Roll Call: Where Do You Live?

[I, Sinclair]

Originally Posted by raisethehammer

I'm guessing that once James North becomes just as popular as Locke or Westdale that they'll start calling it 'the neighbourhood just across the water from Burlington'.

Thanks for the laugh.

When people who are not familiar with Hamilton find out I live in "downtown" Hamilton, they think I'm crazy, and I have to spend the rest of the conversation defending myself and my apparent lack of either money or common sense.

So I usually start off with West Hamilton, but then they think I live in Dunnie.

The good news is when they finally do get what I'm talking about, and understand the quality of life I have compared to living in a similarly priced suburban Brampton home, they think I'm eccentric and urbane, not a menace to my children's wellbeing.

Someday I hope that living in Downtown Hamilton will be seen as the rational, sustainable act that it really is. Then I'll sell my house and retire!

[Millstone]

Originally Posted by I, Sinclair

Thanks for the laugh.

When people who are not familiar with Hamilton find out I live in "downtown" Hamilton, they think I'm crazy, and I have to spend the rest of the conversation defending myself and my apparent lack of either money or common sense.

So I usually start off with West Hamilton, but then they think I live in Dunnie.

The good news is when they finally do get what I'm talking about, and understand the quality of life I have compared to living in a similarly priced suburban Brampton home, they think I'm eccentric and urbane, not a menace to my children's wellbeing.

Someday I hope that living in Downtown Hamilton will be seen as the rational, sustainable act that it really is. Then I'll sell my house and retire!

that's pretty typical.

"Where do you live?"

"Hamilton."

"Oh..."

[realcity]

Originally Posted by I, Sinclair

Charlton and Kent, represent.

In true Hamilton fashion, (Mountain Style) anything below the mountain is 'downtown'. Haha. I remember as a kid going to another city and finding out they called their core 'downtown' as well and thinking to myself "but how can it be downtown, there's no mountain to descend?"

[BCTed]

Originally Posted by thistleclub

I call the International Village home and generally think of downtown as Ward 2 between Hunter and Barton, partly for topographical reasons. But it's an elastic definition -- for example, Mac frosh tend to consider anything east of the 403 as downtown.

Mac frosh tend to consider Westdale as downtown.

[raisethehammer]

Originally Posted by BCTed

Mac frosh tend to consider Westdale as downtown.

dude...if you're going to say stupid things at least try to make them a tiny bit believable.
you're the first person i've EVER heard call Westdale 'downtown'. Lol. Now we know for certain that you're a troll. I'm also starting to think that you currently live in BC and have never actually been to Hamilton.

[Millstone]

It's interesting to see 36% of the userbase posting from downtown.

[DC83]

Originally Posted by Millstone

It's interesting to see 36% of the userbase posting from downtown.

I know, eh! That's exactly why I started this poll... I was very curious to know where all our comments were coming from. I stupidly didn't make the poll public, now I have NO idea where BCTed lives (if he even voted in the poll). ahahha

Edit: I find it a lil more interesting that 10.53% of respondants aren't even FROM Hamilton and still have an interest in our city! Neat Stuff!

I know, and have known, LOTS of Mac students from both Hamilton and abroad. None have ever referred to Westdale as "downtown". All have called in "Westdale". Mac kids (even ones from Kirkland Lake) know downtown is "on the other side of the highway [403]"... it's just unfortunate that the majority of them don't venture any further east than Hess Village. If they're really adventurous, they'll go to Gore Park and take the 25 up to Limeridge. But they KNOW that is downtown... not westdale.

[BCTed]

Originally Posted by raisethehammer

dude...if you're going to say stupid things at least try to make them a tiny bit believable.
you're the first person i've EVER heard call Westdale 'downtown'. Lol. Now we know for certain that you're a troll. I'm also starting to think that you currently live in BC and have never actually been to Hamilton.

You have proven time and time again that you have some kind of a reading disability. I did not refer to Westdale as downtown... I mentioned that Mac students refer to it as downtown and I was 100% telling the truth. Many students at McMaster very rarely venture off-campus while they are in Hamilton, and when they do, Westdale is as far as many of them ever go. To them, it is "downtown" and there is nothing beyond it. Those quotation marks, unlike most or all of yours, are honest-to-goodness valid.

I have not been to Van in over a year. People like you make me want to move back.

Stop referring to things I say as stupid.

[BCTed]

Originally Posted by DC83

I know, and have known, LOTS of Mac students from both Hamilton and abroad. None have ever referred to Westdale as "downtown". All have called in "Westdale". Mac kids (even ones from Kirkland Lake) know downtown is "on the other side of the highway [403]"... it's just unfortunate that the majority of them don't venture any further east than Hess Village. If they're really adventurous, they'll go to Gore Park and take the 25 up to Limeridge. But they KNOW that is downtown... not westdale.

I don't know how big a number "LOTS" is, but I feel more than reasonably assured that it is not large enough to represent an exhaustive sample of opinions/understandings. What I just typed in my last message and what you just typed in yours re: Mac students not venturing far off-campus is not that inconsistent.

The ones I refer to may well know that Westdale is not Hamilton's true "downtown", but that is inconsequential.

[realcity]

It's true about Mac students esp the out of towners. When I went there and talked about places in the city to students in second/third year even, they had no idea about the rest of Hamilton. Westdale is the 'town', it's like a small US University Town. There is no desire to go off-campus, unless its to an off-campus residence, which is in Westdale or the area south of the Hospital. Which to me isn't Westdale. Hollywood, the Tally Ho, anywhere south of Main these home owners love to call their neighbourhood Westdale, esp the real estate agents.

