Raise the Hammer
(Return to Authors)
Nicholas Kevlahan was born and raised in Vancouver, and then spent eight years in England and France before returning to Canada in 1998. He has been a Hamiltonian since then, and is a strong believer in the potential of this city. Although he spends most of his time as a mathematician, he is also a passionate amateur urbanist and a fan of good design. You can often spot him strolling the streets of the downtown, shopping at the Market. Nicholas is the spokesperson for Hamilton Light Rail.
Email: kevlahan@gmail.com
Durand Neighbourhood 'Betrayed' By New Horizon Rezoning Application - This is not a case of anti-density NIMBYism, but of a developer playing a game of bait and switch and using the goodwill of the neighbourhood to advance his project, only to change his plans at the last minute. Published May 08, 2013 in Commentary
No One at City Hall is Responding to LRT Criticism - No one from the City is out there talking to the media to respond to questions that were already raised and answered years ago in the various studies and at the Public Information Centres. Published May 07, 2013 in Special Report: Light Rail
Bratina Refuses to Understand Council Support for LRT - Mayor Bratina still refuses to accept that his job is to support Council's decision to aggressively pursue a B-line LRT from Eastgate to McMaster - a decision for which he also voted! - and not to keep finding reasons to argue against it. Published April 21, 2013 in Special Report: Light Rail
Kill a Pedestrian, Pay a $500 Fine - Far from always being 'blamed', the motorist who kills a pedestrian in a crosswalk is almost always given the benefit of the doubt. Published March 21, 2013 in Special Report: Walkable Streets
Police Enforcement Should Prioritize Risk, Not Annoyance - Evidence-based policy making means focusing resources where they will have the greatest harm reduction, not taking sides in the cars vs. bicycles culture war. Published March 07, 2013 in Special Report: Cycling
Billions at Stake in LRT Project - Why isn't Council up in arms over the flouting of their decisions and directions to staff on their support for light rail transit with full provincial funding? Published February 18, 2013 in Special Report: Light Rail
Big Move Consultation Continues LRT Holding Pattern - LRT is the preferred option, but no one will commit to it until a new funding model is decided on by the provincial government. Published February 13, 2013 in Special Report: Light Rail
Alarming Notice for Metrolinx Big Move Meeting - Has Metrolinx simply published a sloppy and confusing notice about tonight's meeting, or has the plan for LRT in Hamilton changed without anyone being told? Published February 12, 2013 in Special Report: Light Rail
Mississauga Leads on LRT While Hamilton Dithers - Does Mayor Bratina really believe that languid take-it-or-leave-it passivity is a winning political strategy? Published January 31, 2013 in Special Report: Light Rail
Hamilton Deserves Same LRT Deal as Toronto - Toronto is demanding - and receiving - full funding from Metrolinx for its three new LRT lines. Why is Hamilton content with a much less generous deal that Council won't accept? Published September 24, 2012 in Special Report: Light Rail
Time to Fight for Fair LRT Deal - Mayor Bratina and Council need to have a "focused discussion" on why Metrolinx and the Province seem ready to offer Hamilton a much worse LRT funding deal than they gave to Toronto. Published August 28, 2012 in Special Report: Light Rail
LRT Funding Forecast Still Hazy - With so little still known about the funding details of Hamilton's LRT project, the danger is that any Council discussion at this point would be driven by confusion and fear of the unknown. Published August 24, 2012 in Special Report: Light Rail
Safety In Numbers: More Cyclists Leads to Fewer Injuries - The evidence clearly demonstrates that cycling becomes safer the more people engage in it - and this is also true for pedestrians. Published August 08, 2012 in Special Report: Cycling
One-Way Streets and Two-Way Conversion in Paris - It is possible to make a one-way street like Main pedestrian-friendly, but it would involve huge cost and a major decrease in traffic capacity - and it wouldn't address the harm done to local businesses. Published June 22, 2012 in Special Report: Walkable Streets
Plans for Pedestrians or Streets for Pedestrians? - Although the various plans and policies developed in Hamilton are usually progressive and intelligent, they are mostly ignored by our decision makers. Published February 18, 2012 in Special Report: Walkable Streets
