Comment 77794

By Nathan (anonymous) | Posted June 01, 2012 at 13:55:52

I would be interested to see the socioeconomic comparison of both citeis' downtowns. I'm not disputing that Hamilton has these things to some extent, but I would say that they're qualitatively and quantitatively different. Downtown Burlington starts at Lakeshore, which is a pleasing attribute. Downtown Hamilton is bordered variously by Barton, Wellington, Qeen and Hunter... Not quite as readily marketable. I appreciate where you're going with this, and I agree that Hamilton has been moving in slo-mo, but Burlington is a fairly orange apple, I'm sure you'll admit.

Another key difference may be the perception of shared stakes in a single downtown. Burlington is far more status-aware than Hamilton, which is pretty okay with letting it all hang out. Burlington is also mathematically handicapped toward decision: There are seven votes on council as opposed to Hamilton's 16. And of course we're always there across the harbour as a cautionary example of what can happen if you take your eye off the ball. Look at the way the cities' respective councils engaged the Tiger-Cats, for example.) Burlington is run like a business. Hamilton, not so much.


But Burlington is not perfect, just as Hamilton is not a total chowderhead. Burlington botched the Brant Street Pier (a project dating back to the administration that tackled downtown rejuvenation), so maybe we've got a gimme in the wings.

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