Some thoughts on writing and editing

Writing can be an overwhelming experience, especially for those with attentional deficit issues. Here are some tricks I have learned to help reduce my cognitive overload when writing and editing:

 

Express yourself first, edit later

  • Don’t expect the first expression of an idea to be elegant, well-formed, or to make any sense
  • Through skillful editing, silk purses can be made from sow’s ears
  • The writing/editing process is highly iterative; don’t be surprised if it takes time

Writing as a tool for thinking

  • As you write you might start to think about things in a new way
  • It may be difficult to predict where a document might lead before you actually write it
  • This emergent aspect is what makes writing exciting

Mechanical editing

  • A large part of editing is mechanical or technical and thus could, in theory, be automated (that is, any monkey could be trained to do it)
  • Such editing need not be too difficult conceptually

Good content requires more than technique

  • Even with perfect technical editing, there is no guarantee that the content of writing will have any value

Number of words

  • If you can express the same thought in fewer words, then use fewer words
  • However, don’t be too miserly with words; excessive density or compactness of writing should be avoided

Contiguity of similar ideas

  • Put ideas that are similar, next to one another, using cut and paste
  • If there is repetition, then get rid of something
  • Don’t say the same thing in different parts of the same document, except occasionally for rhetorical effect

Order and flow

  • Often, sufficient ideas are present in a document but are not in the proper order
  • Put ideas in the proper order so that they flow well and unfold elegantly

Conclusions

  • If you make a conclusion using words such as ‘therefore’ or ’so’, you should support your conclusion with a progression of plausible assertions
  • Don’t assume, as a given, what you are tying to prove
  • Sometimes lines of reasoning lead to crazy conclusions; sometimes such conclusions turn out to be true

Avoid conclusions if necessary

  • Often the available evidence is too sketchy or ambiguous to make firm conclusions
  • Asking the right questions might be a worthwhile contribution

Back to front structure

  • If you come to an interesting conclusion at the end of a document, it might be a good idea to put that idea at the beginning so people have some idea where you are headed

Hidden assumptions

  • Hidden assumptions are things assumed to be true without their existence being acknowledged and with no evidence of their truthfulness provided
  • Try to identity and examine hidden assumptions; this can often be an interesting and fruitful enquiry

Knowledge as ‘frozen ignorance’

  • Often things that ‘everyone knows’ turn out not to be true
  • Assume that your ignorance of the world is much greater than your knowledge
Posted in Writing | Leave a comment

Nuit Blanche Toronto 2009

Dancer in gallery window. Nuit Blanche Toronto 2009

Dancer in gallery window. Nuit Blanche Toronto 2009

Toronto’s Nuit Blanche happened on the night of October 3-4. It was a great success. We saw some good art and left feeling happy.

Crowds

It is the density of crowds that makes Nuit Blanche a worthwhile event, almost regardless of what is exhibited in the galleries. The event attracts crowd-lovers and repels crowd-haters. The crowds are diverse in age, but the physicality of the event tends to favour the young. Black is a common colour of dress. Brightly-dressed individuals stand out from the crowd.

The density of sidewalk interactions in Toronto is usually fairly modest. Nuit Blanche ups this density considerably, for a limited time. But the scale of Nuit Blanche is so vast that this density occurs only in relatively small pockets of the city. In the rest of town it is business as usual.

Physical exertion

To attend Nuit Blanche involves strenuous, physical activity. It takes lots of energy to visit the various venues and districts. We stayed in one district only (Queen St West near Ossington), left early (2am), but even this was tiring.

At Nuit Blanche, walking is the preferred mode of transportation. Leave the bicycle or car at home this night, since these become cumbersome when the crowds become dense. The distance between districts in Nuit Blanche is so great that walking between all of them would exhaust most people. Therefore, an all-night Transit pass is a good investment.

However, even with a Transit Pass, Nuit Blanche has become an event so large that it can’t really be experienced in total by one individual. It’s just too physically exhausting to see it all.

Attending Nuit Blanche means staying up late. This is hard on some people’s bodies. I found it difficult to assemble enough energy to leave the house, at a time when my thoughts focus more on slipping into bed.

