Media

Ten Tough Questions with Ryan McGreal

By Ryan McGreal
Published November 18, 2009

Cal DiFalco has just published his latest interview on his website - with yours truly! DiFalco has quickly emerged as an important voice in local online media, and it's an honour to be included in Ten Tough Questions.

The only clarification I'd like to make on reading the interview is to point out that RTH is nothing if not a collaborative exercise among a large group of volunteers, from the core writers to a larger group of occasional contributors to the many readers and commenters who make the site worth visiting. I'm proud of my participation in RTH but I cannot by any means take full credit for it.

Ryan McGreal, the editor of Raise the Hammer, lives in Hamilton with his family and works as a programmer, writer and consultant. Ryan volunteers with Hamilton Light Rail, a citizen group dedicated to bringing light rail transit to Hamilton. Ryan wrote a city affairs column in Hamilton Magazine, and several of his articles have been published in the Hamilton Spectator. His articles have also been published in The Walrus, HuffPost and Behind the Numbers. He maintains a personal website, has been known to share passing thoughts on Twitter and Facebook, and posts the occasional cat photo on Instagram.

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By jason (registered) | Posted November 18, 2009 at 10:00:58

excellent job Ryan. You pretty much nailed it on every question. I must say, however, I'm shocked that he didn't ask you about that sweet hat. C'mon, that deserves a 12th question!!

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By grassroots are the way forward (registered) | Posted November 18, 2009 at 10:02:12

Ryan: You did a great job. I do know that many who post here are active in the community on various levels, so this forum has attracted many who advocate for change.

We all play a role in making this city better, no matter what our personal agendas are.

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By Really? (registered) | Posted November 18, 2009 at 12:17:13

Great interview, Ryan. I constantly say you're the most logical person in this City, and this is proven by the words in that peice.

There's no doubt that since the creation of the couple Hamilton Pro-Urban forums out there that things have changed in this City! It may not be in-your-face changes, but more importantly changes in attitude that will sweep through this City and make it great (once again)!

There is a lot of buzz out there, thanks partly to the Pan Am 'win', about changing Hamilton. I bet things will really start rolling next Fall after the Municipal Election!

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By DiFalco, Cal (anonymous) | Posted November 18, 2009 at 16:52:54

Ryan

Great answers to the questions. Thanks again for your participation. And what about that hat? :-). Take care

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By jason (registered) | Posted November 18, 2009 at 16:58:21

Thanks for chiming in here Cal. Your website is great and has certainly done a great job at filling another important role in the public discourse in the Hammer. I know several folks who follow your 10 tough questions interviews. Keep it up.

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By cal difalco (registered) - website | Posted November 18, 2009 at 20:07:12

Thank-you Jason. I wish I had more time to pop into other blogs as well. Certainly RTH is always worth the visit.

Take care

Cal

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By Back to reality (anonymous) | Posted November 20, 2009 at 03:14:24

Really? Give your head a shake!


Pan Am the future? It's an old-boy's club using old political methods to divert public funds into clubby old sports. It's as old as Hamilton's last Commonwealth Games that resulted in a civic stadium with limited commercial development due to its location in a residential community.

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By jason (registered) | Posted November 20, 2009 at 12:04:06

I'm no expert, but I'm guessing that stadiums weren't really built with retail malls and condo towers back in 1930. To say that only an old-boys club has benefited from Jimmy Thompson pool and Ivor Wynne Stadium is simply ridiculous. The community has been blessed with these assets for 80 years.

The new stadium location is located on a huge hunk of our ugly brownfield lands with ample opportunity for commercial and residential intensification around it, along with quick links to the water and downtown. it is also easily accessed off Hwy 403. Even without LRT the new location is miles better and way more accessible than Ivor Wynne. The fact is, this is the only way we'll get great new facilities like this in our city. This ain't Toronto where the province can force the rest of us to pony up for projects like the Skydome and BMO Field whenever they want.

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By Back to reality (anonymous) | Posted November 21, 2009 at 18:14:58

Jason:

Setting Sail was the plan for harbor front not a stadium. Considering how intelligent and progressive many of you are on this site I must say you have gone to the dark side and bought into the main stream media manipulation.The Pan Am budget is 1.4 billion dollars which Toronto receives 1.2 billion towards the athlete village and hard infrastructure mitigating their city's capital budget of roads and affordable housing.Hamilton gets a stadium which will have one tenant who is presently being subsidized nearly two million a year coupled with the sixty million we will be burning in the subsidy hole from hell. There really is no argument in favour of a stadium unless of course your tenant was the Dallas Cowboys and actually made a profit and paid their rent which is far from the reality of the Ti Cats.

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