So I have an issue with the fact that hamilton seems hellbent on destroying every single entertainment area of hamilton - what exactly is there to do in the downtown other than eat and drink at this point? (And please don't say play ping pong lol..) What function is making more parks going to do tucked away when gore park is right around the corner?
It just doesn't seem like good foresight by the city.. I want to be able to go downtown and DO stuff - see shows, see bands, engage in mindless entertainment, be entertained.. not just eat and go to bars..
Let's go over what the city has demolished:
movie theatres
opera houses
horse race track
roller rink
ice rink
strip joints
vegas strip
bowling alleys
pool halls
and what have they replaced it with in the downtown core? NOTHING. Employment centers, cash marts, low income housing, the city has intentionally turned intself into a poverty city where nobody has any reason to come to it. Hamilton used to be called the entertainment city - with 50 theatres, and tons of entertainment. Now everything is in the outlying regions that hamilton absorbed - malls in the suburbs, casinos in neighbouring cities, race tracks in neighbouring cities, zoos in outlying regions, aquariums.. well the only one is in toronto.. no tourist landmark like the cn tower, just a city without a vision of what it actually wants to be.
Yes breweries are popping up, but not everyone drinks beer - I know I don't. Hamilton claims it's an art place, but I've seen half the stuff in the art crawl, and it's not exactly high quality, more arts and craftsy, and this city is now oversaturated with artists without the high paying art buyer base like places like toronto and new york and chicago has.. It does have theatre aquarius I will grant it that...
boutiques are popping up but they are overpriced - too much money for too little food.
there are clubs but not everyone just wants to go clubbing.
There is ONE movie theatre left in jackson but it's the old seating and for a tall guy like me it's just uncomfortable to sit in those seats..
So what is there to do in the city to entertain the average person? That they can engage in to just unwind? Heck we don't even have a playdium in the downtown core - you have to go up on the escarpment to be entertained - you have an eatons center that is sitting empty , now beside a college campus that has moved into jackson that would make an awesome entertainment center, and it still remains empty. I know there were rumours to fill it with entertainment like that but it never materialized..
This city needs a
gold saucer lol..