[flar]

How many Hamilton forumers are out there? How many forumers living outside Hamilton visit here regularly? Lurkers and regulars alike, it's time to be counted!

[SteelTown]

Hammerlicious

[vid]

Do I count as a lurker?

[go_leafs_go02]

yes i live in the city now..have for the past 5 months or so..but i am a student going to Mohawk, and consider my stay here only temporary.

[Jon Dalton]

yes i live in the city now..have for the past 5 months or so..but i am a student going to Mohawk, and consider my stay here only temporary.

Watch out. This place can suck you in if you're not careful.

[FRM]

i've just joined recently, after lurking around for a while, i'm still mostly a lurker.

Go leafs go which program are you in? i'm steelcityhab from hfboards :)

[go_leafs_go02]

i'm in transportation engineering...

and i kinda have no plans of getting sucked in..the more i know about this city the less i want to live here..and ppl back home (london) whenever they find out i'm living in hamilton, they always wrinkle their nose, and the first words that come out of their mouths usually is : "Do you like living there?"

[raisethehammer]

haha...oops, my screen jumped just as I was making my choice. I clicked "hamiltonian in spirit".
In reality I'm a Hamilton forumer AND I have no idea what I'm doing!

[matt602]

Every time I come to SSP, this is the first section I check. Then I check the photo section for a new thread from flar. Then I go to debate with people in the Canada forum :)

I'm fairly certain ours is one of the best used SSP: Local's on the site. Toronto's is very rarely used, even though they have multitudes more projects to talk about.

[go_leafs_go02]

I think that's cause Toronto is busy on SSC. Why have two sites discussing the exact same content.

[flar]

There's also the excellent urbantoronto.ca

[flar]

i'm in transportation engineering...

and i kinda have no plans of getting sucked in..the more i know about this city the less i want to live here..and ppl back home (london) whenever they find out i'm living in hamilton, they always wrinkle their nose, and the first words that come out of their mouths usually is : "Do you like living there?"

My out-of-town friend's were like that but I showed them some of the more interesting aspects of the city and now they think it's cool. One time a couple I know from Windsor actually came up early while my wife and I were working so they could shop downtown!?!

[DC83]

Hi, my name is David and I'm a SSP:Local ADDICT! :s

[SteelTown]

Welcome brother, welcome to the club. lol

[fastcarsfreedom]

In spirit only. Born in 70s at St. Joe's, grew up in the burbs and left town for school (and for good) in 1994. When I finished school I came back (1998) and stayed for 10 months--lived in Westdale, actually the only time I ever spent living in the city proper. Suburban Windsor area now.

[the dude]

anyone notice that we're kicking the crap outta the other forums in terms of threads and posts? totally sweet. we're nothing if not interesting here in the hammer.

[fastcarsfreedom]

the dude, I'll give you that much. My local forum is a well-lit cemetary most days...the Niagara spot I visit from time to time and it often lies dormant for MONTHS. You/we should all be proud of the Hamilton SSP Forum.

To make a shameless plug--a couple of good urban/metropolitan issues sites that I visit daily...visitors from afar are always welcome at both...

www.detroityes.com (Metro Detroit & Windsor Issues)
internationalmetropolis.com (Windsor/Essex County with tidbits from Michigan)

[ihateittoo]

I'm from hamilton's sister city in the computer world: hamiltron

does that count?

[ww3vet]

...self-confessed lurker!:notacrook:

[holymoly]

I grew up in Hamilton and am planning to move back.

[Mack297]

a newbie and a Hamiltonian ... life long .. all 64 years ...

Mack

[flar]

Good to see all the new forumers. Welcome and don't be afraid to participate, the more the merrier. Emotions run high here sometimes but it's just an internet forum so it shouldn't be taken too seriously.

[DC83]

Welcome, Mack! I read your post in the Gage Park thread, and I must say KUDOS TO YOU!
Now please... tell your colleagues to stop running over ppl!

[astroblaster]

hello.

this is my first post. this seemed like a good thread to introduce myself in.

i just joined the forum recently, after a few months of lurking. i really enjoy the discussions and EPIC photo threads up on here.

a little background: i currently live on the west mountain, but i was born and raised in the east end. i'm getting really interested in downtown development and heritage issues. i've always been into local history and recently i've been trying to get more involved.

so... hi guys.

[SteelTown]

Welcome Astro!

[flar]

i'm getting really interested in downtown development and heritage issues. i've always been into local history and recently i've been trying to get more involved.


That's excellent, more and more people are becoming interested in urban issues.

Welcome to the forum:)

[hammergirl]

I'm a born and bred Hamiltonian. Born at the Henderson in that great old building overlooking the escarpment.

I hate it with people say "sorry to hear that" when I tell them I've lived in Hamilton all my life.

[astroblaster]

Hi hammergirl

I work in Mississauga/Toronto... and the negative attitude towards us out here is ridiculous. I get those types of comments nearly every time I mention where I live.

I always knew it was bad, but since I started to work out here I have found that it's outrageous how badly people living so close to us perceive our city.

I think they need to look at some of flar's photo threads...

[FairHamilton]

Yep, I agree. Unfortunately to many people their perception of Hamilton (and other things) doesn't allow them to see/accept the reality.

My wife (she grew up here) and I moved to Hamilton just over 2 months ago. When we tell people we bought a house and have moved to Hamilton, they excitedly ask: "Oh where, up on the mountain"?.

When we say: "No in the lower city", you can see the excitement and joy for us and our home purchase just melt off their faces.........

