[ShonTron]

Williamsburg wouldn't have happened without the L-train.

Uh, you must be thinking of the J-M-Z.

Barton is one of the most interesting streets for sure in Ontario. Even Centre Mall fits the scene - one of the crappiest malls in the Toronto area. Though when it opened in 1954, it was Ontario's first regional shopping centre, with the first Sears store. The Sears doesn't look like it changed much. The Zellers was an old Morgan's department store (a predecessor to the modern Bay store chain).

Flar, do you have the Prints of Hamilton and the Prints of Time? Both are excellent historic photo anthologies of Hamilton, the majority being street scapes from the 1880s through the 1980s.

 

[JasonParis]

Uh, you must be thinking of the J-M-Z.

Williamsburg is a quick walk from the L as well.

I thought I knew Hamilton fairly well, but it wasn't until I saw Barton Village in 2004 that I really started to understand where the Hammer's "bad rap" came from. Tonne of potential though and a decent streetwall almost all of the way.

 

[urbandreamer]

wow.

I'm impressed i gotta go to hamilton asap. thanks--i now believe hamilton is the single best real estate investment in all of canada. I'm buying up barton st along with my buddy from the drake (yeah right but seriously, as a value investor, hamilton kicks arse!

I found a stunning old victorian workers cottage last year on mls for just $65,000 and did something foolish: i didn't buy it on the spot. It was gone within a few weeks.....

I've lived in many cities across canada--hamilton is on my hot list of one's i must live in before i croak; next year imo is when it'll be!

 

[flar]

Glad I can open some of your eyes to Hamilton
We've just scratched the surface, lots more to come.

@SeanTrans: I do have a couple books from that series. There are quite a few now, all very interesting, especially the ones that show all the great buildings that have been lost.

 

[Bogtrotter]

That's a lot of grit! Nice looking medical building that's being proposed, I guess the health sciences are a huge industry in the Hamilton area.

That prison reminds me of my old highschool. THanks for the tour of the Hammer!

 

[allabootmatt]

Thanks for the tour--I have never really been to Hamilton but was struck in the photos by the resemblance of Barton St to some of the rougher parts of any number of mid-Atlantic US cities--Philadelphia or Baltimore especially. Definitely a "Rocky" vibe. The signs for hoagies help!

 

[Long Island Mike]

Barton Street-Hamilton-a good cross section of the city

Flar: Good photo tour of Hamilton's Barton Street! Some of it looks rough around the edges-the PD are noted in some pics-is any of it bad crime-wise? It is a walk I would like to take myself...LI MIKE

 

[flar]

Some of it looks rough around the edges-the PD are noted in some pics-is any of it bad crime-wise? It is a walk I would like to take myself...LI MIKE

Although I captured some police/criminal activity in the photos, it's not really dangerous so you could take that walk down Barton someday. The crimes around here are usually petty crimes or drug related stuff like prostitution and theft.

 

[Zephyr]

Thanks for the photos. They are so thorough, I won't need to take a formal tour.