Council, Province Must Work Together to Break LRT Funding Standoff - The only way to break the political deadlock is to keep up the public pressure, at both the provincial and city level, to show the politicians that this initiative has a lot of vocal support. Published September 30, 2011 in Special Report: Light Rail
Vancouver: 40 Years of Urbanism in Pictures - A series of photos to illustrate some aspects of the Vancouver Model of urban development. Published August 05, 2011 in Photo Tour
A Distant Mirror: 40 Years of Urbanism in Vancouver - Vancouver and Hamilton were remarkably similar cities 40 years ago, but deliberate choices have put these two cities on diverging paths. This article examines the reasons Vancouver has become a city known for its livability and dense urban form. Published August 02, 2011 in Special Report: Walkable Streets
Light Rail Needs Leadership From Mayor - If our own Mayor still doesn't clearly support LRT, we are going to lose out to our neighbouring competitor cities, who are better able to enunciate their priorities clearly and forcefully. Published July 05, 2011 in Special Report: Light Rail
LRT Needs Two-Way Streets for Success - Pedestrian-friendly streets are a necessary part of transit-oriented development. If Hamilton does not successfully support transit-oriented development, our LRT project will fail. Published December 16, 2010 in Special Report: Light Rail
Hand-wringing Over Spike in Pedestrian Deaths Avoids Effective Solutions - If we are serious about eliminating pedestrian deaths and injuries, we need to re-engineer our urban streets to make it difficult or physically impossible to drive at high speeds. Published January 27, 2010 in Commentary
Myth and Reality of Cycling and Safety - Too much of the car-vs-bicycle debate is overrun by myths and rank misinformation. Published October 01, 2009 in Commentary
High Speed Rail Opposition Based on False Claims - When Wendell Cox claims that "intercity roads are self-financing", this is both untrue on its face and disingenuous with respect to public transit such as LRT. Published June 10, 2009 in Commentary
Transportation Summit: Tension Between Sustainability Language and Status Quo Priorities - A significant shift in the city's thinking is that a focus on moving people and goods efficiently, not moving vehicles efficiently; yet staff highlighted the fact that decisions are still constrained by the need to maximize traffic flow. Published April 28, 2009 in Commentary
Moving Hamilton Up the Ladder of Citizen Participation - What would plans such as GRIDS, the Cycling Master Plan or the downtown urban plan look like if they if they had been designed and, most importantly, implemented, using a Citizen Power model? Published April 23, 2009 in Commentary
Moving Forward on Hamilton's LRT Initiative - The City cannot reasonably expect the province to pay 100 percent of the capital costs for light rail. Why is LRT important, and yet not important enough to warrant any City contribution? Published November 04, 2008 in Special Report: Light Rail
How to Shift our Transport Paradigm: Learning from Grenoble - Re-balancing our urban transport network is possible, but it takes time and a real political campaign to change people's minds. Published May 18, 2007 in Cover
The Ambitious City's Victorian Values - A history of Britain's Victorian industrial cities offers compelling lessons for Hamilton. Published March 19, 2007 in Cover
Hamilton's Future: Forget About It - A myopic employment study prepared for City Council by Hemson Consulting imagines a dreary, low-skilled future of air transport and goods warehousing. Published February 09, 2007 in Cover
Rebalancing Our Transportation Network: A Case Study - Hamiltonians often talk about how much they enjoy spending time in Europe, but we could have a European quality of urban life here as well. Published January 10, 2007 in Commentary
Urbanists, Amateur and Otherwise - Like any part of culture, a vibrant and inventive city requires professionals, connoisseurs and amateurs: people who care passionately about their city. Published December 13, 2006 in Opinion
Kuwabara on Hamilton's City Square - The architect who renovated the AGH says Hamilton needs to focus urban revitalization around Gore Park, which he calls "one of Canada's great urban spaces." Published June 16, 2006 in Opinion
Still Struggling to Make Sense of City Policy on Crosswalks, Published May 14, 2013 in Transportation
Tactical Urbanism and the Judgment of Hart Solomon, Published May 13, 2013 in Transportation