A good idea is to eat a substantial meal during the middle of Nuit Blanche so your body has more to work with. There were several attractive restaurants on our path and we ate in a good Chinese one.

Costs of success

Nuit Blanche is a large, far-flung event that is growing quickly. In Toronto, there is high demand for what it offers, within a certain segment of the population. As Nuit Blanche grows and becomes more popular, some people may become troubled by its scale. With this scale it is difficult to know what to do because there are so many options. Given a set of interests, it is difficult to know what particular events are best-suited to these interests.

Distance is also a potential weakness of Nuit Blanche. Walking is the only feasible means of transportation within each district. Yet, it can be physically exhausting to travel between districts. Therefore, a comprehensive shuttle system is needed between districts, beyond that which is offered by public transit. In this respect Nuit Blanche could become a huge, metropolitan version of what is currently offered by Hamilton’s Art Bus.

Posted in Art Crawls, Cities | Leave a comment

Hamilton and Burlington: a tale of two cities

Hamilton is not only near a border region with another country but is also near communities that are sometimes strikingly different in terms of urban aspiration and political affiliation. One such community is the city of Burlington. The contrast between the two can be as dramatic as between Detroit and Windsor. This contrast produces interesting juxtapositions.

Dogs on roof in Hamilton, ON

Dogs on roof in Hamilton, ON

Hamilton has the reputation of being a classic rust-bucket city with an economy excessively dependent on heavy industry. It is seen by its critics as an unclean, rough and slightly dangerous place, where reckless civic decisions are made behind closed doors. It is the Golden Horseshoe’s version of the dark Satanic mills of industrial England combined with the inter-ethnic tensions of a seething, immigrant-fueled city like Chicago.

Mall parking lot in Burlington, ON

Mall parking lot in Burlington, ON

Burlington on the other hand is a classic North American bedroom community, where the ills of post-Victorian society have been scrubbed clean and suburban comforts can be enjoyed guilt-free. In Burlington, civic decision-making is seen as more sober, with less chance of overt corruption. By moving from Hamilton to Burlington people could avoid industrial blight, poverty, intractable social problems and historical decay. Hamilton has industrial production, including steel, as its native industry. In Burlington the native industries are suburban tract housing and real estate development. Hamilton is left-leaning politically while Burlington is right-leaning. Hamilton is Scorsese’s Mean Streets while Burlington is more Leave it to Beaver.

History of building

One important axis in which Hamilton/Burlington differ is that of history. Hamilton has lots of history while Burlington appears to have very little.

In Hamilton, history cannot be marginalized simply because there is so much of it. From mid-Victorian churches, to worker’s cottages, to aging factory complexes, history–as far as architectural infrastructure is concerned–is in great supply. However, demand for this history does not correspond to the abundance of its supply.

As in many historical industrial cities, the historical richness of the place is confounded with its current, marginal economic value. This tends to grossly undervalue these resources. With diminished value, old dilapidated buildings are destroyed without outcry. A movement to create money from these old bricks, say, through industrial tourism as found in England and Germany, has yet to appear.

Burlington was purposely built to escape history and to start afresh. Nowhere in Burlington is there much evidence of settlement prior to, say, 1900. Burlington first grew as a post-war bedroom community to Hamilton. It has shifted its focus to being more a bedroom community to Toronto, or a viable edge city in its own right. Burlington also has a surprisingly diverse industrial corridor along the busy QEW, which divides Burlington in two.

Burlington is presented as a modern solution to a traditional Victorian city like Hamilton: in order to build the modern city it was necessary to escape the burdens of the past. Burlington encourages one to forget about history and focus more on consumption. Residents move there not in spite of the lack of historical context but rather because of it.

History of ethnic enclaves

When immigrants move to a rough and tumble place like Hamilton, the resources provided by ones ethnic community and church are a vital source of support. In the absence of money, support comes from the community. Immigrants often live near their supportive communities in urban enclaves.

Hamilton has the remnants of urban enclaves, such as the Italian and Portuguese North End. However, these are losing its ethnic flavour as residents acquire sufficient mobility to move to cleaner, relatively bucolic suburbs like Burlington. As older communities move on, newer ethnic communities like the Vietnamese or Somalis take their place.

