they fade away into the history books, and that the threads of Hamilton's urban fabric will still be there to pick up, even if those of us who give a crap have to pry them from their cold, dead hands.

I hope that answers your question.

ryan_mcgreal · #85 Posted **Nov 3, 2008, 4:58 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by highwater

The only thing I hate about Hamilton are the people who hate Hamilton.

The trick, of course, is to distinguish the people who actually hold this city in contempt from the people who sincerely want what's best for the city but have a false concept of what the city needs.

adam · #86 Posted **Nov 3, 2008, 5:05 PM**

Ryan, have you checked out the Hazel on Hamilton thread? What is your opinion? She says Hamilton needs more diversified industry but says expanding the airport is the way to do it.

ryan_mcgreal · #87 Posted **Nov 3, 2008, 5:20 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by adam

Ryan, have you checked out the Hazel on Hamilton thread? What is your opinion? She says Hamilton needs more diversified industry but says expanding the airport is the way to do it.

My take is that air transport has poor long-term prospects as an economic growth engine.

The global rate of oil production has peaked at around 85 million barrels per day over the past few years and will soon go into a permanent decline of 2-3 percent a year, with exports from oil-producing countries falling faster. Unlike the oil shocks of the 1970s, this peak and decline is geological, not political.

Aviation is a past performer. It worked well for Mississauga from the 1970s on, but that flight, to use a lame pun, has taken off.

Just as building a municipal highway in the 21st century was a myopic, retrograde idea that had long passed its best-by date, throwing our long-term growth eggs into the Mount Hope Airport basket will be an economic disaster at a time when we have the opportunity to anticipate future growth areas and get in early.

Richard Gilbert already gave Hamilton a big hint on where we should concentrate our long-term economic strategy: conservation and production of energy, which will become increasingly important - and valuable - in the coming years and decades.

It's coming on three years since Gilbert presented his paper Hamilton: the Electric City to council in early 2006, and we're still waiting for the follow-up study council asked staff to prepare on how peak oil will affect Hamilton's growth strategy of airport-related development.

Boomtown_Hamilton · #88 Posted **Nov 4, 2008, 12:58 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by highwater

I don't expect you to pay any particular attention to my comments, but if you're not going to pay attention, then you should at least not generalize. Anyone who has been paying attention to my comments would know that I have a deep and abiding love for this city. I consciously chose to live in Hamilton. We were living in St. Catharines and my husband was working in Oakville (my hometown). We could have lived in Oakville, Burlington, Grimsby, you name it, but we chose Hamilton partly because I have family ties here, but also because it's beautiful and we love cities in general, and Hamilton in particular.

The only thing I hate about Hamilton are the people who hate Hamilton. The people who have no regard for it's history and heritage, or its beauty, built and natural, who would gladly pave it over or destroy it to make a buck or save a buck. The people who have no clue how real cities work, and even if they did, they wouldn't apply those principles to Hamilton because their contempt for Hamilton blinds them to the fact that it is a real city. I hate the fact that too many of our political and business leaders have this mindset, and they are actively preventing the city I love from reaching its full potential.

I live and work here because I have hope. I have hope that the haters and squelchers won't do too much irreparable harm before they fade away into the history books, and that the threads of Hamilton's urban fabric will still be there to pick up, even if those of us who give a crap have to pry them from their cold, dead hands.

I hope that answers your question.

Well I have only been a regular poster here the last couple of weeks and was not really too sure exactly what you liked about Hamilton. Thanks for sharing.

Boomtown_Hamilton · #89 Posted **Nov 4, 2008, 1:06 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by omro

Unfortunately that's not quite how it works.

The people who leave Hamilton, because they hated it, are the ones spreading the word throughout the world.

Case in point.

One of my best friends moved to London from the US with one of his friends, who is Canadian. When I mentioned that some of my family had moved to Hamilton and that more of us, myself included, were going to move there, my friend told me that his friend was from Hamilton, that he had worked hard to get out of the city and carried on saying how awful he'd heard it was.

