Ontario has a big problem with evictions. How big? No one knows for sure. While the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB) is ramping up the assembly-line to pump out evictions, there is no means to measure the depth of the crisis. No government or agency is keeping count. An eviction crisis is occurring behind a …
Continue reading "Renoviction and the invisible eviction crisis"
Do artists and their art contribute to the displacement of poor and working-class Hamiltonians? That’s the question explored by Stephen Dale and his book, “SHIFT CHANGE: SCENES FROM POST-INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION.” He takes a look back at Hamilton’s rise and decline as an industrial city, but his main focus is Hamilton’s post-industrial re-emergence as a cultural hub for …
Continue reading "Shift Change: A book review"Next year, there will be two elections fought, first for Ontario, and then for every municipality in Ontario. At the heart of these elections is the future direction of cities. Will they continue to be wider flung and auto dependent, or will they be denser with greater priority given to public transit, walking, and combinations …
Continue reading "A political case for an urban agenda"
In filmmaking, there is so much work. There are locations, scenery, costumes, traffic control, electrical systems, audio systems, special effects, and all the stuff that allows everything else to happen. Even a small film is a big project with many, many moving parts. Walking through Gage Park or along Ottawa Street when a movie is …
Continue reading "Creeping around “Creepy Bits”"Tucked between Hambrgr and Burger Lab on Ottawa Street North, is a small, dimly lit, unassuming little building housing the Down The Street Food Co., owned and operated by chef Michael Carruth who serves up soup and sandwiches. Between burger joints and opposite Simply Italian Bakery and the new Ottawa Market, both of which serve …
Continue reading "Down The Street Food Co."Ottawa Street South, between King and Main boasts one and two story brick homes with front porches and tall mature trees. At Main, where Ottawa Street divides between North and South, Memorial Public School sits opposite Caro, a trendy and busy Italian eatery with big windows and a patio. Continue northbound and a traveller will …
Continue reading "Heavy trucks coming to Ottawa Street"
The pandemic may have induced a lockdown and provincial state of emergency, but life and business continue in Crown Point. There will be two new cannabis stores opening up in the neighbourhood. Each are on the east side with one conveniently close to Roxborough and the other closer to Barton. True North Cannabis Co., near …
Continue reading "Things are still happening on Ottawa Street"Crown Point based author and journalist, Paul Weinberg, has edited a book of essays about Hamilton. RECLAIMING HAMILTON: ESSAYS FROM THE NEW AMBITIOUS CITY, brings together a series of contributors, many familiar, to write about Hamilton in the context of change and progress. In his acknowledgements he writes he wanted a book about the “significant …
Continue reading "Reclaiming Hamilton: A book review"
In Crown Point we’re fortunate to have a number of people, groups and organzations that engage in activities that enrich the community and build up social capital. Among them, the people behind and within New Hope Community Bikes (NHCB) stand out as leaders. The work and legacy of NHCB reaches beyond the confines of their …
Continue reading "Rolling along despite vandalism"There was a standing-room-only crowd on hand for the closing reception to the month long DeLight Festival at the Hamilton Steam Museum on Woodward Avenue this past weekend. It was worth it. The Hamilton Aerial Group provided a unique telling of Hamilton’s water history that was spellbinding. With intricate costumes, puppets, and recorded music, a …
Continue reading "Finale delights everyone"
