Raise the Hammer

just sent to council. i give up.

Hello,

"Mayor Fred Eisenberger said the plan achieves the city's goal of bringing more people to the core." - Hamilton Spectator

With all due respect, this is an incredibly shortsighted "goal". I suppose it makes no difference who these people are. Having spent many childhood years in subsidized housing, I certainly do not oppose the development of affordable housing. However, I have seen the REALITIES of such developments, and as this city seems intent on locating seemingly every social service agency, halfway house, and affordable housing development in the city's core (and on King Street, of all places!), it can be certain that this project, and ones like it, will continue to have no significant or positive impact on the core's revitalization efforts. In fact, it will further fuel the perception of investors, visitors, and, perhaps most sadly, Hamiltonians, that the core is nothing more than a ghetto. YES, you ARE creating a ghetto (an unpopular and "insensitive" word, but it is reality). The city's goal should not be to just increase population in the core, but to encourage diversification (ie. attracting middle income citizens with disposable incomes).

"Downtown cores are made for all kinds of people." - Tony Battaglia, Hamilton Spectator

According to this logic, should there not be a concentrated effort to develop housing for the middle class (and upper) in the downtown core? Is Mr. Battaglia under the false impression that the core has been, up until this point in time, reserved for elitists and the bourgeoisie? A stroll through the core will reveal that there is only "one type of people" inhabiting the area, unfortunately. This project, and ones like it, do nothing but further intensify the concentration of "one type of people" in the core. If diversification is the key to a healthy urban environment, why are YOU allowing such developments to continue in such a vital and critical neighbourhood of our city. I would argue that NO neighbourhood in our city deserves this concentration of such developments. Again, if diversification is the goal, and it should be, this project is backwards. I could go on and on about the faults of this project, along with others, but I won't. This is not NIMBYism, it is common sense.

I have no idea if this will ever be read, and I, in no way, am under the illusion that it will influence any of you. I understand, through observation, that an ordinary citizen of this city cannot have a voice of any significant kind in these matters. I wrote this because I love this city, and I defend it vigorously (usually from other Hamiltonians). I chose to stay in Hamilton upon university graduation (unlike many others), and I am a teacher in the HWDSB. I even moved downtown. However, I see no future in this city. It is a city that lacks common sense in its decision making, and it is a city that, time after time, shoots itself in the foot. It is a city that ignores the fundamentals of effective urban planning at a time when so many progressive cities are setting fabulous examples. It is a city that is dying, and it is too hard to stick around to watch. Thank you.