Hamilton The Design District 41 | ?m | 31s | Emblem Developments | Arcadis

Sunnyside said:
Could be one of two things (or both):

1. It’s in reference to the Louis Vuitton furnishings. High quality interior design, you might say. Quite a cut above for Hamilton too.

2. They’re trying to not-so-subtly make the area itself known as “The Design District”.

I can buy into this as a marketing idea. Any concept of a “district” in Hamilton that has some flair is welcome. Not that we don’t have character or informal districts, but we like to get caught up in reviving what “was” or improving what “is”. So, a genuinely new place is refreshing.

If the direction here is to go from the Void district to the Design district as a built-from-scratch neighbourhood spearheaded by Emblem, then I’m here for it. This part of town really is a void and some direction would go a long way in making it less forgettable after it’s all said and done.

Worth noting this is also probably the highest quality design in Hamilton for a condo short of anything by Core Urban. So they definetely can claim it’s about the architecture too, even if it’s only relative.
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They’re trying to invent a new district somehow, which is bizarre on many levels.

A) There were plans floating around to designate King William Street —two blocks south of this development— into an ‘Theatre/Arts Entertainment’ district
(https://civicplan.ca/king-william-performing-arts-district-plan/)


B) The bogus, secret ‘Sports-Entertainment’ district ‘planned’ two blocks west of this development.

It would have made more sense, from a marketing perspective, to piggy-back off those plans and sell future residents on the area amenities.

But this development has been marketed toward investors vs home buyers from the get-go, so their ignorance regarding the neighbourhood really shows.
 
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Has anyone seen any Archeologists on site here?

Wilson follows the path of an old aboriginal trail between Niagara and Toronto, and could contain some answers to Hamilton’s hidden past.
 
DC83 said:
Has anyone seen any Archeologists on site here?

Wilson follows the path of an old aboriginal trail between Niagara and Toronto, and could contain some answers to Hamilton’s hidden past.
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Probably already had an archology report prepared, reviewed and approved to be digging and pouring concrete.
 
DC83 said:
Has anyone seen any Archeologists on site here?

Wilson follows the path of an old aboriginal trail between Niagara and Toronto, and could contain some answers to Hamilton’s hidden past.
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Wasn't that path what we now call King St/ Hwy 8? I really appreciate these pieces of history, so if there are indigenous roots in the Wilson St path, I would love to know where you learned about that.
 
jta5 said:
Wasn't that path what we now call King St/ Hwy 8? I really appreciate these pieces of history, so if there are indigenous roots in the Wilson St path, I would love to know where you learned about that.
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Essentially today’s Burlington Street was the shoreline of Macassa Bay (now Burlington Bay), and the base of the Niagara Escarpment was a swampy wetland.

There’s a plateau (ancient Lake Iroquois sandbar) from Burlington Heights (Desjardins Canal) to the Niagara Escarpment (today’s Jolley Cut Mountain Access) that was elevated enough to become a regularly used trail. Though apparently there are no known settlements due to the harshness of the environment.

Several Trails diverge from this plateau, some up the escarpment towards to the Grand River, some east toward Niagara.

Regarding burial mounds, it’s rumoured that there was one in the area of Emerald & Ferrie, before that land was eventually flattened and developed.

Check out this book:

Getting Around Hamilton​

a Brief History of Transportation in and Around Hamilton, 1750 to 1950

Getting Around Hamilton: A brief history of transportation in and around Hamilton | Indigo

Buy the book Getting Around Hamilton: A brief history of transportation in and around Hamilton by Bill Manson at Indigo
www.indigo.ca www.indigo.ca
 
KingJames said:
Insta advertising... Ug, Hamilton is not a suburb last I checked..
View attachment 514627View attachment 514628
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I think I commented exactly that on one of their posts (not that they care) Hamilton is far enough away that I think calling it a suburb of Toronto is a bit of an insult.

Mississauga, Brampton, and Vaughn all of which barely have their own CBD and essentially leach all their economic vitality from being adjacent to Toronto are definitely suburbs.
 
Because this project is being marketed towards investors, I'm excited for this project but its going to end up being all rentals and airbnbs.
 
PaperSun said:
Because this project is being marketed towards investors, I'm excited for this project but its going to end up being all rentals and airbnbs.
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While I have an issue with airbnbs, rentals are much needed and there's no issue with that in particular. I'd prefer to see purpose built rental buildings, but the big reason investors are purchasing units to rent out is because there's a huge lack of purpose built rental supply.

The new GST exemption should help a ton with that.
 
Hamilton is not a suburb lol

This developer gives zero hoots about this city, and knows nothing about it. Hence ‘Design District’ on a block surrounded by churches…


Per Hamilton Magazine‘s Sep 2023 issue:

“the overwhelming majority of Hamiltonians, 70 per cent, live and work in Hamilton.”

hamiltoncitymagazine.ca

Hamilton’s expensive fiction - Hamilton City Magazine

False narratives that have guided planning decisions for decades have resulted in costly urban sprawl. It’s time to plan for the city that really exists. Understanding the type of city you are helps communities plan for the future. If you are a tourist town, you gear infrastructure and...
hamiltoncitymagazine.ca hamiltoncitymagazine.ca

Like most condo projects in Hamilton, it’s all PR to maximize profits. Nothing to do with re-building a city.

We should be demanding better than speculators like these.

EDIT: The Hamilton Mag article is a good read. This city is in the middle of a serious identity crisis at the moment, with multiple interests trying to re-shape it to benefit them, when we should be letting urban fabric grow naturally.
 
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We all bitch and complain because we aren't seeing development, now we do and we bitch and complain. No cornices, not the right developers etc etc. No wonder the city had an identity crisis. Just bitching and complaining its the same on SSP.
 
FF407 said:
We all bitch and complain because we aren't seeing development, now we do and we bitch and complain. No cornices, not the right developers etc etc. No wonder the city had an identity crisis. Just bitching and complaining its the same on SSP.
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The days of Hamilton being a ‘Beggers Can’t Be Choosers’ city is long gone. That ended in the early 2010s.

During those days, we got garbage developments like Caroline & Market, or the old Spec Lofts on King William.

“At least somethings getting built downtown” was the narrative.

Now with the housing/affordability crisis, a huge increase in population around Toronto, as well as some domestic things like Steelport, the City is in the driver’s seat.

They/We should absolutely be demanding Affordable Units, Family-Sized Units, Privately-Owned Public Spaces (POPS), ‘Third Place’ Amenities like retail/commercial space, and better overall design.

Again, the City is in the driver’s seat. It’s not like developer’s are going to say “screw this we’ll just build in Mississauga”… there’s no land left!
 
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