I was in Hamilton about two…

I was in Hamilton about two weeks ago visiting friends and family (I moved away about 3 years ago, but grew up in Hamilton) and I was shocked to see how drastically the city has declined. For blocks in all directions there were boarded up houses, mind you perfectly good bones of houses and ones that seemed perfectly fine. In addition, from all the articles I’ve read about the housing market and first hand accounts from friends and family still in the city, the prices have somehow skyrocketed despite the current conditions of the city pushing lifelong hamiltonians out. YET rich property managers and foreign buyers still have the audacity to build massive “luxury condos” and gentrify pockets of the downtown while leaving the rest of the city to continue to rot away. It’s surreal to see. I can’t fathom the decisions Hamilton and its politicians have taken as the problems are literally staring them right in the face. I have always thought that Hamilton could be something wonderful if locals and the city poured money into upkeeping the already existing buildings and houses in its beautiful neighborhoods and downtown centres yet somehow they’ve strayed even farther away from that model to what seems like a dangerous tipping point. to see flocks of houseless individuals next to boarded up buildings and see a new high rise luxury condo that no one can afford on the same block seems like something out of a science fiction movie. Even if the idea is to attract out of city residents to flock to hamilton with these luxury condos, it is a sore oversight as no one would even want to live in a place that looks like it’s on the brink of collapse. Please take this step in the right direction to save the city I and so many others love so dearly.