Raise the Hammer
Open Data in Hamilton: Are We Getting There?
We will likely have open data this fall. With continuing public advocacy, we can encourage City Hall to launch open data properly with an apps contest and a dedicated open data office.
by Joey Coleman
Published March 27, 2013 in Special Report: Creative City (2 comments)
Moving From a Culture of Fear to a Culture of Innovation
Risk-averse leaders who want to be known as courageous should look for opportunities to take safe bets that look riskier than they really are: unpopular proposals that quickly gain support once people experience them firsthand.
by Ryan McGreal
Published February 27, 2013 in Special Report: Creative City (14 comments)
More Consultant Crap vs. Change By Us
If Council decides that civic engagement in the modern era requires people willing to learn new ways and do things differently, they will get the support of people who can do the work: quickly, cheaply, efficiently and locally.
by James Arlen
Published January 09, 2013 in Special Report: Creative City (38 comments)
Lion's Lair Showcases Hamilton Entrepreneurs
Events like Lion's Lair not only help to showcase young businesses, but also bring more attention to the potential for Hamiltonians to become entrepreneurs and start transformative new businesses.
by Ryan McGreal
Published October 05, 2012 in Special Report: Creative City (9 comments)
The City of Hamilton's Selective Subsidies
We need to plant the seeds for individual Hamiltonians to succeed, because this is the only type of growth that will be long-lasting and sustainable.
by Sean Burak
Published August 17, 2012 in Special Report: Creative City (40 comments)
Dirty Water and Hot Metal: Shaking the Skyway Syndrome
Because so much has been forced on us so rapidly in the last three decades, we seem have become averse to choosing change, especially in the public realm. For all the talk of innovation, there is much resistance to real change here.
by Shawn Selway
Published June 29, 2012 in Special Report: Creative City (19 comments)
Hamilton Must Become a Learning City
Cities that encourage high levels of education and collaboration are better able to reinvent themselves to a changing world than cities locked into low-skilled labour in monoculture industries.
by Ryan McGreal
Published April 11, 2012 in Special Report: Creative City (38 comments)
The Essential Economies of Cities
If we hope to make good decisions about how to plan and manage our city, we need to understand how cities fulfill their essential role as engines of economic development.
by Ryan McGreal
Published November 10, 2011 in Special Report: Creative City (12 comments)
Open Data is Cool
Dowsing and Milton Splash are just small examples of what can be accomplished with open data.
by Nik Garkusha
Published July 26, 2011 in Special Report: Creative City (5 comments)
McHattie to Present Open Data Notice of Motion
Councillor Brian McHattie will call on Council to direct staff to prepare a report on the benefits, risks and opportunities associated with a City commitment to open public data.
by Ryan McGreal
Published July 22, 2011 in Special Report: Creative City (9 comments)
Hamilton's Role in Southern Ontario's Innovation Ecosystem
Hamilton should focus on its existing strengths while at the same time increasing its integration with Waterloo-Guelph-London.
by Abdallah Al-Hakim
Published June 10, 2011 in Special Report: Creative City (7 comments)
Killing Development Dead
Our building regulations produce a staggeringly perverse incentive: we subsidize and incentivize the neglect, demolition and destruction of value, while punishing and disincentivizing the creation of value through reinvestment and redevelopment.
by Ryan McGreal
Published June 02, 2011 in Special Report: Creative City (61 comments)
Innovation City?
The first step toward a dynamic knowledge economy in Hamilton is in recognizing that the status quo is not acceptable, and that is something on which this community of 500,000 people can almost universally agree.
by Keanin Loomis
Published June 02, 2011 in Special Report: Creative City (7 comments)
Hamilton Launches Map of City-Owned Properties
The City of Hamilton has just published a comprehensive map and listing of city-owned properties.
by Ryan McGreal
Published April 14, 2011 in Special Report: Creative City (16 comments)
Detailed Collision Data Could Help Resolve Pedestrian Debate
Open public data would allow citizens to participate more in building a greater city by being knowledgeable about the reasons for public policy decisions.
