Raise the Hammer

The old city and suburbs were forced to amalgamate by the Conservative provincial government: neither party asked for this.

However, before the amalgamation there was a third level of government, the regional municipality, and has been pointed out, there were issues around regional planning and services provided by the central city to the suburbs. It is well-established that low-density suburban style development on the edges of cities if far more expensive to build and maintain than denser urban in-fill using existing services.

I'm not sure I understand your point about the poor bus service to Flamborough and the suburbs.

Area weighting for transit, where the suburbs pay much less towards transit, is apparently very popular in the suburbs. No suburban councillors have pushed to end area weighting, or to pay more for better transit service. Several efforts to improve transit service in the suburbs (e.g. to Redeemer college in Ancaster) have been blocked by the ward councillor.

Area weighting means that suburban communities are locked into poor transit service (in exchange for paying much less towards transit) because any increase in service would be borne entirely by the ward. Ending area weighting would make it far easier to improve transit in the suburbs, which should be a top goal of the city.

Another point is that infrastructure includes very expensive roads and highways: re-building a single highway interchange at Clappison corners cost $75 million http://www.hamilton.ca/NR/rdonlyres/3104... And tens of millions more have been spent on road widening.

People often forget the massive infrastructure in roads and highways to service growing populations in the suburbs.

Where did you get the $2500 figure? I personally live in a relatively modest sized house (200 m^2) near downtown and pay over $6500 in taxes! Indeed, for a similar value house I pay more precisely because of area weighting (and values are rising quickly around downtown).