Swinging for the fences
Rebuilding a culture of civic ambition is paramount as Hamilton’s downtown faces the choice to stagnate and slide backwards or realize its potential by refusing to settle for good enough.
Even the most ardent city booster would be forgiven for feeling a bit discouraged about Hamilton these days. After painstakingly crawling out of the doldrums of decline over the past 20 years, we are in a period of stagnation and in danger of sliding backwards. The wake-up call was back in August when a group of business people went to City council to sound the alarm over the state of downtown. Many things were mentioned including crime, cleanliness and the general economic state of the core. Since then, there have been numerous experiences shared in the local media about first-hand encounters with the challenges faced by people in the community as they navigate their life around the city.
Let’s not sugar-coat things folks, it ain’t good. However, in the life of the city, we have been here before and we need to get things back on track. So, where to begin? Whether it’s tackling larger issues like homelessness, or the everyday concerns of municipal life like fixing potholes or collecting garbage or building safer streets, it all starts with the type of civic culture we want. On the one hand, a risk-adverse culture is only going to perpetuate the status quo, while having a culture of ambition focuses on taking things to the next level. It’s what keeps us from sliding into the mindset that “good is good enough.” It’s the difference between managing problems and solving them. Moreover, ambition makes Hamilton punch above its weight.
Why ambition? Well, let’s begin with some historical inspiration – Hamilton’s longtime nickname, “The Ambitious City.” It is the title of books, it’s put on T-shirts and generally used as a rally cry for those who seek great things for our city. Of late, it might elicit an eye-roll given the current state of things. The phrase itself had conflicting origins. It was first used by a reporter in Toronto’s Globe newspaper in 1847. He referred to Hamilton as “the Ambitious City” in a derisive way. It suggested that Hamilton had ambitions far exceeding its capabilities. In response, Hamilton Spectator editor Robert Smiley reclaimed the nickname, writing that the Ambitious City was a proud and perfect descriptor of a community with great potential.
Aside from what you might think of the nickname, the meaning behind it, the aspirational tone, is something worth striving for. Indeed, that tone is what has driven many achievements in Hamilton over the years. The examples are all around us. In the 1920s and 1930s, this type of thinking led to the creation of the Royal Botanical Gardens. It’s what led Hamilton to being known as “The Electric City” that helped create an industrial powerhouse. More recent generations cast their gaze to the waterfront and noticed a jewel in the rough. Where some saw landfills and pollution, others saw potential that led to the creation of Bayfront Park in 1995, which kickstarted the process of waterfront reclamation that we see today.
Hamilton’s arts and culture are also a testament to civic ambition, from the Art Gallery of Hamilton to Theatre Aquarius and the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra. Sixteen years ago, Supercrawl was founded, transforming a local street festival into a major annual event recognized nationally. If you are ever in need of a reminder of Hamilton’s vibrant and exciting potential, do yourself a favour and spend time at Supercrawl.
So we have many examples of ambition to draw inspiration from. This brings us to the current state of affairs. Pick any one of the number of issues confronting the community and ask are we striving to be “good enough” or are we aiming for a more ambitious goal?
Let’s start with the issue of downtown. The current uproar of concern for the core is actually positive in that it shows many people care about the state of the heart of the city. They understand the importance of a thriving downtown and want to see things fixed. Downtown is the single largest employment node in the city, with thousands of people coming to work each day. It’s very important to the economic vitality of Hamilton and an emotional barometer for the health of the city overall. Unfortunately, there are a number of signs of strain in the core that are making it less hospitable. Like it or not, garbage, crime and open drug use are realities that make people feel less welcome downtown. Businesses are saying it is threatening their livelihoods and some public sector offices have vacated the core.
In response, there appears to be two reactions. First, is the desire to actually fix a number of these issues. Given the importance of downtown, there is a sense of urgency backed by the civic ambition that Hamilton needs and deserves a thriving core. While there are a variety of solutions proposed, there is an underlying belief that this greater goal is worth fighting for. The second reaction is to accept the state of things as inevitable and beyond our capacity to address (this includes the tired refrain to just avoid downtown altogether). This is “good enough” thinking at its finest.
Similar thinking can be applied to the city’s transformational light-rail transit project. As we wait (and wait) for progress on this initiative, we should remember that LRT is a starting point, not the finish line. LRT is the backbone of a broader plan for the city, not just a transit project. Instead of still thinking about the short-term, we need to talk more about the larger end goal. Some might say the goal is to just get the single east-west line built. That is perfectly understandable given the start/stop history of the project, but what about something more ambitious? How about a goal that seeks to make Hamilton the most sustainably connected city in North America? That not only sounds great, but makes the most economic sense when you consider that our current urban form is what is driving up property taxes, year over year, and creating a massive infrastructure deficit. LRT should be viewed as step one towards the larger goal.
On the environmental front, we are still dealing with the aftermath of the massive spill into Cootes Paradise that saw 24 billion litres of sewage discharged into Chedoke Creek. While short-term clean-up is a laudable immediate goal, let’s zoom out and look at the bigger picture. Cootes Paradise is an amazing natural asset. It contains a 320-hectare marsh, 16 creeks and 25 kilometres of shoreline. It is designated a nationally important area for birds, as hundreds of species use Cootes Paradise at some point during the year. The marsh is home to the highest concentration of plant species in Canada at more than 750 native species. Cootes is designated a national historic site and an important area for amphibians and reptiles. Add to this the trail networks and the adjacent natural areas of the Royal Botanical Gardens that owns and manages the site. All of this is five minutes from the centre of a city of more than 500,000 people. How many major urban centres have an ecological treasure so accessible to the population?
On that score, Cootes Paradise provides an outsized boost to quality of life and should be a priority for investment. Looking ahead, cleaning up Chedoke Creek and Cootes should only be the first step. There is no reason why the area can’t have its status elevated to that of a provincial or national park. Combine that with the Niagara escarpment, the UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve that travels through the centre of the community, and its Bruce Trail, and Hamilton can boast some of the best urban ecological assets in North America.
At the end of the day, it’s all about civic culture and how we see ourselves – what kind of city we are and what kind of city we want to be. Urban problems whether economic, social or environmental are not new and we’ve been here before. However, it’s more important to remember that decade after decade, it has taken the engagement of the whole community speaking up and confronting challenges by expressing ambition to build a better city. It’s time to do it again.
Paul Shaker is a Hamilton-based urban planner and principal with Civicplan.
