Raise the Hammer

It is dying because the people of hamilton do not want to live downtown anymore because the downtown is dying, and the downtown is dying because people don't want to live there anymore.

If this is true, please explain this: http://www.scribd.com/doc/113600855/2012...

And for even juicier research waiting to be done by the Spec, I'd love to see the price per sq. foot comparison. My 1,400 sq foot downtown home would sell for the same as a 2,500 sq foot home with double drive and garage in many other areas of the city.

I'm totally cool with Blanchard proposing a grand project. In fact, I'd love to see him go huge on one of his empty lots behind the Gore, or next to 25 Main West etc....

A city like Hamilton is experiencing an urban rebirth in select neighbourhoods that are still vibrant and walkable. Hence, the boom on Locke and James, while Main and Cannon sit empty around the corner.
City Hall has shown no desire to bring life or business back to Main, King, Cannon etc.... so we need to focus our efforts in the areas with heritage buildings that can be reborn to enhance a walkable streetscape, like James, Locke, Hess, King William etc.... The Gore is the ONLY area in the actual centre of town where one can sit outside or stroll comfortably, as this summers pedestrian project showed us. To destroy it's streetwall for a Target and parking garage would be a massive mistake, and would surely lead to further changes in the Gore opening it up to more cars and more parking, not less. We don't need that. I'm fine with a grocery store and condos, but not in place of the very heart of our city, which we all know will become hot real estate soon as the vibrancy continues to slowly close in on the freeway zone we call downtown. It's going to be a long fight to ever see King become as bustling as Locke or James due to it's freeway design, but let's at least make the Gore as attractive and wonderful as possible. Bringing it back to life might be the only way we ever get council to finally bring Main and King back to normal, urban streets. Once people see the Gore has become a destination, surrounded by high speed dead-zones, we might get leadership and action on our downtown. Destroying the Gore would practically be a death knell for the surrounding freeway zone.