List of sections in Raise the Hammer, with links to each article in that section.
(return to Sections)
Summer Vacation - This is the last RTH issue before our annual summer break. Published 2008/07/07
Who Owns Our Media? - The traditional media are used to being the experts who decide what people watch and read. That approach excludes people who hunger to participate. Published 2008/04/30
Transport Revolutions Seminar - As oil production goes into decline, we must transform the way we move people and goods. Published 2008/01/18
Amid Policy Crises, Canadians Grow Weary of Politicking - The Conservatives have had two years to demonstrate that they represent all Canadians, not merely their partisan base. Instead, they have demonstrated that they just don't get it. Published 2007/12/20
Case Studies in Dysfunctional Governance - Regardless of which decision you support, it's bad policy not to consider the alternatives before making a decision. Published 2007/12/20
Overcoming Domesticated Ambition - The Public Works Department claims to be undergoing a conceptual shift in what city building means, but it still has a way to go. Published 2007/11/27
Downtown Transportation Master Plan Review: Promising, But Needs Improvement - Contact the city Department of Public Works and add your comments to the plan. Published 2007/11/08
Hamilton Light Rail Website Launch - A new organization is forming to promote modern light rail in Hamilton. Published 2007/11/08
More Than a Feeling: A Boston Travelogue - Boston provides abundant lessons - both hopeful and cautionary - for a revitalizing city like Hamilton. Published 2007/10/22
HPD Intensification Seminar - You can't change the planning policies or the economics of development until you change people's mindsets about planning and development. Published 2007/09/28
Big Box Stores and Urban Development - The best way to get developers to accept urban criteria is to make the rules clear and simple. Published 2007/09/28
Is Bicycling Safe? - If you follow the rules of the road and ride carefully, cycling is actually much safer than driving. Published 2007/09/09
Building Grassroots Support for Light Rail - If Hamilton is going to get light rail, citizens need to take the lead in advocating for it. Published 2007/09/09
The Internet is Self-Correcting - Compared to TV, the Internet makes it extremely easy to expose oneself to a humongous variety of perspectives and opinions from across the political spectrum and around the globe. Published 2007/06/27
Eight Reasons Everyone Should Support Light Rail - Light rail isn't just good for riders; society as a whole benefits from fast, clean, convenient transit. Published 2007/06/27
Wanted: Light Rail Champion for Hamilton - The Mayor really needs to get out in front of this issue and demonstrate some robust leadership. Published 2007/06/27
Unfinished Business - After four years the Liberal Party has accomplished much, but several unresolved problems threaten to undercut its legacy. Published 2007/06/07
Support the Anti-Idling By-Law - The proposed anti-idling by-law needs your support at the May 10 public consultation. Published 2007/04/30
Fix the Municipal Funding System - Canadian cities cannot meet 21st century challenges with a 19th century legal framework. Published 2007/04/30
The Speed Factor - It's dangerous nonsense to suggest that speed is not a factor when a moving vehicle kills a pedestrian. Published 2007/02/09
American Way of Life: Still Not Up for Negotiation - Bush's plan to reduce US reliance on imported petroleum through the wonders of technology is dangerous magical thinking. Published 2007/01/24
Scratching the Surface - A city's downtown core can have attractive destinations worth getting to or it can have abundant parking for people who want to drive to get there. It can't have both. Published 2007/01/24
Contact Your City Councillor - Easy contact information for the newly elected municipal representatives. Published 2006/12/13
Raise the Hammer Turns Two - Thanks to you, Raise the Hammer is celebrating its second anniversary. Published 2006/12/13
RTH Going to Print (We Really Mean it This Time) - A new partnership with Mayday Magazine will see a proper RTH print edition. Published 2006/11/23
Bidness is Bad for Business - The bad money of bidness, which thrives on secrecy and cronyism, drives out the good money of innovative industries that try to addres some of our long-term problems. Published 2006/11/23
