28 Reasons I Love Hamilton... Reason 8

Why write 28 reasons I love Hamilton?

1. Hamilton is a CITY.
2. The Location
3. The size (population)
4. The scale
5. Creativity and the arts
6. The buildings
7. The nature

8. The film industry

You've probably seen this commercial:





You may not have realized it was shot completely in Hamilton. How about this one?

We moved here in October 2007... and for some reason, some main streets downtown were always closed for film shoots. I'm pretty sure that's because what is now the 2-million renovated London Tap House was the Hulk set.

I had no idea about that - or about any of the film industry here. I knew the railway station was used in X-Men and that was about it.

Since then, I've realized just how many movies I've seen were filmed here, walked by a lot more movie shoots, seen just how many are being made, and met a lot more people in the film industry. It employs people of various skill levels in a wide variety of jobs. And job creation in this city is one of our biggest needs.

In the film industry, we've got a good thing going.

I hope we can make it even better. A pretty comprehensive article was just published on Sunday about what's happening right now in Hamilton.

As they mention, we've already got momentum happening with tax credits, location, staff, people, and settings. We film more large projects, proportionately, and fewer small ones, which is both good and bad. Hamilton's a stand-in for other cities and also plays itself at times.

The last couple paragraphs mention the newly proposed Creative Catalyst project - (early proposal here and much more recent report here) which would include studio space.

Not that the "triple bottom line" means much anyhow, but I find it very encouraging that the early report did not recognize that it would make Hamilton a city of choice and make people want to be here... and as they've learned more, the city checked the "yes" box beside that item -- the city is recognizing that arts, culture, media bring economic benefits and attract people... even "high performance public servants."

They also mention the need for better hotel space. (I've said ever since I moved here we need a boutique hotel, and there's several locations to build one. Smaller, unique, individual, specialized. There's five locations and concepts I can think of within seconds.) I know studio projects have been tried before... but I think one can stick. Another that's not a potential part of this project would be a great use for a former brownfield.

I love being in a city that movies are made in. I love how it adds to the city. And that's another reason I love Hamilton.

today was very interesting

today, i studied in this very cool non-profit coffee shop in Toronto for several hours.

and then, i had a couple hours left while Jarod's tattoo session was finished, and my brain was completely toast, so I visited my old church.

and i'm very glad i did.

of all the churches i've been to, Freedomize worship is my favorite. There's nowhere else I've found a combination that resonates quite so much with my spirit (and my tastes, let's be honest). The setting is uncrowded, friendly, deep, warm, rich. I felt close in worship today, both at Crossfire this morning, and at Freedomize tonight, and that's a rarity for me.

i'm most excited to hear some news though: among news of many people having babies and exciting new developments in their lives, I also found out, though I'm not clear on all the details yet:

- the church just signed all the papers and are moving to a new location downtown which they (at least partially?) own - on College near Bathurst. (sounds a bit familiar, eh?)

- they're renovating it with quality materials: it needs a lot of upgrading (still sounds pretty familiar to me...)

- they're having some work days next month to help get it ready (the familiarity continues...)

- the church that owned it before still meets there, apparently

- the artists in the congregation are doing a bunch of artistic-type stuff for the new building.

- one of their two new pastoral interns lives in downtown Hamilton. I met him and his wife tonight and we're going to connect this week sometime

- another couple from the church (that Jarod knows better than me) like Hamilton a LOT

- Since I'm in Toronto weekdays, I'm going to connect with Cyril (their current lead pastor) for coffee sometime this week and find out more.

it's amazing how much can change when you're away from somewhere for a while, and it's always great to go back and see what God is doing somewhere else.

I wasn't at all expecting/thinking of going there tonight, but I was really glad I got the chance to.

I'm hoping Jarod and I can put something towards their new building when we get the chance and maybe make it down next month to help. I'm pretty excited about it and I hope to have more details after this week about what's happening there.

God is great.

I've been playing a lot of Dustin Kensrue lately. I think I need to write a blog post later about just one of his songs, maybe more of them.

the great new picture of downtown Hamilton ^^^ at the top of my blog

is by a person who has done many incredible photo tours of Hamilton. When I first moved here, it was these tours that helped me get oriented to the city and my neighbourhood more than anything else.

He's also let me use his photos before (for the cover of some interviews we did with the King West businesses in Strathcona where our new building is - Gilbert's, La Moda, Mark's Chinese, Tony's Barber Shop and MJM Productions. There were a few more we'd hoped to get to but didn't have the chance - yet!)

And sadly, he's moving away to Ottawa. On the bright side, I'm definitely looking forward to seeing some pictures of Ottawa neighbourhoods!

In the meantime (for those who haven't been yet) here's a couple pictures from the fine street Jarod and I reside on (credit to the same photographer). (We live at the intersection of four neighbourhoods [in Stinson, also right by Landsdale, Corktown and Beasley - there's tours of all of them he's done])






There's 4 apartments in this house, but the owner keeps it meticulously clean and always plants beautiful gardens in the summer. I wish I had a summer picture.





















And our very, very, very fine house - all three floors and six apartments worth.



and the bridge, not too far away: