Five Miles of Grit: A long walk down Barton St. in Hamilton

[Boomtown_Hamilton]

I live here in Hamilton and work down the road in Toronto....Barton might look "unsafe" but like I've said already you can actually walk these streets here at night whereas if you go to the backend of Toronto around Jane-Finch area it doesn't look as bad as Barton does in these pictures but I wouldn't walk down Jane-Finch areas at night like I do alot with Barton street here in Hamilton...Hamilton is tough town don't get me wrong but not as tough as some Hamiltonians would like to believe it is.

[Hozay]

I recently explored Barton, it's grittier than hell!!!

[raisethehammer]

Tony, Hamilton's OP is a joke.
Take it from those of us who do LIVE HERE.
The OP is planned, examined and catered to the suburban developers. That's why there is 'so much room for expansion'.
It's controlled growth alright - controlled by the builders.
They keep expanding the urban boundary 20 years ahead of schedule in order to make money on their land speculation. It all sounds nice, and looks good on paper until you dive into the nitty-gritty. It's the same as having no OP or UB. The UB expands wherever the homebuilders own more farmland.
It's killing our city.

[Wheelingman04]

Very interesting photos. It is nice to see both the good and bad of Hamilton. I also see lots of good potential for the future.

[brett.electrician]

Originally Posted by raisethehammer

Tony, Hamilton's OP is a joke.
Take it from those of us who do LIVE HERE.
The OP is planned, examined and catered to the suburban developers. That's why there is 'so much room for expansion'.
It's controlled growth alright - controlled by the builders.
They keep expanding the urban boundary 20 years ahead of schedule in order to make money on their land speculation. It all sounds nice, and looks good on paper until you dive into the nitty-gritty. It's the same as having no OP or UB. The UB expands wherever the homebuilders own more farmland.
It's killing our city.

^^ you got it right on. I wouldn't just say Hamilton though, much of southern ont development is controlled by builders. Thats why it has sprawled out in such a grotesque fashion, thousands of acres of car dependent single family homes.

On a different note the photo thread was great! I try to tell people in Victoria what Barton street is like but its difficult for them to understand. This thread should help with that. Every time I see the Barton street village signs I get a little pissed though. The money used to build that was $ given to the city by the province to expand a section highway 5 from Waterdown west to clappisons corner. That area was a terrible bottleneck of traffic. Instead the city spent the money on signs and street scaping which hasn't done shit. Other then slow down traffic on barton. Waterdown had to wait another 2-3 years before it got the highway expanded....

[syktron]

GRITstastic... I have never seen something like that in Montreal. I don't know if the eastside downtown in Vancouver, is comparable in terms of grittiness???

[flar]

Seeing these photos again reminds me of how much this area contributes to the gritty perception most have of Hamilton. In the inevitable comparisons to Toronto that every Hamiltonian makes, Barton St epitomizes everything that Toronto isn't. Some Hamiltonians are ashamed of this area while others revel in its grittiness and take pride in Hamilton's lunchbucket past. The former type of person wishes Hamilton were like Toronto while the latter is glad it isn't.

[Gerrard]

Great photos.

If the hookers did meth instead of crack they'd get way more value for the money.

[Evergrey]

Amazing thread... possibly the best I've ever seen on here... Hamilton has got to be the coolest city in North America... gritty as hell... yes... but also very lively with a diverse business district

[flar]

Originally Posted by Evergrey

Amazing thread... possibly the best I've ever seen on here... Hamilton has got to be the coolest city in North America... gritty as hell... yes... but also very lively with a diverse business district

Thanks Everygrey, that's quite a compliment Hamilton is pretty diverse and it's been a real pleasure for me to explore it over the last couple years, and to show the pics on here

[mrherodotus]

Bump!

[pausgree]

I heard Hamilton was gritty, but yuck! It.s like Pittsburgh

[malmsteen]

Great photos. Captures the reality pretty well I think.

I've been looking at Hamilton RE from Toronto. I, like another forum member, have also been discouraged by the outrageous property taxes the city wants for buildings that currently stand vacant and non producing.

What is up with that?