Burlington was from the start a post-ethnic type of place. In Burlington, support comes less from community and more from cash-in-hand. In Burlington, the average household income is much higher than in Hamilton. The more money you have, the less dependent you are on support from your community.

In Burlington there is ethnic diversity in the population, since like Hamilton, it has inflows of immigrants. But you would not know this from driving around town. Neighbourhoods in Burlington tend to look all the same. There is some differentiation in neighbourhoods, but this is caused more by variations in income than in ethnic make up.

Avoidance of poverty and ambiguity

To move to Burlington, due to its elevated property prices, you need to earn a certain income. This is a crude stereotype, of course, but as a general rule being a resident of Burlington indicates a certain base household income. This means that if you move to Burlington you can successfully avoid much contact with the urban poor. For some, this is an attractive proposition.

In Hamilton, the chance of poverty avoidance is much reduced. Hamilton, like Buffalo and Pittsburgh, has lots of poor people. But there are also considerable numbers of not-poor people too. Therefore, saying you are a resident of Hamilton imparts less information than saying you live in Burlington. In Hamilton you might be poor, or you might not be. You might be living there because you have no other options, or you might be there by choice. This ambiguity of rank and position creates opportunities to move between social strata.

In larger cities such as Toronto and New York, enormous wealth lives side by side with striking poverty. Diversity of income and circumstance are the marks of most traditional cities. Hamilton is traditionally urban in this respect: if you want to avoid poverty then Hamilton is not your kind of place. Burlington is the opposite: if you want to avoid poverty, Burlington might be just the place for you.

Property maintenance and social diversity

One striking difference between Hamilton and Burlington is their approach to property maintenance. Hamilton is full of buildings that require huge amounts of maintenance. Their bricks need re-pointing, parapets are falling down, flashings are corroded and need to be replaced. Typically, this maintenance work is done inadequately, presumably because of the huge expense of doing it well.

Burlington, on the other hand, is perhaps overly-maintained–despite being a place where low or no-maintenance finishes such as vinyl siding are common. Burlington is full of house-proud home-owners who edge their lawns and power-wash their car-ports to an itch of their lives. There is a great sense of keeping up your property so that the neighbours have no reason to complain. In Burlington, with its relatively homogeneous population, there is concern about what neighbours might think.

In Hamilton, with its more diverse population, there is less concern to conform in this way because there is less likelihood your neighbours are similar to you.

Posted in Cities, Hamilton | Leave a comment

Pittsburgh and Deindustrialization

A typical Pittsburgh Neighbourhood

A typical Pittsburgh neighbourhood

Every once in awhile a newspaper article is published that extols the charms of Pittsburgh as a tourist destination. I enjoy reading such articles because Pittsburgh is wonderful city for which I feel great affection. However, lately, there is a sameness to the articles and their manufactured, somewhat contrived message that now seems a little suspect.

Usually these articles go something like this:

You might think that Pittsburgh is a real stinking dump but this no longer true! It is actually a very liveable city with some colourful restaurants, great museums and lots of people who don’t seem to mind living there at all! When the Steel mills were operating Pittsburgh was known as ‘the Smoky City.’ Air quality was terrible and they had to turn on the street lights at noon. Then all the mills shut down in the 70’s and now the air is much better. There are lots of new industries such as health care, research and robotics. Pittsburgh really is quite a cool city–even Andy Warhol came from there!

All of the above is true. The Pittsburgh revival is real and it is a city filled with interesting, friendly people. Its universities can be excellent (e.g. Carnegie Mellon). The museums are well worth a visit, for example, the Warhol, the Carnegie and the Children’s Museum. Some of its neighbourhoods are very attractive and vibrant. As in Buffalo, it is surprising just how beautiful some of its architecture is.

The conventional interpretation

What these articles tend to suggest is the following: that dirty industries and the jobs they provide are bad, while clean, white-collar research jobs are much better–for all concerned; that the steel industry left town all at once in the 70’s. This was bit hard at first but it appears that it’s been a good thing in the long run; that the dirt that the steel industry produced was an inevitable outcome of steel production and that the only way to clean up the environment was to get rid of that type of industry entirely; and finally, that whatever was lost during the period of de-industrialization during the 70’s and 80’s has been replaced with something of equal or greater value.

