28 Reasons I Love Hamilton... Reason 9

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

9. The markets and restaurants

I love food. I'm no chef, but I enjoy it. (And coffee/cafes will take up a whole future post).

In Hamilton, food is plentiful, affordable, delicious and diverse. And we're even lucky enough to grow some of it around here.

Regular grocery stores... they're all here. One a couple minutes away from me, a few others a little farther.

Specialty foods? No problem.
Just to start, we have Denningers, Duartes, a plethora of Asian grocers (I go to this one), Goodness Me!, Reardons, Locke Street Bagel, Zarky's (locations all over the city), cheese shops, Italian and Portuguese bakeries... need I go on?

A few weeks ago, I had canoli from Frank's Sicilia Bakery at Barton/Sherman. Unbelievably good.

Of course, there's also the markets - Hamilton Farmers Market, Ottawa Street, Westdale, the Mountain, Dundas, Skydragon... and different CSA/Foodshare boxes too (around the corner from me, you can get the Good Food Box ordered at the FRWY, fyi).
(not to mention the Makers Markets that also happen all year)

This is the first list of Hamilton Cuisine I saw, and I like Chowhound to find new grocery stores and new restaurants. Viewmag's "best of food" or Restaurantica are also starting points. I've barely scratched the surface.

Restaurants are my favorite... although I don't dine out that often. Here's my very short and very biased list of the ones I like the most.

Harbour Diner Pay the same as any other breakfast place, but nicer atmosphere and better food, plus creative options if you feel like it. (Beats the pants off the Egg and I, at least in the "pancake quality" and "level of background noise" divisions)
Rolly Rockets BBQ (real southern BBQ)
Go Tempura (for AYCE, I like it better than Sapporo, which is also pretty good. At Go Tempura, it's a bit fresher, a bit cheaper, and a bit more variety. You can get the $12 lunch menu at dinner. HUGE sushi portions a la carte for a great price too)
La Luna (locations in several places, Mediterranean, a little pricey but good.)
Rebel's Rock (Irish pub, good food, near to us. n)
Pho Dau Bo (Pho with good quality broth and other options)
Le Chinois (Chinese takeout at a good value without the grease of Forbidden City).
and of course Al Centro, the Italian place in Gore park.

I'm sure I've missed several that are fantastic.

There's many, many, many more like Affinity or Lulu's I still need to get to - and someday figure out how Wild Wing (which I do like) measures up to Right Wingers that I've heard about and I hear Bronzie's Place is good food and huge portions. Not to mention Mex-I-Can and Poco Loco

If Hamilton gets an AYCE Korean BBQ, another piece of the world will fall into place ;)

I'm always open to further recommendations. I like to eat, I like good food. I like making food and I like going out for it. Hamilton has food in abundance, it's really good, affordable, and there's all different kinds.

And that's another reason I love Hamilton.

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.

28 Reasons I Love Hamilton... Reason 7

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

Hamilton's got some great nature going for it.

This is Sean and Katie, and they are awesome people. Last July or so, they were visiting the province from Alabama (they'd flown to Buffalo, and were hitchiking up to Montreal). They were couchsurfing nearby and I met them in church on Sunday. They're pretty awesome, and we ended up hanging out a few times while they were there and on their way back.





When I first met them, it was a hot, brilliantly sunny day, and we headed down to the waterfront trail.

It's one of my favorite parts about Hamilton.





Not long after, another one of their hosts, Mandy, took them down to the beach and the waterfalls (no promotion required)

Two tourists. Two hosts. Three different destinations, all natural features we've taken advantage of. That's huge.

I like the Dundurn stairs, where you can head several different directions.... and seeing a few dozen snakes sunning themselves on the rocks, and little creatures moving amongst the undergrowth. (And yelling SNAKES ON A ROCK! har har...)

There's lots of great fishing here too, whether you're going off the waterfront trail or slightly out of town, there's many areas to go with lots of fish.

Among other odd jobs, I did a lot of landscaping last summer, and remember the variety of wildlife that would bolt back into the ravine as we came into Ancaster and Dundas backyards.

I even remember seeing herons in the water from my vantage point on the early morning GO train. (this is a picture of another one sighted in the Hamilton area, not the one I've seen)

There's also an enormous amount of conservation area here. I haven't ventured out to Cootes Paradise yet. And also, of course, the many farms and fantastic farmland that's so rare over much of the country is worth mentioning again.

(Although as far as nature goes, I could live without squirrels and pigeons, for obvious reasons)

So tonight I started to write a post about nature in Hamilton, and "The World Is Just Awesome" kept running through my head. So hey, I figured, let's run with it.




