City staff to propose 10-year revitalization plans for Hamilton Wednesday

What will Hamilton’s downtown core look like in the next decade? A preliminary report of a 10-year revitalization strategy will be presented to city councillors on Wednesday.

This strategy has been in the works for about a year now and has gone through different levels of feedback and community engagement to determine some key priorities with the goal of completing them within three to five years once the plan has been finalized.

This is still a draft but a finalized version is expected to be presented to council sometime before March next year.

The strategy focuses on the downtown core but specifically Hamilton Centre, James and King streets, Jackson Square and the areas around the newly renovated and renamed TD Coliseum.

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Some of the key priorities include an increased sense of safety, protecting the main streets and supporting the downtown economy.

One aspect that remained consistent through resident engagement is that people care deeply about the downtown core but many shared strong feelings of neglect and disconnection.

The draft document notes that the city’s core is home to around 13,000 residents and employs thousands of others.

But it also identifies the increasing social pressures around housing and affordability, as well as the rising number of people experiencing homelessness – from about 1,200 last year to over 2,000 this year.

The city staff report says that if this revitalization strategy is successful, it could also inform other similar plans for different areas in the city.

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