Raise the Hammer
The old buildings downtown have so much potential and the people there are "real".
By Letter to the Editor
Apr. 10, 2007
Dear Editor,
For as long as I can remember, I have driven over the Burlington Skyway and wondered, "how can anyone live in Hamilton?" To me (and many of my friends) it was all smokestacks, dirty streets, and just plain ugly.
I was born in downtown Toronto. Every few years, when my parents made a little more money, we would move farther north, to rented homes away from "the core".
As an adult, I continued to follow the pattern. Got a 50 foot lot in the suburbs, two car garage, the whole thing. Next, off to the countryside: a ten-acre hobby farm with clean water from our well and homegrown fruit and vegetables, plus starlit nights.
In 2005, I turned 57 years old and it was time to close the circle. Toronto real estate is too expensive for me, and I thought that perhaps St. Catharines or Niagara Falls would provide the city life I sought.
Checking out these two potential areas, I was delighted to be able to "fly" through Hamilton on Main Street. The wide road and timed green lights were great. Coming back on King Street was almost as good.
I made many trips that spring and summer, and I noticed Hamilton had parks and trees and a Mountain. Real estate papers said I could buy a Victorian brick home, downtown for $130,000 to $180,000.
So I did. Now I can, and do, walk to the library, Farmers' Market, great restaurants, studios, barbershops, my bank, cafés, second-hand shops - the list is endless. The old buildings downtown have so much potential and the people there are "real".
Hamilton is my home and I love it.
I just wish I could do something about all those cars flying along Main Street.
Sincerely,
Glen Miller
Great post.
I think that with high real estate prices in the GTA people are finally beginning to discover the gem that lies behind those steel mills.
I grew up in Guelph, went to school in Oakville, went back to Guelph for a while, got a job in Toronto, moved there, moved a little further out to Mississauga, saw what it was doing to my kids and moved to a place where my kids won't turn out like suburban kids, where housing is affordable and not "bubbled" beyond reality, where I can get by with only one car (which sees less and less use) as I'm only a short bus away from GO... Yes Hamilton has an ugly past, but I *BELIEVE* it has an amazing future.
My family is part of that future - I'm betting it all on Hamilton.
I just want to register my distaste at this process, that we fight it out in a very difficult way amongst ourselves, all kinds of stress coming up, because how the heck are we going to find the kind of cuts to get down to three percent, and then this money shows up out of the blue." -- Brian McHattie, Ward 1 Councillor, on the sudden discovery of $5.2 million in city budget savings after the budget presentation
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By brodiec | http://nfotxn.livejournal.com
Posted 4/11/2007 4:01:34 AM
You rock Glen! Welcome to a real city with great people. So much potential indeed.
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