It never gets old huh?
Nope
It kinda make you wanna..break into song?
Yep

I love the oak trees
I love the clear blue skies
I love the Bruce Trail
I love when herons fly
I love Hamilton
And all the nature here

Boom de ah dah, boom de ah dah, boom de ah dah, boom de ah dah

I love the waterfront
I love deer in backyards
I love Princess Point
I love the escarpment
I love the whole place and all its craziness

Boom de ah dah, boom de ah dah, boom de ah dah, boom de ah dah

I love the nature folks
I love taking walks
I love my fishing hole
I love SNAKES ON ROCKS!
I love Hamilton
Its such a brilliant place!

Boom de ah dah, boom de ah dah, boom de ah dah, boom de ah dah
Boom de ah dah, boom de ah dah, boom de ah dah, boom de ah dah
Boom de ah dah, boom de ah dah, boom de ah dah, boom de ah dah

Hamilton's full of amazing creatures and plants and life. And that's another reason I love Hamilton.

28 Reasons I Love Hamilton... Reason 6

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

A lot of the time, I just like walking around and looking at buildings. We have the some of the best building stock around.

Incredibly historic buildings. Some pre-Confederation. (this heritage list is 184 pages!)
Victorian houses (this is just my neighbourhood. there's many more.)
1930s-ish 2 1/2 stories (again, just one 'hood. these are EVERYWHERE).
The first indoor mall in Canada
The last metal-facade building in Canada
Our first skyscraper
Fantastic density
Even Modernist buildings
(this history is not without several mistakes thus far and demolition by neglect).

And so much of our housing is in truly fantastic neighbourhoods. Strathcona and Stinson are two that have a combination of high, middle and low-end housing. There's several decent neighbourhoods with good starter homes. There's several higher-end neighbourhoods that cater to more of the yuppie and yuppie family markets like Locke. There's gorgeous mansions in Durand and swaths of bungalows in the East end. There's stone townhomes and brick cottages and glass-fronted condominiums.

Even the bad - truly run-down- neighbourhoods are generally not that way because of the housing stock. Gibson, which is a ruin (at least parts of it) has a stock of those double brick 2 1/2 stories that makes me weep to look at it being squandered. Just large enough for a family of 4, still able to fit a family of 6, and a truly palatial space for 2. With a vertical, efficient use of land, this type of building is a favorite of mine among Hamilton's incredibly diverse building stock.

I love those buildings. The history. The density. The character. The potential.

I rent one. It's a Victorian house from around 1910. Jarod and I just have the top floor - which is a 2-bedroom at around 900 square feet. We've got floor-to-ceiling windows that open, hardwood floors, beautiful wood trim and the biggest kitchen we've ever had. (For dirt cheap).

I plan on owning one. Victorian possibly... but there's a ton of 2.5 story places from the 1930s or so with less period detail, but great double-brick bones, that I would LOVE to gut and redo.

I plan on developing some. I don't make much money right now, but one day I will. So I want to be a good landlord. I want to get a building that's been neglected - or several. And make them great again.

But I don't want to buy the worst house in the best neighbourhood and flip it. I want to lift up and make better whatever area I'm in, and invest not just to make money, but to make the city a better place. I'd also love to help people own homes who couldn't otherwise and give safe places to live for people who need it.

This building - four stories of brick, with banners covering the top three storeys, was on sale for about $250k a few months ago. $250k! That's it! If me or someone else could secure a half-million, imagine the possibilities with this one. Smack in the centre of downtown and part of a historical streetwall. Make it the best thing in the neighbourhood. Raise the bar.

People are already doing this. They own apartment buildings, homes, commercial, storefronts. I know people who are renovating all of these types of buildings, and making the city better. And I know of many more that aren't acquaintances or friends.

There's areas where this isn't happening, or is a lot slower. Sure, we face a lot of poverty, absentee slumlords, and rental issues where conditions are terrible. But how much worse could these issues be if every poor person in Hamilton was put into a decrepit tower like in other cities? Here the possibility exists of renting a house for a very good price, and even owning a house if you're making a single minimum wage income.

And most people in the city can AFFORD to buy. This is a city where a lot of people can take on the smaller projects (of the three townhouses adjoining (picture here) , two have very new renovations and the third is in great shape. Victoria from King to Barton has a couple dozen houses that were renovated in the past two years... very encouraging). Several slightly-larger projects are already underway

Right now, I just came back from the newly inaugurated monthly By-Law Crawl. Basically, if people have buildings with trash in front, broken windows, decaying exteriors or other kinds of neglect, the only way they get dealt with is by a by-law officer. Those officers only investigate if people complain. So 50+ of us walked around today, noted the worst offenders, and complained.

