Raise the Hammer

In Europe a 100 year old building is not considered very old. Their old buildings are 200, 300, 400 or even older. Cities all over Europe are built on the rubble of previous generations. Rome one of the greatest cities of the world has 10's of feet of rubble under their buildings. The same can be said of London and Paris and many others. Their cities much like ours have sky scrapers in their core. These cannot possibly be heritage buildings. Sure they have saved some of their old buildings but they have also destroyed many old buildings to make room for the new.

The comparison to Toronto is laughable. Toronto's core is full of huge high sky skyscrapers. Some of the tallest buildings in Canada are found in Toronto's core. They have virtually razed their core and rebuilt it. The stock exchange building is, I believe, 72 Stories high, and there are many similar ones all around. That is high density that is what Hamilton needs to become relevant.

A common theme I hear on this site is the need for high a density core. A high density core is not 3 story walkups. Europe has these, miles and miles of them in fact, but they also have tall modern buildings. These 3 or 4 or 5 story walkups is their equivalent of our single family home. A high density core is tall 10 or 15 or 20 story or higher buildings. New modern buildings with apartments or condos that appeal to the people. Units that have multiple bathrooms, modern elecrtrics and electronics. Security and parking all that kind of good stuff. The kind of stuff that is lacking in these buildings.

It is way to easy to tell others what they should and should not do with their possessions. It can be satisfying to pretend to take the high road. But it is a process that we as a society must be very careful with. If saving these buildings is so important then buy them and save them. If not these then similar ones, there are more.