by Joey Coleman
Published April 14, 2011 in Special Report: Creative City (12 comments)
City Plans to Update Website Acceptable Use Policy
The City of Hamilton website acceptable use policy currently prohibits third parties from publishing, copying, linking or otherwise making use of website content without prior written permission. Staff recognize this needs to change.
by Ryan McGreal
Published April 01, 2011 in Special Report: Creative City (11 comments)
Pundits Debate Open Public Data
Discussion and debate over the opportunities and challenges of open public debate have moved from the margins of political discourse in Hamilton toward the mainstream.
by Ryan McGreal
Published March 18, 2011 in Special Report: Creative City (19 comments)
Time for Open Government Data in Hamilton
Open data is difficult to explain with words alone. A visualization combined with citizen delegations will give Councillors a full picture of what Open Data means and why they need to embrace it.
by Joey Coleman
Published October 29, 2010 in Special Report: Creative City (12 comments)
Hamilton: The City that Refuses to Pivot
Effective leaders approach policy with curiosity and an open-minded willingness to follow the evidence where it leads. They change their minds when the facts change.
by Ryan McGreal
Published June 15, 2010 in Special Report: Creative City (40 comments)
Toronto: Yesterday's Development Lessons for Tomorrow
Toronto managed to avoid being hollowed out by its suburbs, mainly because the city itself continued to grow dense and diverse in its own built form and character.
by Ryan McGreal
Published June 01, 2010 in Special Report: Creative City (17 comments)
A Tale of Two Summits
It's absolutely insane that our civic leaders have largely ignored the voices in our community who have been saying the same things for years as experts like Cunningham.
by Adrian Duyzer
Published May 20, 2010 in Special Report: Creative City (23 comments)
The Potential of New, High-Growth Companies
If Hamilton wants jobs, it needs to support the creation of high-growth companies and foster the conditions that lead to them.
by Adrian Duyzer
Published April 27, 2010 in Special Report: Creative City (20 comments)
Defining Hamilton's Creative Industries
Hamilton's Planning & Economic Development Department must take care not to define creative industries too narrowly. The good news is, they're listening.
by Adrian Duyzer
Published November 24, 2009 in Special Report: Creative City (20 comments)
Vancouver Establishes Open Data Catalogue
Congratulations to Vancouver for taking the first steps into a new pattern of cooperation and information sharing with its citizens.
by Ryan McGreal
Published September 17, 2009 in Special Report: Creative City (10 comments)
The Four Efficiencies of Cities
Cities leverage density, scale, association and extension to realize efficiencies and generate wealth. So why aren't we planning our cities to take better advantage of this?
by Ryan McGreal
Published July 28, 2009 in Special Report: Creative City (14 comments)
The Future of Creative Industries: Openness and Abundance or Innovation-Killing Legal Monopolies?
By collapsing the cost of creating and distributing content, computing and the internet could usher in a golden age of creativity - if only the creative industry can learn to embrace openness as a business model.
by Ryan McGreal
Published July 03, 2009 in Special Report: Creative City (5 comments)
Roadmap to an Open Source City
Hamilton could be a real leader, generating local expertise in collaboration, improving city business, and engaging the public more effectively in developing innovative solutions to the city's challenges.
by Ryan McGreal
Published June 30, 2009 in Special Report: Creative City (7 comments)
Open Source City: Making Public Data a Platform for Participation
Hamilton should embrace an open, shared data platform that increases participation and transparency while delivering better, more usable information to the public.
by Ryan McGreal
Published June 05, 2009 in Special Report: Creative City (20 comments)
Chasing Innovation in Film and Television
Today's network television business model is doomed. Hamilton has a chance to grow an economic cluster around a new business model for TV production and distribution.
by Ryan McGreal
Published May 27, 2009 in Special Report: Creative City (3 comments)
Can Hamilton Become a Centre of Innovation?
The opportunities that have the best long-term prospects are not warehouses in the middle of nowhere, but a dense, healthy downtown that mixes uses, welcomes artists, leverages the university and college, and brings creative people together to solve probl
by Ryan McGreal
Published May 19, 2009 in Special Report: Creative City (48 comments)