Even now, I take good care of the space I rent (These guys sell cork flooring coated in vinyl that can be used in washrooms - I've considered asking our landlord if we can buy and install them. It can't only be in big, expensive cities that tenants improve spaces while they live there).

I do my best to make this city better while I'm here - and it's not hard, because we have great stuff to work with.

I love the buildings. And I love this city.

28 Reasons I Love Hamilton... Reason 5

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

I'm about as creative as a zebra mussel.

When it comes to thinking of truly new ideas, I'm not the person to talk to. My talents in the world of visual art lie somewhere beneath my writing, (but above my singing ;)) I find myself pretty clumsy and derivative. Most visuals I put together for work consist of hacking some sxc.hu photo and text together, and my paintings usually run on similar colours and themes.

So I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE to be in a place where people have the grace and originality I lack - and can change the environment in ways I cannot.

Hamilton's a great place for that.

Originality, vision, passion, creativity... It's here. In a fresh way. Without a lot of attitude or "hey-look-no-I'm-the-coolest-hipster" crud. People are good - really good! at what they do, but they're also unpretentious. And that's true especially on James North, but present all over the city.

At the same time, the arts in the area are established, with more traditional things (museums and opera, both things I enjoy once in a while) to entertainment venues and other types of art. but I'll talk about entertainment and music in a future post.

I must, at the top of everything, highlight Flar's photo tours of Hamilton. They really helped orient me to the city, both the brutal and the beautiful. He also took the photo at the top of this blog and let me use it. (My house is in this tour somewhere.)

Here's some of the places, people, things that stand out to me. Almost all stand out because I've been there and enjoyed them a great deal. (A few I haven't been to, but keep hearing great things about).

If you want to look further, the first link should connect you with a whole lot more.

The whole James Street North area - many, many galleries and events like the James North Art Crawl here. (Also, Supercrawl was epic).

The Imperial Cotton Centre & the Cossart Exchange
Think|Haus: a place for hackers, makers, artists, crafters, and DIYers
Mixed Media
Transit Gallery (Locke)
HIStory and HERitage
You Me Gallery
Hotel Hamilton
Classical Stained Glass
Flophouse Gallery
The Pearl Company
Gallery on the Bay
First Fridays (free) at the AGH
Heart of the Hammer and FRWY and Skydragon and My Dog Joe and other cafes/gallery spaces.

Hamilton's becoming an artistic city in a wildly unpretentious way, and I like it. I like that artists are generally very low-income people, but add tremendous value to a city. It's a very selfless thing, no matter how much you love your art.

It's been thought and said that we need more higher-end galleries and a few more things to give sustainability to the arts in Hamilton, but the current situation should provide a lot of affordable, artistic critical mass for a long time. It's also interesting how in a post-industrial economy there's a lot that the arts can do - and are doing! to catalyze change.

Where else in Canada are you going to get this?!?! That's another reason I love Hamilton.

28 Reasons I Love Hamilton... Reason 4

Why write 28 reasons I love Hamilton?

1. Hamilton is a CITY.
2. The Location
3. The size (population)

4. The scale

Four years ago this April, Jarod and I went to Florence for our honeymoon.

And here's why. We knew it was the only real vacation we'd afford for years. And we didn't just want to lie on a beach all week. On the other hand, we didn't want to expend a lot of energy on walking tours, train rides, or running from site to site. We wanted a lot of things to see, a bit of history, and just a bit of movement. We'd saved enough money to go to B.C. or somewhere in Europe.

So we picked Florence. The old city is small, and we stayed at a hotel just south of the river (100 euros a night, 120 with a view of the river). Every day, we'd finish our breakfast and walk across the river to one or two of the local sights - maybe more if we felt like it. We had a 3 Euro pocket map that was more useful than anything else on that trip.

And it was perfect. It was relaxing, it was beautiful. History was everywhere - and close by. Any destination was just a few minutes away. Whether that was the Duomo or the Medici Chapel or even going to see Botticelli's Venus in the Uffizi, it was all within a compact area that we walked through at our leisure. (And found things like the grocery store and even an English-speaking pharmacy within a few minutes of seeking them out).

And when the tour groups hurried by, guide hoisting aloft a one neon yellow umbrella, we smiled. And when day-trip tourists went past clutching a water that cost 8 euros, we smiled and cracked open another 1.5 litre bottle of sparkling water from the grocery store that cost a tenth of that (insert our ridiculous, smug silly Canadian tourist grins here).

