There are no upcoming events right now.
Why not post one?
Recent Articles
- Justice for Indigenous Peoples is Long Overdueby Ryan McGreal, published June 30, 2021 in Commentary
(0 comments)
- Third-Party Election Advertising Ban About Silencing Workersby Chantal Mancini, published June 29, 2021 in Politics
(0 comments)
- Did Doug Ford Test the 'Great Barrington Declaration' on Ontarians?by Ryan McGreal, published June 29, 2021 in Special Report: COVID-19
(1 comment)
- An Update on Raise the Hammerby Ryan McGreal, published June 28, 2021 in Site Notes
(0 comments)
- Nestlé Selling North American Water Bottling to an Private Equity Firmby Doreen Nicoll, published February 23, 2021 in Healing Gaia
(0 comments)
- Jolley Old Sam Lawrenceby Sean Burak, published February 19, 2021 in Special Report: Cycling
(0 comments)
- Right-Wing Extremism is a Driving Force in Modern Conservatismby Ryan McGreal, published February 18, 2021 in Special Report: Extremism
(0 comments)
- Municipalities Need to Unite against Ford's Firehose of Land Use Changesby Michelle Silverton, published February 16, 2021 in Special Report
(0 comments)
- Challenging Doug Ford's Pandemic Narrativeby Ryan McGreal, published January 25, 2021 in Special Report: COVID-19
(1 comment)
- The Year 2020 Has Been a Wakeup Callby Michael Nabert, published December 31, 2020 in Special Report: COVID-19
(0 comments)
- The COVID-19 Marshmallow Experimentby Ryan McGreal, published December 22, 2020 in Special Report: COVID-19
(0 comments)
- All I Want for Christmas, 2020by Kevin Somers, published December 21, 2020 in Entertainment and Sports
(1 comment)
- Hamilton Shelters Remarkably COVID-19 Free Thanks to Innovative Testing Programby Jason Allen, published December 21, 2020 in Special Report: COVID-19
(0 comments)
- Province Rams Through Glass Factory in Stratfordby Doreen Nicoll, published December 21, 2020 in Healing Gaia
(0 comments)
- We Can Prevent Traffic Deaths if We Make Safety a Real Priorityby Ryan McGreal, published December 08, 2020 in Special Report: Walkable Streets
(5 comments)
- These Aren't 'Accidents', These Are Resultsby Tom Flood, published December 04, 2020 in Special Report: Walkable Streets
(1 comment)
- Conservation Conundrumby Paul Weinberg, published December 04, 2020 in Special Report
(0 comments)
- Defund Police Protest Threatens Fragile Ruling Classby Cameron Kroetsch, published December 03, 2020 in Special Report: Anti-Racism
(2 comments)
- Measuring the Potential of Biogas to Reduce GHG Emissionsby John Loukidelis and Thomas Cassidy, published November 23, 2020 in Special Report: Climate Change
(0 comments)
- Ontario Squanders Early Pandemic Sacrificeby Ryan McGreal, published November 18, 2020 in Special Report: COVID-19
(0 comments)
Article Archives
Blog Archives
Site Tools
Feeds
By Mahesh_P_Butani (registered) - website | Posted May 22, 2012 at 00:39:58 in reply to Comment 77120
International Village is an oft misunderstood part of the downtown core.
Having been involved with redevelopment in the International Village since 2002, the above observations belies reality which I experienced over the last decade.
The fact is well before 2007/08 - which is when the arts marketing via James Street North started gaining momentum, there were numerous live/work lofts and creative street-front businesses already established in many parts of our downtown.
On street-front creative businesses, to name a few: one of the best commercial art galleries in Hamilton is on Ottawa street, one of the best cake shops, and meats & sandwich store is on Barton, one of the best used book store is on James South; and one of the best places to shop for foods from across the world, one of the most stylish used clothes store, and one of the most active theatres in Hamilton is in the International Village.
Here are just a few 'live+work lofts' in the International Village, created between 2004-07. There are many more lofts developed before and since then, in the International Village area including other parts of downtown outside of the more recent axis-of-art on James North.
For those who follow the growth of arts in Hamilton, this may come as a surprise. International Village missed a very interesting opportunity with its destiny back in 2004. If there was critical mass back then... who knows maybe today, Hamilton's arts district may have been in the International Village!
Contrary to perception, a large portion of Hamilton's creative community which is fueling its regrowth, continues to be located outside of James Street North.
As soon as our media catches up to this reality, I am hopeful that it will begin to paint a far more equitable and distributed picture of the creative sector in Hamilton. In doing so, the problems that our core presently faces may become far more clear, and the search for contextual solutions more focused.
One possibly solution if palatable, could be to rebrand the JSN Art Crawl into a 'Hamilton Downtown Art Crawl' with the same monthly public event - only now, on a rotating basis across Hamilton's various lower city BIA's. The goodwill and brand loyalty enjoyed by efforts on James North if proactively spread across the lower city, could help accelarate the economic and cultural growth equitably across the lower city, and become truly reflective of Hamilton's Creative City goals.
Mahesh P. Butani
Metropolitan Hamilton
Hamilton Reporter
Permalink | Context