Raise the Hammer

I wasn't able to hear all of the delegations, but with the ones I did see I was really struck by a common theme - the pro LRT side was overwhelmingly positive, broad and looking towards a better future for the city as a whole, while the no LRT side was consistently negative, clinging to the past and focused on individual local complaints.

I think this pretty much sums up the entire debate (if you can even call it a debate).

The other theme that really stood out for me is that even with the level of unprecedented support for this project - it's still not enough. Everyone - and I mean every single group or organization that is usually blamed for undue influence on council supports LRT. Contractors, developers, home builders, real estate associations, the Chamber of Commerce, unions, business, transit advocates, cycling advocates, poverty advocates, environmental advocates, community associations, educational institutions, healthcare institutions, and ... the general public ... all want council to just build it.

Even the few that are against it enough to show up to council are mainly business owners who will be directly affected by construction - they're not even against LRT - they're just against 4 years of construction on their front door - that's totally understandable - but can be mitigated.

It's so frustrating that this should be such an amazing good news story for Hamilton - by continuing to bicker about a decision that has already been made, we're wasting 3 entire years of positive economic growth that should be absolutely exploding before construction begins - while working on updating the rest of the transit network.

Instead it feels like even when we win we loose - but I feel a whole lot better about it after seeing all of those brilliant delegations #yesLRT

BTW we need to schedule a #yesLRT social event - it was really cool to meet a bunch of people I've only been in contact with online.