Okay, so Hamilton isn't Florence, and good luck buying sparkling water here for that price ;).

But I can relive one part of that trip all the time here. I don't have to expend a lot of energy getting around. Everything is compact. The scale of this city is great. Anything I need is within a fairly small footprint. And many of our streets are scaled well for pedestrians, as well as the overall layout.

For the things that are further out, I don't need to go far out of my way. If I have a meeting on the edge of the Mountain, it's an 11-minute bus ride from Gore Park. (I timed it). 11 minutes to get to the edge of town. If I need to get to Dundas or Stoney Creek, it's 20 minutes on a good day or 40 on a bad. Even the topography of the city, with the Escarpment, allows for neighbourhoods like Concession that are very friendly and well-scaled within different areas.

Were we to add truly decent transit (not a bus system) the potential is enormous. We have the scale.

And the 2.8 km walk from my house on the east edge of downtown to my work on the west edge of downtown takes about 25 minutes. Enough for exercise, enough to lower my stress levels... but not so much that it adds a lot of time to my day, especially when the bank and the market and most other errands I need to run can be done on the way there or back.

I know a large group of people find driving relaxing. It's their favorite time of the day. And I understand that - having your own space to control, perhaps the only time you get to be alone, can be enjoyable.

However, I am not part of that group! My depth perception sucks and my reflexes are terrible and well, I just generally hate paying that much attention to my surroundings. There's more to that story (and no, it doesn't involve accidents or tickets anything of that sort, lol) , but I personally don't miss driving at all.

Compared to St. Catharines, which didn't have much of a "core" i like the scale of Hamilton's centre. (And that our streets are parallel/perpendicular for the most part, if you've ever driven in St. Catharines, you know what I mean!)


Compared to Toronto, where a meeting "in town" could take me to places an hour apart by driving, I like the scale of the entire city of Hamilton..

And compared to Florence, well, they're apples and oranges, but I think I'll go back there someday too.








(picture 1: jarod broughton. picture 2. flar from Skyscraper forum, who has given graciously permission to use photos on my blog and a few other nonprofit projects. please contact them before using any of their photographs).

28 Reasons I Love Hamilton... Reason 3

Why write 28 reasons I love Hamilton?

1. Hamilton is a CITY.
2. The Location

3. The size (population)

Half a million people is a good size. At least in my books.

"Toronto envy" is a phrase I've heard a lot since moving here. I don't know why. Mid-sized cities are great.


Hamilton's big enough for me.
There's enough people for critical mass in just about any initiative. There's enough people passionate about just about any issue. There's enough people that you can find just about anything already in existence, or common minds to start it up. Whether that's business, charity, recreation or anything else... there will be others who think alike.

Hamilton's also not too big for me.
It's easier to be heard.

It's easier to get to know people.

It's easier to comprehend what's going on in local matters.

It's easier to work together for change in any single area.

Mid-sized cities are more manageable. (The flipside, of course, is that mismanagement is much more obvious ;))

For me, Hamilton is just right in size.

And that's what I love. Compared to Toronto, where there was so much activity of every single kind - good, bad, crime, business, arts, food, media, culture, festivals that it couldn't possibly be understood, or even become a part of (for or against) in a meaningful way... Hamilton is a city where it's possible to stay informed about a lot... and act on it.

It's large enough that diversity of opinion can coexist peacefully and there's many options for anything. At the same time, though, I think that while both aspects need to exist, it forces us to be more of a melting pot than a mosaic. And that spreads out the good things.

So when I compare Hamilton - in the "what is" and "what could be" categories, I don't ask why we're not Toronto or Chicago or New York or Dubai or even Vancouver. I don't want to live in any of those places, great as they may be.

But how about mid-sized cities? Memphis, Boston, Denver, Seattle, Portland, Atlanta, Miami, Cleveland... even Las Vegas or Nashville. What about Edinburgh or Manchester? There's many more cities more in line with what we are. Mid-sized cities one can look towards rather comfortably for examples of good (and bad) within... and better than looking towards great big cities and bemoaning that we can't be them.


In Tuesday's Spectator, I like this quote about those who used to leave for Toronto now staying in Hamilton and finding they have a place here:

"All the kids left here for the cool city," Geleynse said. "Now anybody can come here and be one of the cool kids.

"In Hamilton, there is a reason to get up every morning and contribute something."

Yes, there is. And that's another reason I love Hamilton.

28 Reasons I Love Hamilton... Reason 2

Why write 28 reasons I love Hamilton?

