Is Hamilton actually Canada's Brooklyn?

SpongeG · #1 Posted **Nov 16, 2015, 2:10 AM**

Is Hamilton actually Canada's Brooklyn?

Two cities go under the microscope Monday to find an answer to a burning question of identity: is Hamilton actually Canada's answer to Brooklyn?

It's all part of an Ambitious City event hosted by the Hamilton Chamber of Commerce that explores the cultural identity and economic heartbeat between the two.

Considering resurgent Brooklyn has been on an upswing for years and is often considered one of the coolest places in America, Hamilton and its chamber would be positively giddy at that comparison bearing fruit.

Hamilton's report card: How does the city stack up?
But can you really compare Hamilton to a bustling metropolis of 2.6 million people?

Let's try it out.

Industry downfall and finding an identity

Once part of the industrial heart of the U.S., manufacturing in Brooklyn dropped by about half from the 50s to the 90s.

Things were gloomy for quite a while, until neighbourhoods like Williamsburg and Bushwick sprang back to life starting in the late 90s – mostly fuelled by artistic types fleeing high rents in Manhattan.

Sound familiar?

There is a caveat here, though. Brooklyn's revival started much earlier than Hamilton's, so they are way further along in the process. If Hamilton is really lucky, the city could be where Brooklyn is now in about a decade.

Do they have LRT?

...

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilt...klyn-1.3318319

geotag277 · #2 Posted **Nov 16, 2015, 2:22 AM**

I think Surrey has a better case.

miketoronto · #3 Posted **Nov 16, 2015, 4:04 AM**

How about Hamilton is Hamilton????

Brooklyn is also not its own city, but rather a section of NYC, with close ties to Manhattan. Hamilton is its own city and is not mere minutes from the downtown of the country, like Brooklyn is.

And no matter how much people love to compare to the USA, Hamilton just has not gone through the decay or economic decay that sections of Brooklyn have had. Most of the decay and loss of vibrancy in Hamilton can be traced to planning policies which allowed outward growth (Limeridge Mall). Not because a few factories closed.

Hamilton has further continued to grow the city economy, even with the steel mills closing. Today Hamilton is much more of a high tech, medical, and university city.

Beedok · #4 Posted **Nov 16, 2015, 4:09 AM**

Well, Brooklyn has a big bridge right? Hamilton has one of those. Comparison successful.

csbvan · #5 Posted **Nov 16, 2015, 4:14 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by geotag277

I think Surrey has a better case.

Except for the utter lack of any semblance of character in Surrey....

VivaPhysicality · #6 Posted **Nov 16, 2015, 4:29 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by csbvan

Except for the utter lack of any semblance of character in Surrey....

Agreed. If there's a "Brooklyn of the Lower Mainland", it's New West. Even this article says so! :-)

Acajack · #7 Posted **Nov 16, 2015, 4:32 AM**

Why would we have a Brooklyn in Canada or need one? Where does the impetus come from? Is it because Brooklyn is the American flavour of the month among urban hipsters?

Beedok · #8 Posted **Nov 16, 2015, 4:38 AM**

Surely if Hamilton is any American city it's Pittsburgh? A downtown surrounded by hills, a steel focused history, etc.

matt602 · #9 Posted **Nov 16, 2015, 4:44 AM**

Yeah, I'd definitely say Pittsburgh has more in common with Hamilton than Brooklyn ever did or does.

Docere · #10 Posted **Nov 16, 2015, 4:51 AM**

Montreal is the Brooklyn of Canada and Toronto is the Queens.

Hamilton is the Pittsburgh of Canada.

Acajack · #11 Posted **Nov 16, 2015, 4:52 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Docere

Montreal is the Brooklyn of Canada and Toronto is the Queens.

Hamilton is the Pittsburgh of Canada.

Gatineau is the New Jersey of Canada.

Rico Rommheim · #12 Posted **Nov 16, 2015, 5:02 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Acajack

Why would we have a Brooklyn in Canada or need one? Where does the impetus come from? Is it because Brooklyn is the American flavour of the month among urban hipsters?

Yeah. Actually, what a weird idea for a thread.

But I'll play. In terms of urban fabric, history and cultural scene Montreal is more like Brooklyn. Hamilton? Not really.

Funny thing: Brooklyn is bigger than Montreal. It's even bigger than Toronto! (city proper stats, people). In fact, Brooklyn blows away any other city in Canada in so many fields, that a comparison with Hamilton is downright silly.

lio45 · #13 Posted **Nov 16, 2015, 5:16 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Acajack

Gatineau is the New Jersey of Canada.

The Tijuana of Ontario?

lio45 · #14 Posted **Nov 16, 2015, 5:17 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Acajack

Why would we have a Brooklyn in Canada or need one? Where does the impetus come from? Is it because Brooklyn is the American flavour of the month among urban hipsters?

Toronto being Canada's NYC, it's only natural that the GTA would need to have its Brooklyn

esquire · #15 Posted **Nov 16, 2015, 5:22 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Acajack

Why would we have a Brooklyn in Canada or need one? Where does the impetus come from? Is it because Brooklyn is the American flavour of the month among urban hipsters?

+1. This seems like a ham-fisted way of trying to force an identity onto a place. It sounds like exactly the kind of thing that a Chamber of Commerce would dream up...

Docere · #16 Posted **Nov 16, 2015, 5:38 AM**

Even if it's a Toronto as NYC comparison, Hamilton is more like Canada's Newark.

someone123 · #17 Posted **Nov 16, 2015, 7:00 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by lio45

Toronto being Canada's NYC, it's only natural that the GTA would need to have its Brooklyn

In the 90's there were a lot of grunge bands in Halifax so a few American and Canadian newspapers started calling it "Seattle North". Halifax is farther south than Seattle, so the comparison had a further layer of nonsense over and above the norm.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rico Rommheim

Funny thing: Brooklyn is bigger than Montreal. It's even bigger than Toronto! (city proper stats, people). In fact, Brooklyn blows away any other city in Canada in so many fields, that a comparison with Hamilton is downright silly.

Yes, but to a lot of Americans at least "_____ of Canada" implies smaller and inferior. When Torontonians proudly say that Toronto is the "New York of Canada" to Americans, the Americans picture something much worse than what Toronto really is.

jmt18325 · #18 Posted **Nov 16, 2015, 7:05 AM**

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that Hamilton is Canada's Hamilton, and that's good enough for me. No American comparisons are necessary.

someone123 · #19 Posted **Nov 16, 2015, 7:07 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by jmt18325

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that Hamilton is Canada's Hamilton, and that's good enough for me. No American comparisons are necessary.

Yes, but Maple Creek, Saskatchewan is the Miami of the greater upper southwestern Saskatchewan area.

jmt18325 · #20 Posted **Nov 16, 2015, 7:12 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by someone123

Yes, but Maple Creek, Saskatchewan is the Miami of the greater upper southwestern Saskatchewan area.

I think Miami is the Miami of Manitoba.