Some things to consider

What these articles tend not to mention is that one of the reasons that housing is so cheap and artists’ studios in cool industrial spaces are so available in Pittsburgh is that hundreds of thousands of people left town, never to return.  De-population of the once vibrant industrial city of Pittsburgh was an extraordinarily painful process for many, especially for those unlikely to find work in any type of new, research-based economy. This dislocation of one group of people with another, where the overlap between the two groups is minimal, was a socially corrosive experience for those made redundant.

Many neighbourhoods in Pittsburgh have yet to recover from de-industrialization. These may be far from the relatively urbane ones such the Golden Triangle (downtown), Lawrenceville, or Bloomfield, where some new investment has trickled in. The pain in less-glamorous neighbourhoods, such as Munhall, Wilmerding, or McKeesport, still appears raw and unresolved.

Pittsburgh still tends to be a highly segregated city according to race. The Hill District, for example, is essentially a black ghetto within walking distance of downtown. It attracts little investment, is not a place you want to explore late at night and is under no danger of being gentrified anytime soon. The racism which presumably perpetuates such ghettos is as powerful a force as recent attempts at civic reinvention.

The speed at which de-industrialization occurred to the steel industry in Pittsburgh always seemed a bit fishy. Why did it happen so quickly? Can it be explained by market forces (e.g. cost of labour, materials or transportation) or are there other, possibly more sinister factors such as avoidance of environmental regulation, or the desire to set up shop in locales without pesky, activist unions? If Hamilton, Ontario can still be making steel, why is it that thirty years ago Pittsburgh decided that it couldn’t do the same?

Posted in Cities | 2 Comments

Velomobiles near the tipping point

Quest Velomobile by Bluevelo.com

Quest Velomobile by Bluevelo.com

On Sept 19, 2009 the boys and I attended a gathering of the Human Powered Transportation Association (HPTA) at Reg Rodaro’s property near Niagara-on-the-Lake. Here we saw several velomobiles up-close, both hand-made and factory-built. The Toronto firm Bluevelo had an excellent showing of their wares. The crowd was extremely friendly and welcoming. We had to leave early but would have liked to have stuck around. In the brief time we were there I had several stimulating conversations, plus the barbecue scheduled later in the day looked very promising.

Velomobiles are fully enclosed bicycles, or more commonly tricycles. They solve two problems with cycling: getting wet and cold in bad weather, and falling over when you stop moving. Currently, they are still a bit of a fringe pursuit but I predict this will soon change, especially if they become a bit less expensive (they now cost about $7,500 CAD and up). Otherwise, they look and perform like something that many thousands would love to own. They are practical, green vehicles, especially in places with little snow and ice. Due to their aerodynamic shape, they make cycling much easier, especially at speeds over 25 kph. They require no license or insurance and are classified as bicycles in Canada.

The production costs of velomobiles would decrease if demand for them increased. If ten times as many people wanted them, then economies of scale would start to take over. Research and development in the human-powered transportation sector is important to giving this industry greater resources and industrial credibility. Governments should encourage such research. Another way to reduce costs is to support those interested in building kit bodies on top of factory-built recumbent trikes (which are more common than velomobiles).

Development of recumbent trikes (the inner workings of most velomobiles) is well advanced. It seems like it’s the bodies that need a bit of work (although the body on the Quest model by Velomobiel.nl is oh-so-gorgeous). Many of the technologies applicable in building kayaks are transferable to the building of bodies for velomobiles. Canada has a long history in the building of kayaks, and the velomobile market could conceivably be a larger market than that for kayaks. Kayak-building techniques such as molded fiberglass, Kevlar, skin-on-frame, and stitch-and-glue seem promising.