1. Hamilton is a CITY.

2. The Location

Hamilton's in a good spot, and it has connections.

Hamilton's in a good spot.
Halfway between Toronto and the border.
Proximity to Niagara and London and Kitchener and Waterloo and Guelph...
Surrounded by farmland that produces great stuff (if we don't build over all of it ;))
Near the lake, so our climate's great.
We've even got this handy escarpment thing running through the city.

Of course, there's connections to everything.

Freight Rail.
Water.
Air.
Bus.
Trails.
Highway.
Passenger Train.

And I like that in a city.

• We can drive to Guitar Centre in Tonawanda without too much trouble.
• I've commuted to Toronto on the train for a month (the sunrise over the harbour... incredible).
  
• I often eat food grown on Hamilton farmland.
• If I need to fly, I prefer to have an airport in my own city.
• The GO goes to Niagara now.
• The Bruce Trail even goes through the middle of our city via the escarpment.

And all of that works for me.

I love where Hamilton is located, and I love its connections.

28 Reasons I Love Hamilton... Reason 1

Why write 28 reasons I love Hamilton?

1. Hamilton is a CITY.

A proper city. Not a bedroom community. Not a village or hamlet. Not a suburb or subdivision. Not a municipality or township. And I like that.

I'm the first to admit my experience is very Ontario-centric. I've lived in St. Catharines. I've lived in Toronto. I've lived in Jordan Station. I've lived in Uxbridge. I've visited Italy and a few places in the States. And I always had a sneaking suspicion that I would end up in Hamilton one day.Toronto's a bit big for me, and well... after a summer with a contract job in Uxbridge, the "bed and breakfast" town for Toronto commuters, I realized I'm a city girl and set my sights on the Hammer.

It almost didn't happen. After almost landing a job in Milton and narrowly missing another very near Hamilton... I was relieved beyond words to be able to move to Hamilton, much sooner than expected.

I love cities.

Canada does not have many cities, dispersed as we are. Even more foreign is the concept of moving around different cities in a smaller geographical area. People think of moving to provinces... but more rarely to particular cities in that province.

And rarer still are "cities" in Ontario that are not bedroom communities... or that have a livable core with real amenities. Very few of the smaller 'cities' in Ontario are anything more than conglomerates of suburbs and new Smart Centers or similar (really.. everywhere.) with a tiny "core" of a few historical buildings. Witness the current Brantford debacle over bulldozing pre-Confederation buildings on Colborne Street. Witness the (very) slow revitalization of St. Thomas' downtown and the parts still suffering great neglect. Witness the past 10 years finally starting to bring some change in St. Catharines' downtown.

By contrast, our downtown, though suffering from demolition of many key buildings (the Century near me among them most recently), has a great deal left, and a great deal already going for it - if you dig beyond the one-ways. And things are localized and centralized.

Even the International Village around the corner has 62 of 72 storefronts filled. No matter what time I walk by, someone's always working at Bizclip. On this street I've got everything from great coffee to food to guitar strings. I've seen great art and cafe shows and danced to the big band at the Mustard Festival and got a great sandwich at Waxy's. Not to mention the Makers Market and P0WNZ and more - and that's just one stretch of one street in my neighbourhood.

And Hamilton, aside from simple population, has the things that make it a city. We're interconnected, dense, have a small footprint for our population. Cultural parts of a city, whether traditional like opera and museums, or less traditional, both abound. We're multicultural, as we should be. We've got a real central core to work with as a city, and the opportunity to extend transit and roads strategically around it.

At the same time, the surrounding suburbs are rightly recognized as part of the city, however much the odd cry of protest is still heard.

And everything is centralized here. Everything. Whether that's rock-climbing near my church or indoor swimming down my street or a decent Pho restaurant... it's here. (Well, everything except AYCE Korean BBQ.. yet. But that's gettin' specific :)

I love being in a city. Millions of pages have been written about the advantages of cities - the advantages of their density or their efficiency or a thousand other things. Cities concentrate things. Critical mass of anything can be reached first in a city, whether good or bad.

And that's the first reason I love Hamilton.

It's a city, and it's my city.

28 Reasons I Love Hamilton... the Why.

This month, I'm writing every day about one reason I love Hamilton. And I hope it resonates with you. Of course, that won't prevent it from being entirely personal, biased, and incomplete... but it's a start.

Why make a list? I love the place. Also because... well, if you're not from here, there's 2 "first impressions" of the city:

From far away...
The industrial view and smell from the QEW, (relics of an industrial past dying a slow death.)