Mississauga Aggressively Pursuing LRT While Hamilton Bickers, Published April 25, 2013 in Light Rail
Traffic Department Recommends Traffic Calming - in Suburban Neighbourhoods, Published April 22, 2013 in Transportation
Beckett Drive Renovations Another Case Study in City Priorities, Published April 09, 2013 in Transportation
On Roads and Transit, Hamilton Spending Priorities on Display, Published April 08, 2013 in Transportation
Crosswalk Requires Multi-Year Campaign but $18 Million Road Just Appears, Published March 28, 2013 in Transportation
Public Transit Disproportionately Reduces Traffic Congestion, Published March 28, 2013 in Transportation
Police Ticket Cyclists While UN Slams Canada for Failing to Design Safe Streets, Published March 14, 2013 in Transportation
Hamilton Still Looks Like the 1970s, Published February 26, 2013 in Revitalization
Council Supports Funded LRT, but Mayor Refuses to Advocate For Funding, Published February 14, 2013 in Light Rail
Toward Understanding the Moral Double Standard of Law-Breaking Drivers, Published December 17, 2012 in Transportation
Amsterdam Bike Network is Too Successful, Published November 23, 2012 in Transportation
Watch for Dangerous Driver on Aberdeen, Published November 23, 2012 in Transportation
LRT 'Ten to Fifteen Years Away', Published October 26, 2012 in Light Rail
Speed Limits Should Reflect Neighbourhood Safety, Not Driver Preference, Published October 19, 2012 in Transportation
Bike Helmet Study Confuses Relative Risk, Published October 16, 2012 in Transportation
Lessons on Livability from Paris, Published October 04, 2012 in Transportation
Blaming the Victim When Pedestrians Are Injured, Published September 13, 2012 in Transportation
LRT Could Die Through Delay and Neglect, Published September 01, 2012 in Light Rail
Focus on the Most Dangerous Road Users, Published August 30, 2012 in Transportation
Another Example of our Transportation Spending Priorities, Published June 21, 2012 in Transportation
Rules for Bicycles and Rules for Cars, Published April 28, 2012 in Transportation
Cycle Plan Gutted, Motorists Trump Other Road Users, Published April 05, 2012 in Transportation
Metrolinx Project Development Process for B-Line LRT, Published October 04, 2011 in Light Rail
Grenoble Building Fifth LRT Line While Hamilton Backpedals, Published September 05, 2011 in Light Rail
City Needs to Complete B-Line Land Use Study, Published August 12, 2011 in Light Rail
Mayor Responds to Kevlahan on Light Rail, Published August 05, 2011 in Light Rail
Car Culture Shifts Blame to Victims, Published July 28, 2011 in Transportation
Letter: Renew Your Support for Light Rail, Published July 06, 2011 in Light Rail
European Cities Choose Walkability Over Traffic Flow, Published June 28, 2011 in Transportation
Ford Wrong About Toll Roads, Published June 13, 2011 in Transportation
Louvre Courtyard Used to Be a Parking Lot, Published June 07, 2011 in Revitalization
British Study Finds Usual Reasons for Low Levels of Cycling, Published June 06, 2011 in Transportation
Letter to Clr Jackson: Support the Cycling Master Plan, Published February 03, 2011 in Transportation
Double Standard in City Spending Priorities, Published January 19, 2011 in Light Rail
Walkability Consultation Report Recommends More Consultation, Published December 23, 2010 in Walkability Fail
Letter to Council: Reject the East Mountain Stadium Site, Published July 09, 2010 in Sports
Chedoke Trail: Construct the Railyard-Rail Trail Section Now, Published June 01, 2010 in Transportation
Burlington to Recoup Some Driving Costs, Published April 15, 2010 in Transportation
Walkability Fail on the Wellington Street Freeway, Published March 19, 2010 in Walkability Fail
Metrolinx Draft BCA on Hamilton Rapid Transit Now Online, Published February 12, 2010 in Light Rail
Remember Why We Support LRT, Published January 14, 2010 in Light Rail
Case Against Highway Tolls is Disingenuous, Published December 10, 2009 in Transportation
Selective Outrage Over Law Enforcement Illustrates Double Standard, Published December 04, 2009 in Transportation
Jobs No Longer Bundled in Bunches of 500, Published September 01, 2009 in Revitalization
The Walrus on its Way to Extinction?, Published February 11, 2009 in Media
Same Old 'Traffic Trumps Everything' Thinking, Published December 01, 2008 in Transportation
The Return of Streetcars to US Cities, Published August 14, 2008 in Light Rail
Durand Neighbourhood Association: 'Shock and Extreme Disappointment' at Transportation Master Plan Decision, Published July 13, 2008 in Transportation
Bordeaux Streetcars a Working Model for Canada, Published October 23, 2007 in Light Rail