Good Guys and Bad Guys in City Politics - Do we blame the politician who breaks the rules, or the citizen who tries to hold the politician accountable? Published 2006/11/08
A Word in Edgewise - Regardless of what happened on Tuesday night's mayoral candidates debate, the Spectator decided early on which candidates are "high profile" enough to warrant coverage. Published 2006/10/20
US Democracy Under Threat - The global economy is set to start shrinking as the supply of oil goes into decline. Big business will fight ruthlessly to protect their share of the pie. Published 2006/10/06
Ersatz v. Real Urban Development - If we want to avoid more planning failures, we need to understand the nature of urban development before we lurch into the future. Published 2006/09/20
Safer Streets by Design - As well as trying to change behaviours, we should also arrange our physical environment so the danger of collisions is reduced without sacrificing the pedestrian character of city streets. Published 2006/08/30
Broad Based Organizing in Hamilton - Don't despair over the results of the upcoming municipal election. With a broad based citizen movement, it may not matter who wins. Published 2006/08/30
A War on Rhetorical Wars - People don't like to be dominated, and resistance to domination is a renewable resource. Published 2006/07/05
Summer Break - We're taking some time off during the summer. Published 2006/07/05
Cycle Safely - Collisions usually happen because one person does something unexpected and the other does not notice it in time to respond appropriately. Published 2006/06/16
GRIDS Goes Bust - How could such a large project, involving so many contributors, end up producing almost exactly the status quo framework that developers want? Published 2006/05/26
Business as Usual - The GRIDS long-term growth strategy is not "smart growth" by any meaningful definition. Published 2006/05/05
Welcome to the Club - The Hamilton Spectator cannot get serious about supporting full public discussions until it stops functioning as a mouthpiece for those factions that want to shut the public out. Published 2006/04/21
Big Casket: Do Box Stores Have a Future? - Whatever else happens, the days of customers driving several kilometres to the warehouse store on the edge of town are numbered. Published 2006/04/09
A Fair Trade? - Just how much are we willing to sacrifice for convenience? Quite a lot, it turns out. Published 2006/04/09
Peak, er, Pique Your Interest? - Peak oil is about to go mainstream. Will that make any difference? Published 2006/03/18
In the Zone - In its attempt to separate people from noisy, dirty, dangerous industry, zoning puts everyone in close proximity of noisy, dirty, dangerous cars. Published 2006/02/15
Hurry Up and Kuwait - The earth's oil reserves just dropped by five percent. Which other countries are cooking the books? Published 2006/01/27
Boulevard of Repaired Dreams - Upper James is a nightmare today, but it would make a wonderful European-style boulevard. Published 2006/01/09
Economics and Ecology - Our arbitrary property divisions don't extend to nature, and pollution ignores the property line. Published 2006/01/09
Deer oh Dear - There are better ways than a deer cage to bring downtown children into contact with nature. Published 2005/12/14
An Amazing Ride - On the first anniversary of Raise the Hammer, editor Ryan McGreal looks back on the unlikely path that brought him here. Published 2005/12/14
No Two Ways About It - All the myriad encounters and interactions that take place in city streets collectively add up to city life, city economy, and city culture. Published 2005/11/10
On Balance - Unless we get past that jump - many cars driven slightly less frequently to very few (or no) cars - we'll never realize the full benefits of compact, mixed-use development. Published 2005/10/21
Tweaking the Margins - It's easy to say that the status quo is not an option, but harder to consider real options that actually do challenge our conventions. Published 2005/10/07
The Devolution of the Revolution - These five suggestions could help the Hamilton Spectator begin to reverse the dangerous trend of putting marketing and consumerism ahead of journalism. Published 2005/09/15
From 'Desperation Planning' to Community Vision - Between Hamiltonians for Progressive Development and energy expert Richard Gilbert, Hamilton City Council has a great opportunity to restore an open, citizen-based program for setting goals and establishing criteria. Published 2005/09/15