As you get closer...
One-way streets that you get lost on and lead through strangely empty "main streets" with strangely empty buildings (relics of decades-outdated urban planning dying a slower death).

Ever since moving here, I've discovered that Hamilton is SO much more than that. I want to share what I've discovered.

But even before I moved here, reason #1 was true. And I'll tell you what that is... today.

in February..

in February i will start something new.

i'm going to post for 28 days on 28 things I LOVE about this city.

Today, though, this is the best thing I've seen so far. I love poems that capture a certain energy and urgency about life - whether they're ee cummings or this one from Longfellow:

A Psalm of Life

Tell me not in mournful numbers,

"Life is but an empty dream!"

For the soul is dead that slumbers,

And things are not what they seem.

Life is real! Life is earnest!

And the grave is not its goal;

"Dust thou art, to dust returnest,"

Was not spoken of the soul.

Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,

Is our destined end or way;

But to act, that each to-morrow

Find us further than to-day.

Art is long, and Time is fleeting,

And our hearts, though stout and brave,

Still, like muffled drums, are beating

Funeral marches to the grave.

In the world's broad field of battle,

In the bivouac of Life,

Be not like dumb, driven cattle!

Be a hero in the strife!

Trust no Future, howe'er pleasant!

Let the dead Past bury its dead!

Act -- act in the living Present!

Heart within, and God o'erhead!

Lives of great men all remind us

We can make our lives sublime,

And, departing, leave behind us

Footprints on the sands of time;

Footprints, that perhaps another,

Sailing o'er life's solemn main,

A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,

Seeing, shall take heart again.

Let us, then, be up and doing,

With a heart for any fate;

Still achieving, still pursuing,

Learn to labour and to wait.

edit: I'm adding in the video of it I liked the most:


unfortunately, the only labour i'm doing this afternoon is analyzing squiggles on a page that represent heart rhythms. and there's value in that, as there is in all work.

but i have some more meaningful things planned in the next couple days too

• - next Monday a few of us have resume night- people from my church from fields as diverse as early childhood education, retail and nonprofit getting together to make resumes and pray for the job search
• - Hamilton Civic League meetings are starting up again and i'm really, really excited about the possibilities and plans for this year.
• - tonight is Alpha - which i have a love-hate relationship with, but i think it's working in this context.
• - i should, this month, be found qualified to study images on a monitor instead of just squiggles on a page which would be very helpful :)

and that's it for now :)

Well said... well said

The councillor for my area of the city said this today:

This week the Public Works committee formally received a report on the state of the city’s infrastructure warning that the spending shortfall for roads, pipes, facilities and other structures exceeds $150 million a year.

That led to the following exchange between downtown councillor Bob Bratina and the general manager of public works, Gerry Davis, transcribed by CATCH.

Bratina: Gerry, how much does it cost to maintain a lane kilometre [of roadway]?

Davis: Summer and winter included, it’s approximately $10,000 per lane kilometre.

Bratina: How many lane kilometres have we added in the last ten years, roughly?

Davis: We’ve added, I would say, probably upwards 500-700 lane kilometres.

Bratina: A year, on average?

Davis: On average about 50 or 70 a year, Rick? [asking one of his staff] So 60.

Bratina: So if we can’t afford to maintain these lane kilometres of road, why do we add them? It begs the other question. It’s a bit rhetorical but we’re providing – do the development charges that we apply to development recover the costs?

Davis: Through the growth component, when a developer – they’ll pay for the hard services, the capital cost, primarily. There may be a local component – roads, water, sewers. And then that road is handed over to the municipality to maintain. And other services are then required by the municipality – and that’s public works, policing, fire. But what happens in areas – we have assessment growth generated by the property taxes. That doesn’t come specifically to the police or fire or public works for waste collection, road maintenance, but there is a growth in revenues. I’m not saying it covers everything but that is, the capital cost is, primarily paid by the developer.

Bratina: Okay, so the evidence is that this so-called growth isn’t working because we’re $145 million a year short. So who should pay for that? And what I’m suggesting is that we’re building cheap houses for people who work in other communities. We hear this constantly shoved down our throat about how many people leave the city every day to go to work somewhere else. Well that’s because somebody who’s got a job in Peel can’t afford, at his wages a house there, so they get a nice taxpayer-subsidized house in Hamilton.

A good example is Maple Leaf [Meats facility in Burlington], because the average, the 900 or so on the production line, mostly live in Hamilton, because they can’t afford on the wages they get to live there.

