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Thanks everyone for the comments and insight. I am reading with a lot of interest the news that US Steel is looking to sell their lands bordering Hamilton Harbour. When combined with the current planning efforts and development beginning along the waterfront to the west, this seems to be a huge step in the transformation of the city. With The Hamilton Port Authority as the rumoured candidate for purchasing this huge parcel, will we see repurposed industrial use or residential/commercial/retail? This reminds me of the situation that was faced by Rotterdam, Copenhagen and Hamburg in the 1990s and the results there have been spectacular! Hopefully the expertise that has been developed at Waterfront Toronto can be utilized in conjunction with the excellent work done by the Hamilton Planning Department.
 
That's very exciting indeed. People have been telling me to forget buying a condo in Toronto, and just buy a house near a Hamilton GO station instead.
 
If today's reports of funding for the LRT come to fruition Hamilton is about to go through a massive development boom that will dwarf the already substantial number of proposals.
 
rdaner said:
If today's reports of funding for the LRT come to fruition Hamilton is about to go through a massive development boom that will dwarf the already substantial number of proposals.
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I'd consider moving, to be honest. House prices in Toronto are INSANE as you know.
 
I've noted the uptick in such articles talking about families and folks moving to places like Hamilton and Prince Edward County etc. and note that they are always talking about "White" families in these trends. I find this interesting because visible and cultural minority groups have been moving out of the city and selling their houses to predominantly "White" families in a demographic rotation for 20 years now. Why is this newsworthy only when these same demographic of people who rotated into the city are rotating out? Families have always "chosen" (re: rationalizing the fact that they are forced due to economic uncompetitiveness and the realities of family finance and space requirements) to leave the city for suburbs, metropolitan satellite cities and ex-urban settings, a trend that has never stopped overall.

My take: There are different social status currencies. Our dominant culture finds many forms of conspicuous consumption crass; however, there are many forms of social status currency. "White" Canadian culture cares a lot about social novelty as a social status currency. Take this example: do you notice how "White" Canadian culture of the 1990's to 2010's thinks little or even negatively about someone buying a Gucci bag but is obsessed with a new coffee shop or the newest indie band? They aren't even aware that the pursuit of that coffee shop and indie band are a form of social status currency same as buying a Mercedes.

So in conclusion: while people moving to Hamilton is an interesting phenomenon I also find it interesting how it is reported in the media as a "thing" when other visible minority and demographic slices have been moving out of the city continuously for decades. And I feel as though the fact that it is a "thing" is an interesting insight into a slice of "White" Canadian culture; A demographic that puts such a high emphasis on social novelty as a currency of social status and is able to somehow craft the mundane act of moving to suburban as some kind of high status novel action. Like how many articles do you read about an ethnically Filipino family moving to a 4-bedroom in Mississauga as a "thing" or an ethnically Chinese family moving to Aurora (which is incidentally the "It" city in Chinese language newspapers at the moment)?
 
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TrickyRicky said:
I've noted the uptick in such articles talking about families and folks moving to places like Hamilton and Prince Edward County etc. and note that they are always talking about "White" families in these trends. I find this interesting because visible and cultural minority groups have been moving out of the city and selling their houses to predominantly "White" families in a demographic rotation for 20 years now. Why is this newsworthy only when these same demographic of people who rotated into the city are rotating out? Families have always "chosen" (re: rationalizing the fact that they are forced due to economic uncompetitiveness and the realities of family finance and space requirements) to leave the city for suburbs, metropolitan satellite cities and ex-urban settings, a trend that has never stopped overall.

My take: There are different social status currencies. Our dominant culture finds many forms of conspicuous consumption crass; however, there are many forms of social status currency. "White" Canadian culture cares a lot about social novelty as a social status currency. Take this example: do you notice how "White" Canadian culture of the 1990's to 2010's thinks little or even negatively about someone buying a Gucci bag but is obsessed with a new coffee shop or the newest indie band? They aren't even aware that the pursuit of that coffee shop and indie band are a form of social status currency same as buying a Mercedes.

