Thank you for posting this! I had saved a link to this video, probably a couple of years ago, but never watched in its entirety. I have now. And I learned a few things I did not know, about a town where I was born and raised, and have lived in or near most of my adult life.
Things have changed a bit in the two+ years since this was produced. But it hits the nail squarely on the head in terms of how it covers the "renewal" of the older lower city.
There's still so much division across the municipality. While the outer suburban and rural wards of the amalgamated city are mentioned briefly, the people who live there have so much angst (on average) about how "their tax dollars are being spent to fix up a downtown they don't use or benefit from"... I get that sentiment, but their math is all wrong.
It's been a city in transition for 30 years. That continues today, but it's on a much better foundation now. Largely due to many of the stories told in that video.
Quote:
Originally Posted by rousseau
Hamilton has a "very specific funkiness," as someone once said. It's a bit hard-edged, a bit forlorn, a bit underwhelming and a bit ragged, but also unpretentious and direct in a way that Canadians aren't normally accustomed to.
You can sink your teeth into it. You can move there, dive in to the local culture, and find a niche for yourself in a way that's easier to do than in bigger cities.
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I miss the place sometimes.
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