So we have to consider as a council, and get the accurate information. It’s fine to say well we’re going to get all these new taxes from all these new houses. There’s your proof that we’re not getting the money back. And if you look at a growing community – like let’s say Alberta – Edmonton and the oil boom – they’re desperately short of houses. And there’s new jobs, there’s new people moving in. They’ve got to build houses. We don’t. We don’t have all these new jobs being created. All we’re doing is subsidizing residences for people who work elsewhere.

Nicely said. And that's my councillor. I don't always agree with him. But I think he's pretty good at what he does, and I very often do agree with what he says - including this.

l33t runnings.

Of course, most people resolve to be healthier in the New Year. Me too.

My motivation isn't really weight or shape or any of that... but I know how I feel if I'm healthy.

I know if it I'm eating right, getting enough sleep, and working out - and if I have the energy that comes with all three of those.

This doesn't come naturally to me.
For example, I am definitely not a running pastor.
Despite my height, i'm not a basketball-playing pastor.
(I'm more the sit-on-the-couch-and-watch-hockey pastor... maybe flood-my-backyard-for-a-rink even, if I had one. ).

That's as far as it goes... for a few reasons.

My depth perception isn't good.
My peripheral vision ain't so hot.
My balance is... questionable.
My reaction time and reflexes are sloooow.
And while I don't have asthma or anything like that, I have the natural aerobic capacity of a particularly narcoleptic sloth.

This means, of course, that watching me play volleyball is an awful spectacle - and pencil-and-paper gaming is more up my alley.

But not entirely. There's been a progression here:

1. Elementary-age track and field competitions (Long jump was great, high jump was fine... unfortunately I could only make it halfway running around the 400m track before dropping down into a walk.)
2. Jr. High gymnastics (except for being 5'7" at the time, that could have worked out. No leotard stories... this time. If there are still pictures, I'll provide bribes ;))
   
3. Everyone's favorite.... Grade Nine gym class (and the no-name shoes that slid me into the walls on every suicide drill.... a ray of hope hit with buying my first pair of brand-name shoes - Nikes - and realizing that shoes with traction and cushioning might help things out a little...)
4. In Grade 12, finding a sport I could play... rugby. - I don't need depth perception or speed. I run and hit people, someone else deals with the catching and speed. And the running drills got me up there.. a little. And I bought some trusty New Balance trail runners that are most certainly are far too worn out for me to still be wearing.. but I do.
   
5. Discovering strength training. With the decidedly-not-for-my-age-category Strong Women Stay Young I also discovered dumbbells and rowing machines around this time
   
6. Dorm life with a gym downstairs - and learning to run - my first real routine. I moved to Toronto. The Couch-to-5k got me running - for the first time in my life - for 45 minutes to an hour at a time at a good pace... four days running a week, three days of weights - doubling up on Saturdays, with Sundays off. I even worked at the Nike store for a while.
   
7. Then I moved to Bathurst and Sheppard and did nothing exercise-related for a year.
8. The year of glory - I got married, we moved closer to downtown, and we bought Goodlife memberships - and spent a great year and a bit using them at several shiny Toronto locations. Lifted heavier and heavier weights. Even did some personal training. And it fit in seamlessly before/after work and school. Too bad it was not to last...
   
9. Then we moved WAY out to a lovely and very rural area... the equivalent of Winchestertonfieldville. It offered me the potential, should I choose, of an 11k bike ride to work over some very exciting hills... and that was about it. (I did it a few times though).
   
10. Moving back to civilization... where I've been for a few years now. And it's time to get back at it. There's a lot of good side streets and trails nearby - and I need to do this. I walk a lot, but the strength training's gone out the window, my back enjoys complaining a majority of the time now, and I'm now only able to huff and puff my way through a few minutes' running.
    

But that's ok. I've been "out of it" before and got back into it. I can do it again. (and living at the top of a 3 story walkup does help quite a bit - especially when one has to carry their groceries up it. my muscles are in good shape, just not my lungs so much)

So tonight I started fresh.

Back with the Couch-to-5k.

Back with the 60 seconds jogging/90 seconds walking.

Back out in the fresh-fallen snow and (surprisingly) beautiful night. (Though I'll go for mornings most days). One drawer's full of my workout clothes again, and my dumbbells lie in the closet, waiting to be moved to a more strategic spot later tonight.

And it was awesome.
It hurt. It was tough. I'm so out of shape it isn't funny. I shouldn't be out of breath after running a minute or two. But that's ok... I'm starting from scratch again.

And the time flew.
I went up every flight of stairs at home feeling lighter than air.
I stretched out every muscle feeling a good burn.
Endorphins are a nice bonus.

