Comment 30275

By Ryan (registered) - website
Posted April 20, 2009 at 08:46:01

Mr Meister wrote:

Just because I am more fiscally responsible does not mean I am anti success.

It is not fiscally responsible to oppose an investment that will pay for itself many times over in new economic development, increased assessment, rising property values, and new employment opportunities.

We are not Boston and Boston's solutions cannot be simply transplanted and assume to work.

It's not just Boston. EVERY city - of any size - that follows a coherent, community based urban revitalization model of development enjoys renewed growth and vibrancy.

You point to the differences between Hamilton and those cities as if it were the reason why that model can't work here - when the fact is that they're different precisely because they follow that model and we don't.

Hamilton is very unique [sic] in its geography and that must always be kept in mind.

This is garden variety exceptionalism, and a tired, lame excuse to avoid making positive changes.

EVERY city has unique geography that local squelchers will insist renders proven economic development strategies inapplicable.

For crying out loud, half of Boston is built on land that was excavated from the original promontory and poured into the bay - and that was during the 1800s.

What a shame that we're so much less ambitious than those 19th century people who had so much less to work with.

There's no reason why Hamilton can't be a successful city in its own right as well as a significant part of the regional economy based around Toronto.

Ultimately, what you advocate is nothing more than dressed-up despair: we may as well continue following the failed policies of yesterday and today because nothing else will be successful either. What a temptingly self-fulfilling assessment!

I suppose you're entitled to your despair, but I refuse to lie down and accept the inevitability of failure - not when so much is at stake and when we have such an unparalleled opportunity to make a real transformative change to the city's prospects.

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Common sense is that which tells us the world is flat.
-- Stuart Chase

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