Sobey's downtown

[LikeHamilton]

Originally Posted by bigguy1231

Hamilton is a very compact city. Lots of people in a fairly small area. Before the suburbs were amalgamated with city 10 years ago we had a population of 300,000 living within 60 or so square kms.

To be exact, Hamilton was 42 sq mi (108.8 sq km) with a population of 321,000 on amalgamation.

[realcity]

^ That's sick density for Canada. Had to be in top 5?

Now we're aiming for a density that'll be lower than Mississauga.... Our target is to be the absolute minimum density as outlined in the _Places to Grow Act_. Thanks Hamilton Council for being so ambitious... striving for the minimum. Let's see 50% is a passing grade... let's shoot for 51% and see how we do.

Hopefully Queens Park does what they did with the "Stimulus/Infrastructure Funds" and say "No way", this is what you're going to do.

[flar]

Originally Posted by realcity

^ That's sick density for Canada. Had to be in top 5?

Even with Burlington dragging it down, Hamilton is the third densest city in Canada (essentially tied with Vancouver).

population density (/km2) of "urban areas" as defined by Statistics Canada:

Toronto 2718
Montreal 1978
Hamilton 1763
Vancouver 1720
Ottawa 1681

(for EE: Edmonton is 1009 persons/km2)

For further comparison, just the old city of Hamilton is 2950 using LikeHamilton's numbers above and that includes the massive area used by industry)

[ue]

Doesn't surprise me too much. Alberta is brutal on a list like that. I'm sure Winnipeg is higher than us too.

As sad as it is, it's like comparing Pittsburgh (Hamilton) to Houston (Edmonton). It's brutal. Calgary is very similar I know, slightly higher in density or slightly lower. We have a horrendous sprawlculture here.

Pretty much aside from Vancouver, all the big cities with high density are east of Manitoba. It's funny cause all these cities started out with traditional density, now look at us.

Not to brag, but at least we have more old neighbourhoods to work with than Calgary. Also we have a pretty big skyline, and since our last mayor was elected the focus on urbanity has been great, as we essentially went Liberal with the whole thing...which is great. I'm tired of conservative Alberta.

[omro]

Originally Posted by sofasurfer

(@Omro, slightly OT... is it me, or does Fortinos seem like a more affordable Waitrose? )

It seems the top of the tier of supermarkets here that I've been in, certainly one of the largest, cleanest and with the greatest variety. Went to the one at Eastgate briefly. I've not been in a supermarket that seems nicer. I wasn't in there long enough, but if it has tons of its own brands and they are as decent or perhaps even more so than named brands, then it could well be a Waitrose/M&S equivalent in the tiering system.

Next down here seems to be Metro - have been in the ones on Barton and in Westdale.

Below that Food Basics - have been on both of the ones on Barton.

Then Price Chopper - have been on the one on Barton.

Then No Frills - only been in the one on Main/Tisdale which seemed totally dirty and foul to me.

I was never really a Waitrose shopper, as they weren't really in my part of London, there wasn't the money for it. Neither was M&S. But I'd always get M&S stuff for lunches when I was in town.

[mic67]

Fortinos is all the things that you say it is, with one exception some (many - enough) things are 30% more expensive than the exact same product at no-frills. But the stores are always stocked on the shelves, very clean and have a significant variety. But no-frills does huge volume and have difficulty keeping up with stocking the shelves, so much so that I have to go more than once a week to get all that I wanted. Many times I felt it was like the old Soviet Union.

No-frill is a franchise of Loblaws and fortinos is owned by loblaws.

Price Chopper is IGA or Sobeys and their brand of product - no name version- is awful compared to presidents choice or no-frills brand.

Hey Omro, what happening to the house you bought? Have you been to Toronto? What do you think _ the center of the Universe? What about the regular transport link to Toronto? The only think worst than the rail link to Toronto is the Toronto Transit Commission itself and virtually all those that work for it. What is your opinion of Hess Village - go on a Sat. night?

mic67

[realcity]

Price Chopper is Sobeys? no s**t

No Frills = Fortinos/Loblaw

Food Basics = ?

[matt602]

Food Basics = Metro

I think.

[FairHamilton]

Originally Posted by matt602

Food Basics = Metro

I think.

Correct.

[omro]

Originally Posted by mic67

Hey Omro, what happening to the house you bought? Have you been to Toronto? What do you think _ the center of the Universe? What about the regular transport link to Toronto? The only think worst than the rail link to Toronto is the Toronto Transit Commission itself and virtually all those that work for it. What is your opinion of Hess Village - go on a Sat. night?

Sooooo much work still to be done on it.
No yet been to Toronto. It's on my to-do list, but just haven't had the time to go yet.
I believe that the need for a regular transport link to Toronto, as this city feels a little isolated in terms of rail from other cities.
Haven't yet been to Hess Village, once again an issue with time and money.

[mic67]

Omro, maybe you could give us some fresh perspective with tradespeople, supply houses and the like with your house in the "moving to Hamilton" thread?

Taking the express bus at the right time of day - only1 hour - isnt too bad, but when not and when you have to bus to burlington then train and the reverse on the way back, with Toronto only, what -only some 50 Km away ought to prove to anyone how pathetic this transport link is, embassing by any world standard.

The condition of the track is lousy, writing long hand is almost impossible,etc.

Hey you can go to Hess at no cost, this Sat was a show without going to any venue, just being there - you can check that out for free!! Best say around midnight - max people.

I think Absinthe (Accross from the Candy Bar at George and Queen st) has no cover? (didnt when I went this Fri) and beer is $4.25? I have got plenty of reviews to write up, as I have been busy on the dance and music scene.

mic67

[adam]

Be sure to visit the bars on Augusta street.

[MattJelly]

Originally Posted by Jon Dalton

I also heard that the owner of that building wants to demo it. I hope not, that would leave one business left on the street and two people I know out of homes. Jelly have you heard anything about that?

I know the building is for sale for a cool Million, which seems pricey to me. I won't get into all the reasons I don't think it's really worth that, but I've seen buildings of the same size and condition go for much less- only a few doors down too. A Million is definitely more than market value, although I think the owner is just trying to recoup for what she's put into it over the years. She does post all of her frustrations on our front door (next time you have a sandwich at Reardon's, check out the door right beside it, you'll see what I mean), so I don't feel too weird passing along that info- seems like owning the building has been more trouble than it's worth. That said, I don't know enough about her situation to judge that really.

If someone did buy it for 1 million, I'm sure it would be moreso for the plot of land, not for the building. So, yeah I'd say it's in danger of being demo'd at some point. Seems if we get an NHL team, a lot of downtown will be at risk of being torn down to make way for parking and new development. It's probably the only reason I'm of two minds on the NHL prospect- it would definitely bring investment into the downtown if it works. It just better fucking work.