City Life

Victoria Park at Dusk: A Photo Tour

Victoria Park is one of Hamilton's gems. It provides quiet sitting areas under beautiful trees, along with a myriad of activities to gain a broad range of users.

By Jason Leach
Published June 25, 2015

I was in at Victoria Park yesterday evening, like most nights, and started snapping pics in hopes of possibly conveying the great sense of place that exists here.

Vibrant green spaces and gathering spots for all ages are vital to healthy urban neighbourhoods. Parks provide much-needed green space for neighbourhoods with such a density of mid-rise buildings where tenants don't have access to outdoor space on site.

Victoria Park is one of Hamilton's gems. It provides quiet sitting areas under beautiful trees, along with a myriad of activities to gain a broad range of users.

Having lived near this park for 12 years now it's remarkable how it has simply become a part of our lives - almost an extension of our backyard, along with everyone else in the neighbourhood.

Cyclists on the path
Cyclists on the path

Enjoying the splash pad
Enjoying the splash pad

Strolling
Strolling

Playing on the grass
Playing on the grass

Garden
Garden

Sun setting over the splash pad
Sun setting over the splash pad

More cyclists
More cyclists

Another cyclist
Another cyclist

Taking advantage of the fitness station
Taking advantage of the fitness station

Enjoying a rest on the bench
Enjoying a rest on the bench

Hamilton Bike Share hub station
Hamilton Bike Share hub station

Jogger
Jogger

Playing tennis
Playing tennis

Playing among the new trees
Playing among the new trees

The sun sets over Victoria Park
The sun sets over Victoria Park

Jason Leach was born and raised in the Hammer and currently lives downtown with his wife and children. You can follow him on twitter.

6 Comments

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By JMorse (registered) | Posted June 25, 2015 at 13:37:50

Thank you Jason for sharing all of the valuable features of our neighbourhood park.

Having such an asset at our doorstep is a huge incentive to live in a dense urban neighbourhood. The popular requirement of big yards and driveways can be replaced with a well planned park and robust transit system. There is little reason to spend extra money and travel time to personally own such requirements.

Shared assets also help strengthen communities and reduce environmental impacts, at a lesser proportional expense.

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By jason (registered) | Posted June 28, 2015 at 21:42:29 in reply to Comment 112475

well said. It's a great community asset. I know many people in the local high-rises thanks to the park. Otherwise, I'd never meet folks who live in buildings that I'm never in.

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By CareBear (registered) | Posted June 29, 2015 at 11:33:49

It's also a great partnership with Strathcona School as the children use this park for recess and recreation throughout the year. The playground would sit mostly empty while families are in school and at work but instead the park bustles with activity throughout the day. It is indeed a wonderful and well-used asset to the neighbourhood. Now if only we could get some traffic-taming on York Boulevard to allow safe access from our house and before- and after-school care provider.

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By Pxtl (registered) - website | Posted June 29, 2015 at 12:15:55 in reply to Comment 112499

A push-button crossing for Strathcona at Yorke was an idea mentioned here once before (something to do with a bus-stop there) and I've always loved that idea. York is not crossable, even less crossable than Main or King mid-block, I find, even with the median - the traffic is such a near-constant trickle from people turning on from side-roads that there is never a big-enough gap to cross it.

And before the trolls start: York is functionally 2 1-ways duct-taped together, don't try to pretend that I'm saying 1-ways are easier to cross than 2-ways. York is a special and unique and nasty case.

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By CareBear (registered) | Posted June 30, 2015 at 10:09:04 in reply to Comment 112500

Yes this is a particularly hard crossing. Even with the "extended" crossing light with a button push at Locke Street, it is often not enough time for crossing with children and the median at that intersection is really too small to safely wait for another light cycle, with vehicles zipping past on all sides while you perch on a tiny piece of sidewalk in the middle of the intersection. Not at all pedestrian-friendly especially with no crossing guards and many children making the trip to Strathcona school or the park and back.

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By DrAwesomesauce (registered) | Posted July 03, 2015 at 08:36:30

More of this, please!

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