Ottawa St looking north from Cannon.

Trucks, roads, and transportation reviews

November was an exciting month for the usually cautious city council in Hamilton. First, the city voted to freeze the urban boundary despite pressure from developers keen to build vast tracts of low-density suburban homes for automobile dependent commuters on agricultural land. A little more than a week later, the city transportation planners were unceremoniously …

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The Road to 108: A Fan’s Journey

For me, being at Tim Horton’s field for the 108th and my first ever Grey Cup, will be a celebration and reflection on all of the above and the part 75 Balsam and our Tabbies have played throughout the story of my First 48.

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Industrial Landscape

Shift Change: A book review

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 …

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Banner from Stop Sprawl Hamilton

A political case for an urban agenda

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 …

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Creepy Bits Website

Creeping around “Creepy Bits”

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 …

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One truck negotiates a left turn while another waits at the light.
Photo by Sean Hurley

Truck Route Master Plan a wrong turn?

Commercial and long-haul freight trucks are like modern-day dinosaurs. They lumber along and dominate the road networks they share with smaller vehicles, cyclists and pedestrians. But we’ve learned to depend on these massive beasts which deliver vegetables, fruit, appliances and other goods to every community across North America, 24-7. In our fulfillment economy, they’ve been …

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Michael Carruth
Michael Carruth inside his restaurant. Photo by Sean Hurley

Down The Street Food Co.

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 …

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Elizabeth Seidl dressed up for the Pipeline Trail parade. The Point

A Point Farewell: Elizabeth Seidl

For eight years, Elizabeth Seidl was the protector of a cherished asset that intersects the Crown Point Community Planning Team coverage area.

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