I am sure it happens a lot more than people realize. Whenever I am on the job in Toronto and bring up the fact that I am from Hamilton sometimes I get the odd joke or negative comment about our city but I do something that a lot of other Hamiltonians do not do and that is I actually stick up for Hamilton and start to do my best to talk about all the great things that we have going for it and also do my best to promote it wherever I go. A lot of times people just don`t know what we have to offer them so its our job as Hamiltonians to be ambassadors for the city and let them know and even better is to show them photos of the city... and even better than that is inviting them to Hamilton, like I`ve done many times before, and take them on a guided tour of the city.

It is great if we love our city to the point of pointing out all the areas where we have gone wrong and playing the blame game by pointing the finger in the direction of some of our politicians...but would be even better to also have a balanced approach and include all the positives that we have going for us here in Hamilton in any discussions that Hamiltonians have with others cause with some of the folks here in this town who claim to love the city it just seems to me that all we get from some of these folks is negative talk and not enough of the positive talk.

ryan_mcgreal · #90 Posted **Nov 4, 2008, 1:12 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Boomtown_Hamilton

I am sure it happens a lot more than people realize.

Not long ago, I flew from Tampa to Buffalo. When the agent at the departure gate looked at my ticket, he apologized for my having to pass through Buffalo on the way back to Canada. I asked him what he meant, and he said he had been born and raised in Buffalo and couldn't get out fast enough. Now when he goes back he cringes at how awful it is.

I felt compelled to defend Buffalo, pointing out the breathtaking architecture and the nascent urban revitalization, but he wasn't having any of it. I finally said, "I live in Hamilton, I enjoy gritty urbanism," and he replied, "Ah, now I understand."

It was all kind of depressing.

adam · #91 Posted **Nov 4, 2008, 5:27 PM**

I find it hard to be patient in these situations, but we've gotta keep promoting the city (As you are great at doing, RTH). Things are slowly changing, and its only going to get better from here on in!

Boomtown_Hamilton · #92 Posted **Nov 5, 2008, 5:59 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by ryan_mcgreal

Not long ago, I flew from Tampa to Buffalo. When the agent at the departure gate looked at my ticket, he apologized for my having to pass through Buffalo on the way back to Canada. I asked him what he meant, and he said he had been born and raised in Buffalo and couldn't get out fast enough. Now when he goes back he cringes at how awful it is.

I felt compelled to defend Buffalo, pointing out the breathtaking architecture and the nascent urban revitalization, but he wasn't having any of it. I finally said, "I live in Hamilton, I enjoy gritty urbanism," and he replied, "Ah, now I understand."

It was all kind of depressing.

I love the drive through the Skyway bridge and the view we get of the city from that vantage point especially when the flames shoot up from those smoke stacks and into the night sky. It's a view like no other and I just embrace it. That's Hamilton and that's who we are.

raisethehammer · #93 Posted **Nov 5, 2008, 2:01 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by ryan_mcgreal

Not long ago, I flew from Tampa to Buffalo. When the agent at the departure gate looked at my ticket, he apologized for my having to pass through Buffalo on the way back to Canada. I asked him what he meant, and he said he had been born and raised in Buffalo and couldn't get out fast enough. Now when he goes back he cringes at how awful it is.

I felt compelled to defend Buffalo, pointing out the breathtaking architecture and the nascent urban revitalization, but he wasn't having any of it. I finally said, "I live in Hamilton, I enjoy gritty urbanism," and he replied, "Ah, now I understand."

It was all kind of depressing.

