Raise the Hammer

Sections

List of sections in Raise the Hammer, with links to each article in that section.

Section: Commentary

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• 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 2008/11/04

• Hello, I'm over Here - When will society view people in terms of their skills, gifts and abilities instead of their differences? Published 2008/11/04

• The Social Costs of CARnage - Putting a dollar figure on a transportation-related injury or death may seem hard-hearted, but it can be done. It should be done, if only to underline the enormous human costs of our car/truck dominated transportation system. Published 2008/10/02

• To Believe in Our Cities Again - An ambitious platform calls for the creation of a Ministry of Urban Affairs, the establishment of three new national holidays, and setting clear limits on sprawl. Published 2008/09/11

• Quebec's Lessons for Hamilton - There is no reason why our fair city cannot be almost as much of a tourist magnet as the oldest city in Canada. Published 2008/09/11

• Take B-Line Off-Campus for Better Rapid Transit - Moving the B-line to Main Street West saves time on the B-line route. This time should be filled by stops at Wellington / Victoria and Gage. Published 2008/09/11

• Aerotropolis Secrecy Leaves Citizens and Councillors in the Dark - If our governments don't tell us what the debate is about, how can we reasonably be expected even to know what questions to ask? Published 2008/07/07

• Ethics and the City of Hamilton: A Retrospective - An Ethics Commissioner will help, but the City must get back to the business of governance as opposed to petty politics. Published 2008/07/07

• All-Day GO Trains: Good for Local Commuters? - Rail service improvements are crucial, but GO needs to maintain all-day flexibility for it riders. Published 2008/06/05

• Missing Link to Toronto Commute? - GO to add additional morning train to Hamilton. Published 2008/04/30

• Social Housing in Ontario: Picking Up the Pieces - New provincial investments are a start, but certainly more will need to be done to protect Ontario's aging social housing stock. Published 2008/03/24

• The Green Standard on User Fees - A look at three recent major environmental issues dealt with by council sheds some light on whether user pay is a principle or just a convenient debating tool. Published 2008/03/24

• Parents - Free HSR is a No Brainer - Free transit is actually financially advantageous to one large group of Hamiltonians: parents. Published 2008/03/24

• Puncturing Dreschel's Presumptions - Andrew Dreschel admits that suburban sprawl leads to increased car use – a breathtaking statement from one who supported Red Hill all the way, every way. Published 2008/02/14

• Pro and Con: Trinity Proposal on MIP Employment Lands - This is a very important issue to which everyone within Southwest, Westdale, and even Dundas should pay attention. Published 2008/01/18

• Tom D'Aquino's Environmental Blind Spot - Ignoring the environmental damage of unrestricted commerce, Tom D'Aquino argues that business and money are are the only solutions to saving the current climatic crisis. Published 2008/01/18

• Why Punish Monthly HSR Pass Holders? - With the dramatic hikes to monthly transit passes, it may be cheaper simply to buy tickets. Published 2008/01/18

• Upper James Rapid Transit a Dumb Idea - It is disturbing that our transit officials are now being told to put the aerotropolis scheme ahead of providing service to those who want and need it. Published 2007/12/20

• Lies, Damned Lies and Poverty Statistics - Statistics can be useful for measuring progress or identifying areas of improvement, but real poverty reduction efforts will continue to rely on community-wide investments and action. Published 2007/12/20

• Enjoy the Holidays Sustainably - Celebrating the festive season by limiting over-consumption is a way to honour the special people in your life and the Earth they live on. Buy less, love more. Published 2007/11/27

• Urbanism for Life: Let Children Help Design our Cities - Here is a simple criterion for human design: Shape a city around our children. Published 2007/11/27

• We Need Better than Seat-of-the-Pants Transit Planning - Do city staff have the technology to make accurate assessments of ridership change or is it just guesstimating shaded on the positive side to quell the voices of protest? Published 2007/11/27

• Terry Cooke, Red Hill, and the Politics of Division - Far from 'redundant', the environmental assessment Terry Cooke helped squash would have revealed major problems with the planned expressway and given opponents a fair hearing. Published 2007/11/08

• Money, Interest and Inflation - The policy of most central banks is based on permanent growth of the money stock. Can the world survive this policy much longer? Published 2007/11/08

• A Transit Free Day in Paris France - One terrific learning opportunity that we all seem to rush by is what happens when parts of the system go down. Published 2007/10/22

• Social Assistance Reform Needed Now - Ontario needs to adopt an evidence-based system for determining social assistance rates. Published 2007/09/28

• Revitalization from the Inside Out - We need to stop throwing money at developers on the fringes of the city and instead get serious about economic development in the core. Published 2007/09/28

• Hamilton Short-Changed in GO Improvements - The residents of Hamilton, our civic leaders, GO Transit, CP Rail and the government of Ontario need to co-operate and move our transportation network into the 21st century. Published 2007/09/09

• A Lucky Break? - A recent altercation on the road highlights the uphill struggle to support and promote cycling in Hamilton. Published 2007/06/07

• Tenants and Taxes - Hamilton's lowest income earners are renters, but they pay among the highest property tax rates. Published 2007/05/18

• Fuel Efficiency is Not the Answer - Increasing fuel efficiency in vehicles by itself simply lowers the cost of driving and encourages more sprawl development. Published 2007/03/19

• Dollar Contributions, Wars and Collapse - Well camoflaged, the US dollar is at the centre of several conflicts. Published 2007/02/26

• Bus-Fare Increase: A Lose-Lose-Lose Proposition - Increasing bus fares goes against Hamilton's efforts to address poverty, reduce pollution, and ameliorate gridlock. Published 2007/02/26

• No Need to Idle in Winter - Winter idling is bad for the environment and is even bad for your car. Published 2007/02/09

• Driving Blind into an Uncertain Future - Climate Change has finally won worldwide consensus, yet Hamilton still digs away at a destructive environmental hole. Published 2007/02/09

• Quick Guide to the New Residential Tenancies Act - The new Ontario tenancy legislation is a mixed bag, ending default evictions but retaining vacancy decontrol. Published 2007/02/09

• Eisenberger Must Stand Firm on Ending Red Hill Lawsuit - Mayor Eisenberger needs strong backing from the community to fend off those who want him to shake down Canadian taxpayers for cash. Published 2007/01/24

• 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 2007/01/10

• Why We Should Have Seen This Coming All Along, but Didn't - One of my Myspace buddies won the municipal election. Can you guess which one? Published 2006/11/23

• A Hallowe'en Brush With Death - A late-night collision leaves a haunting reminder of the dangers of drinking and driving. Published 2006/11/08

• Community Economic Development is Everyone's Business - Community economic development has a lot to offer to Hamilton, and Hamilton has a lot it can give back. Published 2006/10/06

• Take a Walk on the Glenside - The single use fetish of city planners has all the maturity of children who freak out at dinner time when the potatoes touch the corn on the same plate. Published 2006/05/26

• Oh, the Struggles Ahead - Sometimes we can almost believe that the wheel of historical necessity within the invisible logic of events is turning, and turning the right way. Published 2005/12/14

• Why I am a Hamilton Optimist - Anyone who buys even a bit of the idea that history is dialectical knows that, sometimes, the quicker and more utterly you hit rock bottom, the sooner the cycle turns. Published 2004/12/14