Media

Steel City Love

By Ryan McGreal
Published March 03, 2011

In a new short documentary, local filmmaker Josh White challenges us to stop and recognize some of the positive things about the city we love to hate. Titled "Steel City Love", White's film asks Hamiltonians to share what we really like about Hamilton.

White concludes, "Maybe Hamilton's not such a bad place. The people are nice, and the city's getting better day by day."

He hopes that this short film will be "a precursor to a larger documentary film I can shoot over the summer".

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 BeulahAve (registered) | Posted March 03, 2011 at 09:58:14

I enjoyed watching this but was hoping he could find more positives about Hamilton than just saying that the people here are "nice." Actually, the interview clips reveal far more than "nice" (e.g., free, diverse, eclectic, real), and I think he could dig deeper with more time. That said, I have had occasion to sit on the corner of James and King soliciting donations for a charitable cause, and I did find many people to be very nice. That was a learning experience, especially because it wasn't the well-heeled businesspeople who stopped to chat and make a donation: it was often people who looked like they didn't have much to spare themselves.

Also, the narrator says "Our main industry is steel." This is somewhat misleading as steel falls behind education, health care, and other sectors in terms of the number of employees in Hamilton. Good luck with the expanded video!

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By LoveIt (anonymous) | Posted March 04, 2011 at 00:18:52

Show the hard work, pride and passion in Hamilton. Show how it's changing. This can an interesting documentary or in smaller parts.

My favourite is the stairway of lights going into the sky near Stinson.

(Won't register, do not want be in one more database on some PC)

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By Baroom (anonymous) | Posted March 04, 2011 at 09:04:34

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By lawrence (registered) - website | Posted March 07, 2011 at 11:16:04

@Baroom, there are many doors if you don't like Hamilton. Pick an exit and move on. I'd like to know why you live here if you dislike it that much and if you don't live here, why bother commenting on a forum about a place you don't live in?

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By lawrence (registered) - website | Posted March 07, 2011 at 11:49:23

I would love to see this turned into a full-feature documentary, selling our city. This is a great time for us to do this. I have put a link to it on the 'Art about & By' page on SIWS.com.

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By LoveIt (anonymous) | Posted March 12, 2011 at 15:08:04

@Baroom,
This city is on the raise, though still struggling, but takes care of the poor. At this time I consider having many soup kitchens a good thing, because it shows that the city does care. If you cannot contribute, at least do not spread your negativism and boredom. Better get busy and make at least something positive to feel better about yourself.

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By New Hamilton (anonymous) | Posted March 17, 2011 at 10:46:41

I'll be proud of this city only once it stops being associated with steel production. It's so over.

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