So in conclusion: while people moving to Hamilton is an interesting phenomenon I also find it interesting how it is reported in the media as a "thing" when other visible minority and demographic slices have been moving out of the city continuously for decades. And I feel as though the fact that it is a "thing" is an interesting insight into a slice of "White" Canadian culture; A demographic that puts such a high emphasis on social novelty as a currency of social status and is able to somehow craft the mundane act of moving to suburban as some kind of high status novel action. Like how many articles do you read about an ethnically Filipino family moving to a 4-bedroom in Mississauga as a "thing" or an ethnically Chinese family moving to Aurora (which is incidentally the "It" city in Chinese language newspapers at the moment)?
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I find that you inappropriately phrased what you meant by "white Canadian culture." I'm a Canadian national and speaking racially I'm very much what you would call white. But I feel no connection with these "white people" of Canada who have generations and generations behind them, they only speak one language at home and that's English, and they have no other country they feel they have some sort of connection with. I'm different because I'm a second generation Serbian immigrant. I speak Serbian fluently and have spent a good deal of time in Serbia and other Ex-YU countries. Symbols of Tim Horton's, hockey and cottage life don't resonate with me. The "social currency" in my ethnic community in Canada is, actually, owning luxury European vehicles in the vein of Mercedes and Audi. Think about that.

And I feel as though the fact that it is a "thing" is an interesting insight into a slice of "White" Canadian culture; A demographic that puts such a high emphasis on social novelty as a currency of social status and is able to somehow craft the mundane act of moving to suburban as some kind of high status novel action.
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I don't understand this, when you yourself said that the current trend is "white Canadians" now moving into the city, and the model family in the linked article two posts above yours moved into what very much seems like an urban neighbourhood.

And as for media not covering the trend of visible minorities moving into the 905 areas, that's just nonsense.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/toronto/fast-rising-miltons-battle-of-the-bulge/article6734841/
https://www.thestar.com/news/immigr...tos_immigrant_enclaves_spread_to_suburbs.html
https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2009/03/20/new_canadians_flock_to_better_life_in_suburbs.html
 
I love reading these old forums. I bought an investment property 6 years ago in downtown Hamilton near Hess, when the discussion of building a new stadium near bayfront was in the works (never happened). I paid 190k and it needed nothing (end unit semi)....I just sold it for 450,00 and have rolled that money into large home near Gage Park that I bought for 350,000,....which I aliken to Toronto's high park area and the home would be in the 2 million dollar range. I also own a condo in Toronto which has not come near to doubling in value in almost the same time. most of the people that knock steel town haven't spent anytime there in the last 5 years (if ever). There are many great areas to raise a family, night light is diverse and exciting. Restaurants are popping up everywhere and the transit system keeps getting better and you can literally drive from one end of the city to the other in less then fifteen minutes. Its easy to familiarize yourself with the city and speculate on which areas will correct itself first. Ottawa street has been fun to watch develop and exciting to see people like Harry Stinson begin building. While the skeptics are do what they do I'll just continue to watch Hamilton dust itself and reap the rewards.
 
Pike999 said:
I love reading these old forums. I bought an investment property 6 years ago in downtown Hamilton near Hess, when the discussion of building a new stadium near bayfront was in the works (never happened). I paid 190k and it needed nothing (end unit semi)....I just sold it for 450,00 and have rolled that money into large home near Gage Park that I bought for 350,000,....which I aliken to Toronto's high park area and the home would be in the 2 million dollar range. I also own a condo in Toronto which has not come near to doubling in value in almost the same time. most of the people that knock steel town haven't spent anytime there in the last 5 years (if ever). There are many great areas to raise a family, night light is diverse and exciting. Restaurants are popping up everywhere and the transit system keeps getting better and you can literally drive from one end of the city to the other in less then fifteen minutes. Its easy to familiarize yourself with the city and speculate on which areas will correct itself first. Ottawa street has been fun to watch develop and exciting to see people like Harry Stinson begin building. While the skeptics are do what they do I'll just continue to watch Hamilton dust itself and reap the rewards.
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It's great for people who want to live in Hamilton. Not so much for those who don't.
 
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