I cannot afford Toronto nor do I like it much. I'd be interested in what Hamilton's people think about a good area for my search. I'm not into junkies and I'm not into the Stoney Creek/Mountain thing either.

Barton isnt that differnt from streets like Dufferin in Toronto, or the downtown Jarvis area. Even though Torontonians like to think themselves better - the city is in a pretty steep slide. I came here from BC and was shocked at how delapitated most of Toronto's core is.

[jodelli]

Nice shots, as usual.

Remember being at a restaurant/bar on Barton somewhere near Ottawa Street, but can't remember the name. There were a bunch of us, and the object apparently was to sandwich in a Ti-Cats game between visits.

[KitchenerBitcher]

My aunt used to live on Barnesdale Ave down near Barton while she was going to Mohawk. I remember going to visit her for a weekend when I was like 10 years old and being terrified to leave her building!

[flar]

Originally Posted by malmsteen

Great photos. Captures the reality pretty well I think.

I've been looking at Hamilton RE from Toronto. I, like another forum member, have also been discouraged by the outrageous property taxes the city wants for buildings that currently stand vacant and non producing.

What is up with that?

I cannot afford Toronto nor do I like it much. I'd be interested in what Hamilton's people think about a good area for my search. I'm not into junkies and I'm not into the Stoney Creek/Mountain thing either.

Barton isnt that differnt from streets like Dufferin in Toronto, or the downtown Jarvis area. Even though Torontonians like to think themselves better - the city is in a pretty steep slide. I came here from BC and was shocked at how delapitated most of Toronto's core is.

Are you looking for a place to live or a storefront (or both)?

Out of Hamilton's old commercial streets, Locke South and Westdale Village are established, successful and have low vacancy. Ottawa St, James North, King West and International Village are doing well but probably still pretty cheap. Concession St. is on the mountain, but it's not too bad. King East and Main East near The Delta have a lot of potential if LRT is built. Kenilworth Ave is pretty much just like Barton. And there's always downtown.

As for Barton St. itself, there is a lot of new stuff being built near Barton Village these days, research institutes and hospital expansions and possibly another Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart wouldn't be good for the street but this other stuff will bring a lot more people to Barton. At the other end of Barton, the Centre Mall is being replaced by a new Power Centre.

[ColDayMan]

Neato!

[malmsteen]

Originally Posted by flar

Are you looking for a place to live or a storefront (or both)?
...is being replaced by a new Power Centre.

Thanks for the reply. I started looking at commercial with living space above. If I find it great but at the same time am looking at a house. Whichever I find first.

As usual the real estate listings show a great divide with flippers and regular sellers. The flippers having put in some cheap tile and adding 40k to the price.

I'm not to gritty nor a soccer mom. It looks like the West side is much ... cleaner?

I'm hoping for the same thing everyone wants - a unique property for a good deal. Thus the mountain is out. Old wood, brick - some charm - thats in.

Anywhere close to Barton is gonna be bad? I notice the Keniworth (is that right) stuff and Wentworth just off Barton is for sale city.

[flar]

Originally Posted by malmsteen

Thanks for the reply. I started looking at commercial with living space above. If I find it great but at the same time am looking at a house. Whichever I find first.

As usual the real estate listings show a great divide with flippers and regular sellers. The flippers having put in some cheap tile and adding 40k to the price.

I'm not to gritty nor a soccer mom. It looks like the West side is much ... cleaner?

I'm hoping for the same thing everyone wants - a unique property for a good deal. Thus the mountain is out. Old wood, brick - some charm - thats in.

Anywhere close to Barton is gonna be bad? I notice the Keniworth (is that right) stuff and Wentworth just off Barton is for sale city.

Kenilworth and anything close to Barton is gritty and not really desirable but super cheap. West of downtown is nice and also south of Main is nice. If you ask me, the best deals on houses are near The Delta/Gage Park area. Beautiful old homes, not gritty and much cheaper than similar areas to the west (Locke Street/Kirkendall neighbourhood is getting pricey). Search for my other photo tours and you'll see what some of these neighbourhoods look like.

Also check out the North End near Bayfront Park.

[Kingofthehill]

Off the beaten track for sure.

Great job flar.