Lol. Good story.
I wouldn't live in Tampa if you paid me, but to each their own.

bornagainbiking · #94 Posted **Dec 29, 2008, 11:31 PM**

Why does Hamilton look so dirty. I know the air quality is in Question but is there no civic pride especially in the lower city. There is so much litter.
Our citizens just buy, consume, and drop whatever they have had. So food wrappers, coffee cups and plastic bottles and cans.
We can keep complaining about the city but is it their job to walk behind us with a garbage can and a stick with a nail on the end. If they just pick up the city park refuse cans.
We should teach our kids civic respect.
I intend this new year to walk the Red Hill trail and carry a shopping bag and bring it home to my recycling.
Maybe we should return to deposit bottles and cans so there is incentive to pick it up.
It is the people who make the city. Talk is cheap so just pitch in, neighbourhood by neighbourhood.

adam · #95 Posted **Dec 30, 2008, 3:50 AM**

Public space has become nothing more than a throughway for cars, so i understand why kids have no civic pride. Its not just kids though, adults have the same attitudes too. In most areas you can see people running across the roads in fear of their lives even when they have the right of way, even in parking lots people routinely run away from cars. Its absolutely ridiculous.

People have the attitude that pedestrians are second class citizens. You don't see trash on the side of the road from your car, only when you are walking. I don't share any of these attitudes and it boggles my mind, but I see it everyday. I can't speak to how to change these attitudes because I don't understand them.

chris_erl · #96 Posted **Dec 31, 2008, 3:42 AM**

That's very true, and it's all a slippery slope too.

If people don't feel connected to their communities, then they don't try to improve them. If they don't improve them, then less and less people feel connected to their communities and little improvement is done.

We need to take pride in our city regardless of how it looks! If we look at the good things about Hamilton and we see what our city CAN be, then we'll begin to love it again, and begin to feel the desire to change it again.

There is still hope, and it lies in our hands!

steel · #97 Posted **Dec 31, 2008, 5:59 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by ryan_mcgreal

Not long ago, I flew from Tampa to Buffalo. When the agent at the departure gate looked at my ticket, he apologized for my having to pass through Buffalo on the way back to Canada. I asked him what he meant, and he said he had been born and raised in Buffalo and couldn't get out fast enough. Now when he goes back he cringes at how awful it is.

I felt compelled to defend Buffalo, pointing out the breathtaking architecture and the nascent urban revitalization, but he wasn't having any of it. I finally said, "I live in Hamilton, I enjoy gritty urbanism," and he replied, "Ah, now I understand."

It was all kind of depressing.

This kind of attitude is common in the expat Buffalo crowd. Their oppinion is born mostly out of ignorance of the city. They were often raised in the suburbs. You will find many with the exact opposite view who would love to come back to Buffalo

rousseau · #98 Posted **Dec 31, 2008, 7:55 AM**

I spent my elementary school years in Caledonia, a little town which is in close contact with Hamilton. I then moved to Hamilton for high school. After that I spent my university and subsequent adult years in other places and countries, then returned to Hamilton just before the turn of the millenium.

My wife, whom I met in another country, appreciated certain aspects of Hamilton, such as the ethnic diversity. We lived in two different apartments in the Durand neighbourhood over the course of four years. But the pollution in the air consistently gave her headaches, so we looked elsewhere when looking for our first home, and ended up in Stratford (yes, the headaches are gone).

We sometimes miss Hamilton. When we mention that we moved here from Hamilton we invariably get snorts of derision. Numerous people have said "good thing you got out of there!", and others have insinuated that we've moved up in the world. Our next-door neighbours are natives of Hamilton in their late seventies who moved here forty years ago, and any time Hamilton comes up in conversation they always make sure to remind me that "Hamilton is a complete shithole."

My standard response to that is this: "Hamilton's actually a pretty cool place, it's under-rated. We miss it a lot." This always (and I mean always) raises eyebrows. But I'm doing my small part. I could never live in Hamilton again for numerous reasons, yet I miss it, and I find myself drawn to participate in this online discussion forum. I truly wish the best for the city, and in my own small way hope I can spread some goodwill for it.

But it's an uphill battle, no question.

emge · #99 Posted **Dec 31, 2008, 2:51 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by bornagainbiking

We can keep complaining about the city but is it their job to walk behind us with a garbage can and a stick with a nail on the end. If they just pick up the city park refuse cans.

Hmmm, getting a few "board-with-nail" people on patrol gets my vote!