It's been a while since I've done a #worldmappin post but it's about time that I started posting about destinations in my home country of Canada. They won't be as exciting as any of my European travel destinations, but you have to work with what you've got in most cases. I like to think that every place has at least something to offer; or maybe that's just what I tell myself? Anyway, lets take a look at the city of Hamilton Ontario. Here we go!
Hamilton is a midsized city located in the southern tip of the province, about an hour drive from Toronto. It is situated on the coast of Lake Ontario and has a population of approximately 787,000 people.
It was established in 1887 and up until more recent years it was known as being a manufacturing and industrial city that was defined by its two large steel plants. Historically those plants supplied around 60% of Canadas steel but also gave the city a reputation of being sort of a dirty and gritty city.
You can see the plants when driving over the QEW bridge heading towards Niagara Falls. I remember as a kid seeing heavy smoke billowing from some of their stacks and a continuous fire burning from others. The area looked like a pollution factory through the eyes of a child.
Nowaday the city's economy has shifted away from steel and manufacturing and moved towards the service industries. Today the city is known for its health sciences, research Hospital system and McMaster University - Canada's 4th best ranked university. The change has lead to the city being considered more "up and coming." To me the city sparks mixed feelings of being historical, gritty, university gentrified (for lack of a better phrase) and hipster, all combined in one.
I used to work in the downtown core and on nice days I would take walks around the area. There is a very small green space along the street with a large water fountain at the center. It would be a very nice spot if there wasn't so much litter around. Its a spot that a lot of individuals who are experiencing homelessness hang out as well. Note: the photos make it look pretty clean but thats because I removed all of the litter and anything unsightly from the pictures using an AI editor.
The city is a sanctuary city and has many social services in place to try and tackle the housing crisis, homelessness, poverty and more. I wouldn't say that its doing an amazing job considering all of the shelters are continueously at capacity and there are many many tent city encampments popping up all over the place along with many people living on the streets, but its certainly doing more than most other locals. My opinion is that the city just cannot keep up to the massive influx of people needing services.
King street runs through the center of the downtown core. It and many of its off shoot roads and avenues are lined with uniue shops and restaurants.
The architecture in the area is a mix of old and new.
Many of the older building and homes are known for their rusty red brick construction.
The older buildings give a lot of character to the city, which is a bonus.
New high rise buildings and condos are being built each year adding to its density.
Alleyways are decorated with graffiti and many building facades have city commissioned street art murals painted on them.
See my recent street art post for more on the murals, if you're interested.
City Hall has a large "Hamilton" sign out front that is illuminated in bright, ever changing colors in the evening and early morning.
In the warmer months there is a garden out front that is decorated in a different elaborate theme each year.
The year that I took the photos the theme was in honor to the local CFL football team, the Hamilton Tiger-cats. I don't know what type of plants the tiger was made of but it was pretty impressive actually. It's probably a type of grass.
There are several old buildings in the downtown core and many churches. St. Paul's Church was built in 1857 in the gothic revival architecture style.
It's characterized by its 80 foot spire on top of a 100 foot tower.
It's not as impressive as the massive gothic Cathedrals of France and other parts of Europe but there is a level of charm about it nonetheless. There are other churches in the city, along with many other things to do.
For instance there is the Royal Botanical Gardens and the Theater Aquarius for a show. But those are things that I haven't done yet though and don't have pictures to show you so I'll save them for a future post if I ever experience them myself. Until then, thanks for reading.