And even in a day or two when it gets stiff and sore, that'll pass - and my body will build up the muscles that have broken down, bigger and stronger - along with bones and lungs and the hundred(s) of other benefits (This isn't the specific list I use to motivate me, but it's close enough.)

And if I keep doing this, it will continue to be awesome.
And if I keep doing this until the spring, I will get new running shoes and let the old ones retire.

That's just about all the motivation I need.

Happy New Year --- 4 days later.

Of all the Christmas gifts I've received this year - whether large or small, practical or frivolous, lovely or absurd, this watch mechanism necklace is my favorite. And appropriate too around this time.

It's 4 days into the New Year already. Wow.

Already in this new year I've seen friends get married and my brother move across the country. Another couple I know gets married this Friday!

It's a new year and new things all right.

And that's good. 2009 was good for me. It's been a settling-down, a calmer year on a more even keel than the first couple ones in this city.

I'm very thankful for all the good things in my life. I inhabit a great city. My home is amazing and located perfectly for me. I have a great marriage. This last year has seen the development of some solid friendships here. Going back to school has turned out to be a program of surprising quality. I've been able to find work last year in everything from painting to my dreadlocking to landscaping. I've been able to volunteer and give my time a few places. And I work at a church with visionary, solid, compassionate, and hardworking leadership that also keenly understands this particular city... and I could not ask for more than that.

However, there are a few things I hope 2010 brings. They're all big, and they'll all require help from other people - not me alone.

• I want to read at least 2 books a month. I love reading and don't have time for it like I used to. I want to make more time and buy/borrow more books.
• I want to write more. Last year was different, but most years I write a lot. I want to get back at it this year.
  
• I want to be more effective and intentional in how I lead youth ministry. We've picked intentional topics to focus on - I want to take more time so they're creatively presented, discussed, retained and practically lived... with time to keep all my leaders on the same page and pray through every part of that.
  
• I want to spend more time to preparing the message when I preach. The content/research is fine... but the creativity takes time for me. And same here... I want to make sure I can stop, relax... take time to listen in prayer as well as speak... go to a coffee shop and review.. let it simmer a bit.
  
• I want to network with more people in my field. There's a few pastors around who I've had a conversation or two with -- but I want to hear more from them. And I have an inkling there's some conversations I could contribute to, but I'm just not around to say anything most of the time - whether online or in person - and I'd like to be.
  
• I'd like to bring some livable money in. You can't do anything without money. So either an exceptional summer job, an increase in one of my current jobs, or a very good job right out of school this spring - something, no matter what, that's stable and steady - constant hours, constant pay, not wondering when I'm working that week.
  
• I'd like to be paying a mortgage instead of rent down the drain. Even with all the additional costs, owning is so cheap here... if we find a really good broker, this just might happen - and it makes financial sense.
  
• I'd like to take a vacation. Jarod and I haven't taken a vacation together since our honeymoon - four years ago this April. The best we've gotten since then is a day or two at home alone together, but it would be nice to get away even for a weekend.
• I want to start some type of running/weights again. Since I left Toronto and my gym membership, my six-days-a-week routine is now just a half-hour walk most days - and that's not really hitting cardio or muscle/bone mass.
• and finally.... I want to slow down and make more time for people. I have no problem working real hard... but I don't want to become a person in the process who finds it impossible to turn that off. And starting with a bulldozer temperament (sad but true) and a driven, task-oriented personality -- I've become good at listening if I'm in a conversation, but I need to slow down and allow space for more conversations to happen.
  

If there was one word to sum it up... I've settled here, but I want to become better established.

More solid friendships, doing better at my current work, owning a house. And finding better routines to manage my time and taking care of my own body.

I want to end this year more established in every aspect than when I started.

Jarod and I were talking a day or so ago, and reaffirming that we're here in Hamilton for the long-term. Neither of us plans on returning to our hometowns. We liked a great deal about Toronto, but never felt we were destined to stay forever there or anywhere else we've lived... until we got here.

And although we don't know what the future holds, we think we're carving out a niche for ourselves that we'll fit in for years to come - and that it's a good, good city to carve that niche in.

We love this city. And we both plan to stick around a while, God willing.

And for those reading. I hope your year coming up is great. If possible, I hope it surpasses the last in every way - personally, professionally, emotionally, mentally, spiritually, and more.

And if you're reading this you probably have a connection in some way - whether it's a friend of mine, through work, church, online or just because we both live in this great city. So to all of you...

Happy New Year!

sometimes i miss Toronto

but never for very long.