[Jon Dalton]

You need to carry around a wallet sized photo of your house. They would be surprised when it isn't a crumbling shithole with smokestacks in the background.

[flar]

FairHamilton, their faces will really melt when ten years from now you have an LRT route whisking by your neighbourhood and the value of your home has doubled.

[FairHamilton]

FairHamilton, their faces will really melt when ten years from now you have an LRT route whisking by your neighbourhood and the value of your home has doubled.

Flar,

One small addition, doubled and mortgage free :D

[highwater]

When we tell people we bought a house and have moved to Hamilton, they excitedly ask: "Oh where, up on the mountain"?.

When we say: "No in the lower city", you can see the excitement and joy for us and our home purchase just melt off their faces.........

We were living in St. Catharines when we were house hunting in Westdale and the Southwest. When people heard we were moving to Hamilton, they said "Oh you HAVE to live on the mountain. It's so much cleaner and safer!" We didn't bother telling them we were looking in the lower city. We just plastered icy smiles on our faces and thanked them for their concern.

[SteelTown]

Wish I could afford to live in Westdale.

[highwater]

Yeah. It sucks how income properties have driven prices beyond what the houses are worth given the quality of the construction (surprisingly crappy in many cases, especially the houses built in the 20's - 30's homes are generally better), and the spotty maintenance and updating. We managed to find something under 200g's, but this was 10 years ago, and it was on a busy street and needed *alot* of work (shag carpeting on the walls - need I say more?)

LOVE Westdale, though. Worth every penny and drop of sweat.

[matt602]

Funny someone should bring up the "Toronto hate" that is here in Hamilton. I get just as a bad a response when I mention to a Hamiltonian that I'm from Toronto as a Hamiltonian would get vice versa. Then again, the entire province seems to hate on Toronto anyway. It's kinda funny to compare to Upper New York state people who cringe when you mention NYC.

[BrianE]

Just a quick annecdote on the different view points that City folk and Country folk have.

Some aunts and uncles came by for a visit this weekend, they all live down in the Haggersville, Port Dover area. One couple jokingly said that it had been a while since they had come down to the big scary city. They also thought it smelled kind of funny in Hamilton (which it does).

I should also mention however that they own and live on a PIG FARM!

And they say Hamilton smells funny... sheeesh!

[raisethehammer]

lol....I'm sure everywhere smells funny once you leave the pig farm.

[astroblaster]

I only notice the "Hamilton smell" around Woodward ave. Not downtown, not even in the southern parts of the lower east end where I grew up.

Am I missing it?

Even if i go up north for a week and come back, I don't notice the stink like other people seem to.

Am I too accustomed to it? I've lived in the Hammer my entire life so I guess thats possible.

By the way.. Woodward smells horrible. I think its the water treatment plant in particular

[SteelTown]

I find that I get the sulfur smell on a hot, sticky and muggy morning once you go outside from your A/C house.

[Millstone]

Burlington St at the Lakeport Beer store is the worst

Sometimes James/Wilson smells like piss

[flar]

The only smells I've ever noticed are the sulphur or burning steel smells, which I've only noticed occasionally when there is a wind coming in off the lake. Occasionally means a handful of times in over 5 years in Dundas and very rarely downtown. When I'm right in the industrial areas I obviously smell things. I think this is another example of expectations tainting reality. People see giant smokestacks and automatically think it should smell. The smell usually blows eastward out over the lake because the prevailing winds here are from the west. The worst smelling area of Hamilton is the Beach strip and the skyway, which is another reason for the stigma because the skyway is how most people know Hamilton. I find it strange that people want to put new developments in the beach community considering the smell, which is probably the reason the beach hasn't done so well over the years.

[oldcoote]

There is a strange odour downtown. I noticed it in the spring. Not sulphur.

A friend said it was grain, and that there is a grain terminal downtown? Or maybe it's the brewery?

[block43]

There is a mustard mill at Park and Vine Street. Sometimes the brewery and Bunge Oil plant at Wellington/Burlington smell pretty strong downtown

[hammergirl]

I used to notice the smell at Burlington and Kenilworth.

There's also a smell in one part of the Centre Mall, between Carlton Cards and Saint Cinnamon. I'm hoping it gets demolished with the mall LOL.

[FairHamilton]

I find that I get the sulfur smell on a hot, sticky and muggy morning once you go outside from your A/C house.

Yup, that's the one. Depending on wind direction it's quite noticable in South Stipley.

Also, I think the hot, humid air draws cooler air off the harbour, over the steel mills and into the city. I could even smell it last night on the front porch during one of the thunderstorms. I was amazed the particles creating the smell weren't rained to the ground before they got to our place.

[astroblaster]

There's also a smell in one part of the Centre Mall, between Carlton Cards and Saint Cinnamon. I'm hoping it gets demolished with the mall LOL.

That's where my dentist is... I'll keep a nose out for it next time I visit.. which will be soon

[FairHamilton]

There is a mustard mill at Park and Vine Street. Sometimes the brewery and Bunge Oil plant at Wellington/Burlington smell pretty strong downtown

Yeah, we could smell the oil the other week at 7pm while waiting for the buss at Main & McNab. The smell made me (and my wife) think of popcorn, and not air popped popcorn. Here's an article: http://www.thespec.com/article/200593

With all the talk of smells, perhaps it's thread worthy.

[matt602]

The Bunge plant makes some absolutely gross smells. They often can be smelled right downtown.