Hamilton Goes A-Marketing - The Farmers' Market is the fulcrum of a local, self-sustaining economy whereas the mega-grocery store is merely the adjunct of a global, unsustainable economy. Published 2005/08/22
Summer Vacation - It's too stinkin' hot. We'll be back in mid-August. Published 2005/07/01
A Real Transport Hub - The city's $100 million aerotropolis investment will "lock in" a system that is inherently less efficient than available alternatives, saddling Hamilton with infrastructure that will make it less competitive in the future. Published 2005/07/01
(Stair)case Closed - The Staircase was never just a business, but grew into a bona fide community centre, filling an important niche as a home for independent thought and expression. Published 2005/06/16
Boxes Inside Boxes - The big box model destroys the possibility of any street life in its surroundings. Published 2005/06/16
Getting Off the GRIDS - A massive urban expansion is being executed under the auspices of a strategy that is supposed to prevent such madness. Published 2005/06/16
Open Up - The lesson for King Street West is to follow the lead of architect Bruce Kuwabara, who managed to transform an ugly fortress into a warm, inviting gallery, and open the facilities to the street. Published 2005/05/31
First Principles - If we understand how healthy cities work, the citizens of Hamilton can revitalize our wonderful city. Published 2005/05/16
RTH Goes Bi-Weekly - Starting this issue, Raise the Hammer will be published bi-weekly instead of monthly. Published 2005/05/16
Hitting the Wall - Building regulations should be simple, coherent, and people-friendly. Published 2005/04/14
Four Proposals - Links to the four proposals for redeveloping the Tivoli (in PDF). Published 2005/04/04
Renewal v. Revitalization - We need to make revitalization, not renewal, the basis for our downtown recovery. Published 2005/03/14
No Jackboot Required - The trick is to remove impediments and restrictions so that real growth and development can take place at natural cross-roads and meeting places. Published 2005/02/19
Braving the Tunnel - Good streets aren't created by fiat, but given fertile conditions, good streets can be 'grown' over time. If we make the necessary changes, Main Street may still bear fruit. Published 2005/01/14
How could you not love this city? - At Raise the Hammer, we love Hamilton, warts and all. There's plenty to get angry about, but there's also plenty to celebrate. Published 2004/12/14
Proponents do not have to rationalize the need for transit or look at alternatives (only alternative construction methods) since the need for transit and the benefits to communities, the environment and the economy are clear." -- From the Government of Ontario's New Transit Environmental Assessment Process
NewsfeedsISSN: 1715-1554
'Benign Neutrality' is What's Wrong (Jul. 22, 2008) -
Ahhh, things have become a whole lot clearer today after reading a letter to the editor in today's Spectator by John Dolbec of the Hamilton Chamber of Commerce.
The most telling comment i
The City as Dynamic System (Jul. 18, 2008) - I wrote yesterday about the complex and often counterintuitive properties of networks, and the role that simplistic "common sense" thinking can play in leading people to false conclusions about ho
Heat Alert 'Trigger' Too High (Jul. 17, 2008) - Toronto has issued an extreme heat alert - that city's highest warning level to inform and protect vulnerable residents from the dangers of extreme heat. The high humidex is supposed to last u
Passport to Hamilton (Jul. 17, 2008) -
A great new initiative developed by Environment Hamilton and the HSR will be unveiled at a public launch this Friday, July 18th at 10:00 am at Williams Coffee Pub on the waterfront.
Passport
Beyond 'Common Sense': How Traffic Networks Work (Jul. 16, 2008) - With all the talk recently about the Downtown Transportation Master Plan and some councillors' objections to spending money to convert downtown streets to two-way, it seems instructive to stud
Free HSR Fares Not The Way To Go (Jul. 16, 2008) -
Councillor Sam Merulla's recent suggestion that public transit in Hamilton ought to be free would risk making transit an economically and politically unsustainable venture for the city.
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