Comment 52396

By Mr. Meister (anonymous) | Posted November 30, 2010 at 13:39:42

Hamilton is in a very unique situation. Before amalgamation we were a small city with a population circa 300,000. Over night with one stroke of the pen we became a city with a population of over 600,000. While our population doubled the area did a lot more than that. I believe it quadrupled or even more. To look at Hamilton as a typical city of 600,000 is to be misled. When you compare Hamilton, or any Canadian city to an American counterpart most comparisons are totally out of wack because Americans just do not amalgamate cities. Cambridge is 3 communities combined into one, Hamilton is, I believe 6 distinct communities amalgamated into one. Over the previous years Stoney Creek was the result of the amalgamation of several smaller communities. Winona, Vinemount and others no longer exist all swallowed by Stoney Creek which in turn was swallowed by Hamilton. This is a very different model from our American cousins who will do anything it seems to not amalgamate communities. That is why comparisons are so difficult. Try comparing Hamilton with cities of comparable density instead of comparable population and see where you go.

The point to this diatribe is: What city with a population of 300,000 has a LRT? What city with a density of 450/ square Km has LRT? I believe I can safely say none. If my memory serves than Calgary was the only city with a population of under a million to have LRT and they have now surpassed the million mark. Even then there were exceptional circumstances, a lot of corporate head offices, second only to Toronto, which lead to an incredibly dense downtown core. There is very little about Hamilton that would lead an objective mind to spend the massive amount of money needed to build a LRT line here. LRT is not bad but it is very expensive.

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