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After reading that article, I need to rest my sore eyes from all the eye rolling.
 
The CBC article was silly clickbait. However, the underlying notion is an interesting one. Hamilton is not Brooklyn (anymore than Toronto is Manhattan), but it would be interesting to see Hamilton grow into a similar role (more so than it is today). Hamilton has a lot to offer: good urban bones, some good architecture, more character than a lot of the 905 sprawl, home to a good university and other amenities, etc. Young professionals, artists, etc. forced by high housing costs in Toronto to move to post-industrial Hamilton, but nonetheless having decent transit access (RER) to the big city -- I just think that's something that's beneficial to Hamilton, beneficial to Toronto, and makes the overall Golden Horseshoe region more interesting.
 
Not to bring back the Hamilton-Brooklyn discourse but one of the major benefits of living in Brooklyn is its close proximity to Manhattan. One can't ignore this simple geographic fact as to why Brooklyn has been able to grow the way it has. It'd probably be more hypothetically accurate to say that Mississauga is to Toronto what Brooklyn is to Manhattan.
 
Good point. Hamilton is admittedly more than a bridge distance from Toronto. Although that does give the analogy a distinct Toronto flavour. I don't think Mississauga is to Toronto what Brooklyn is to Manhattan, because Mississauga (for the most part) doesn't have that grittier urban character - it's largely sprawling suburb or 21st century "downtown", and the parts that do have that urban character (Streetsville, Port Credit) are already priced out of the budget of the young professionals and artists who are starting to do interesting things in Hamilton.

Did anyone go to this?
 
Why must Canadians always feel the need to compare or reference themselves to Americans? :rolleyes:
 
Skeezix said:
Good point. Hamilton is admittedly more than a bridge distance from Toronto. Although that does give the analogy a distinct Toronto flavour. I don't think Mississauga is to Toronto what Brooklyn is to Manhattan, because Mississauga (for the most part) doesn't have that grittier urban character - it's largely sprawling suburb or 21st century "downtown", and the parts that do have that urban character (Streetsville, Port Credit) are already priced out of the budget of the young professionals and artists who are starting to do interesting things in Hamilton.
Click to expand...

Yeah, Port Credit (and especially south Oakville) if anything resemble more the wealthy railroad suburbs in Westchester, parts of New Jersey etc.

Using a NYC analogy, it's more akin to...Newark? New Haven?

But in some ways, Washington/Baltimore is the best comparison. Still very different cities with different identities, but certainly some "shared suburbs" (like Burlington is here). And about the same distance apart.

But obviously Hamilton's Chamber of Commerce isn't going to embrace the slogan of "Canada's Newark" or "Canada's Baltimore."
 
King of Kensington said:
[...]
Using a NYC analogy, it's more akin to...Newark? New Haven?

But in some ways, Washington/Baltimore is the best comparison. [...]
Click to expand...

I don't think the issue is finding the best analogy (that's why the CBC article linked above was so silly). The question is whether Hamilton could be playing a similar role vis-a-vis Toronto (in terms of providing a cheaper home base, in an urban environment, for a segment of the creative class) that Brooklyn served in relation to Manhattan (until all the artists were priced out of Brooklyn, that is). I don't think anyone is suggesting that Hamilton-Toronto is like Brooklyn-Manhattan, but rather that there may be opportunities in Hamilton that are similar to those that recently helped revitalize Brooklyn.
 
Adjei said:
Why must Canadians always feel the need to compare or reference themselves to Americans? :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

I ask myself that question all the time (if one more person refers to Yonge Dundas Square as Toronto's Times Square....). But here I think it's a valid comparable, of an urban economic phenomenon that occurred in the States, and I can't think of any Canadian (or even non-U.S.) comparables.
 
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Hamilton also has a CFL franchise, while none of the five boroughs of New York City have a single NFL franchise playing home games there.
 
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