[BCTed]

Originally Posted by realcity

It's true about Mac students esp the out of towners. When I went there and talked about places in the city to students in second/third year even, they had no idea about the rest of Hamilton. Westdale is the 'town', it's like a small US University Town.

Thank you.

[DC83]

Originally Posted by realcity

It's true about Mac students esp the out of towners. When I went there and talked about places in the city to students in second/third year even, they had no idea about the rest of Hamilton. Westdale is the 'town', it's like a small US University Town. There is no desire to go off-campus, unless its to an off-campus residence, which is in Westdale or the area south of the Hospital. Which to me isn't Westdale. Hollywood, the Tally Ho, anywhere south of Main these home owners love to call their neighbourhood Westdale, esp the real estate agents.

I believe that hood is called Aisnleywood? Named after the Ainsley Woods? Unless I'm mistaken... then pls correct me

And yes, I agree that most Mac students I have spent time with (which is a significant number considering I am their age) know NOTHING about Hamilton. They do know, however, that Downtown is DOWNTOWN. They like the clean, friendly, relatively crime-free area of Westdale, so they tend to stick with it.
I once asked a schooly (Mac Student) on res if she ever left campus, she replied, "OF COURSE... I go to Fortinos all the time!"
...she was referring to the one that's pretty much across Main St from Campus! hahaha

[raisethehammer]

Originally Posted by realcity

It's true about Mac students esp the out of towners. When I went there and talked about places in the city to students in second/third year even, they had no idea about the rest of Hamilton. Westdale is the 'town', it's like a small US University Town. There is no desire to go off-campus, unless its to an off-campus residence, which is in Westdale or the area south of the Hospital. Which to me isn't Westdale. Hollywood, the Tally Ho, anywhere south of Main these home owners love to call their neighbourhood Westdale, esp the real estate agents.

nobody disagrees that too many Mac students don't venture further than Westdale, but I promise you if you snag 100 students leaving campus and ask them where downtown Hamilton is, not one of them will say "King and Marion".

[flar]

Officially, the non-Westdale parts of West Hamilton are called Ainslie Wood, Ainsley Wood East (E of the high school), Ainslie Wood West (W of powerline corridor) and Ainslie Wood North (N of Main, W of Cootes).

Also, I have never heard a Mac student refer to Westdale as downtown, they generally call it Westdale.

[BCTed]

Originally Posted by raisethehammer

nobody disagrees that too many Mac students don't venture further than Westdale, but I promise you if you snag 100 students leaving campus and ask them where downtown Hamilton is, not one of them will say "King and Marion".

What they know to be downtown Hamilton and what they effectively consider to be downtown are two different things. You have caused a stink and insulted me yet again over nothing.

[raisethehammer]

no I haven't.
We were having a discussion about where exactly 'Downtown Hamilton' is and you said that Mac frosh consider Westdale to be Downtown. Reading disability?? Seems pretty clear to me.
And I'm not the one throwing around insults....as usual.

[DC83]

Originally Posted by flar

Officially, the non-Westdale parts of West Hamilton are called Ainslie Wood, Ainsley Wood East (E of the high school), Ainslie Wood West (W of powerline corridor) and Ainslie Wood North (N of Main, W of Cootes).

Neat. Thanks, Flar. I love the idea of referring to neighbourhoods by their names rather than numbers or generalized areas (ie: west end). Toronto does it and I think it gives each neighbourhood a distinct feeling of community, and importance, despite being in a city of 5million.

Mayor Fred was suppose to rename the "wards" from numbers to neighbourhood names... he has yet to (big surprise). I could just imagine the old-timers, "Damned if I'll be a Corktownah, I'm a Ward 1'ah, dammit! I hate change!" hahaha <-- yes, apparently the old timers in Hamilton sound like New Englanders! haha

[Hammer Native]

Originally Posted by realcity

It's true about Mac students esp the out of towners. When I went there and talked about places in the city to students in second/third year even, they had no idea about the rest of Hamilton. Westdale is the 'town', it's like a small US University Town. There is no desire to go off-campus, unless its to an off-campus residence, which is in Westdale or the area south of the Hospital. Which to me isn't Westdale. Hollywood, the Tally Ho, anywhere south of Main these home owners love to call their neighbourhood Westdale, esp the real estate agents.

I don't want to stray too much from the topic, but just for a bit of trivia I saw in Hamilton history articles the area south of Mac, (around Emerson St.) was actually a village on it's own called West Hamilton about a hundred years ago or so, before the city's boundaries went that far. It still has that village look to it even today. As another example, in East Hamilton there was a village called Bartonville, which was mainly around Cochrane Road south of Lawrence Road. Of course people think of the whole area as the Rosedale neighbourhood. I've lived in Hamilton all my 44 years and this is one of my favourite websites. I kept telling myself one day I'd jump in on it.
By the way, I live in a high rise condo on Main Street West near Wilson, facing the Dundas Conservation Area.

[raisethehammer]

Originally Posted by Hammer Native

I don't want to stray too much from the topic, but just for a bit of trivia I saw in Hamilton history articles the area south of Mac, (around Emerson St.) was actually a village on it's own called West Hamilton about a hundred years ago or so, before the city's boundaries went that far. It still has that village look to it even today. As another example, in East Hamilton there was a village called Bartonville, which was mainly around Cochrane Road south of Lawrence Road. Of course people think of the whole area as the Rosedale neighbourhood. I've lived in Hamilton all my 44 years and this is one of my favourite websites. I kept telling myself one day I'd jump in on it.
By the way, I live in a high rise condo on Main Street West near Wilson, facing the Dundas Conservation Area.

awesome! welcome to the forum. always nice to have newcomers.

[flar]

The city has a neighbourhood boundary map available, that's where I find the "official" names:

http://map.hamilton.ca/Static/PDFs/G...Boundaries.pdf