Possible business models for Velomobiles

  • As mobile billboards: velomobiles generate considerable interest when driven around town: “Buy a velomobile. Lease out advertising on both sides <your web address here!> and cover the payments for the velomobile through advertising rents”
  • As tourist attractions: “1 hour in a velomobile for only $25!”
  • As amenities for green hotels: “Guests can ride our complimentary velomobile!”
  • As attractions at street fairs: “See the amazing velomobile rodeo!”
  • As basic, green transportation: “Carry all your groceries, laugh at the rain and smirk at the snow!”
  • As an industry that might convince people that Canada actually has green aspirations: “Ontario, now with a velomobile industry second only to the Netherlands!”
Posted in Green | Leave a comment

Art Barker: Standing-Seam Roofer

Mill finish Galvalume standing-seam roof by C.O. Beck, Maine

Mill finish Galvalume standing-seam roof by C.O. Beck, Maine

This week I had the unpleasant task of telling Art Barker, a local roofer who specializes in standing-seam roofs, that I would not be using him to replace our roof. The reason that it was unpleasant was not only the disappointment that Art would feel for not getting the contract but also because I really wanted a standing-seam roof for our home [specifically, a mill finish Galvalume Plus standing-seam roof]. I had searched far and wide for the best roof available and I had found it.

Art certainly seemed like a talented, responsible roofer who had a real love of fine roofs. Art sold me on the benefits of standing seam roofing, but I was not too hard to convince. I was already convinced before I had even talked to Art. He had just confirmed my suspicions that standing-seam was perhaps the most attractive roofing technology available for pitched roofs.

Standings-seam roofs are common in commercial and institutional buildings but are rare for houses in this country. The reason I couldn’t get a standing-seam roof for myself is that I couldn’t afford one; they are more expensive than other roofs. Standing-seam roofs are the top of the line. The Cadillac solution. There are other metal roofs available that attempt to duplicate the quality of a standing-seam roof without having to mechanically bend metal during installation to form the standing seam. These, however, do not seem nearly as elegant as a well-installed standing-seam roof by someone like Art.

Metals such as lead, copper and galvanized steel have been used on roofs for a long time. St Paul’s Cathedral in London has a beautiful lead roof that withstood the Blitz. At Dundurn Castle, near our home in Hamilton, some of the roofs there have beautiful copper and lead detailing. Slate tiles are also a traditional choice for high quality historical roofs in the area. Slate though costs a fortune and requires a much stronger roof structure.

Galvalume, which is an aluminum-zinc alloy coating over a steel core, seems like it would last forever. Standing seam creates a mechanically-fixed layer of solid metal over your whole roof. Art would supply hidden fixings for the metal panels. Installing a standing-seam roof is like sewing a fine suit. Its quality depends not only on the quality of the material but on how well the material is bent and stitched together. I was convinced, and remained convinced, that a standing-seam roof would indeed last forever.

Why do I prefer standing-seam roofs? Two main reasons: Longevity and other green factors, and Appearance.

Longevity and other Green Factors

Your typical asphalt or fiberglass roof lasts possibly 20-25 years. Even though 40 or 50 year shingles are advertised I don’t buy it. A standing-seam metal would last at least twice that of an asphalt roof. I think a roof by Art would last 75 years, long after the house we live in has new owners.  Standing-seam roofs have inherent mechanical advantages over shingle roofs. That means they should survive high winds, bright sun and freezing rain much better than a few layers of gunk-infused fiberglass with a light gravel coating. Things that last a long time have an inherent quality about them. The 18 year old Toyota Tercel that is parked on our street has such a quality. It’s almost like you become a more responsible citizen by purchasing such a product.

A standing-seam roof is built of recyclable material, none of which should end in a landfill after it is replaced. Metal appears to be much more chemically inert compared to asphalt and does not leach toxic chemicals. The higher reflectance of a metal roof reduces cooling loads in the summer.

When an asphalt roof fails and must be replaced all of its material goes straight into landfill. It is not-recyclable. They probably leak toxic waste once in the landfill. The rain that falls on them before that must also leach toxic chemicals, which mixes with groundwater.

Appearance

Metal roofs can come with a mill finish, for those who favour an industrial look, and also in many colours. The quality and longevity of coloured coatings can vary. The darker the colour, the lower the solar reflectance and the higher the cooling loads.

A mill finish Galvalume roof does not appeal to everyone. It looks shiny and its industrial look does not suit all styles of buildings. It might look a bit like a barn but that is fine by me. It looks like the kind of roof that architects would put on their own home. I expect a mill finish Galvalume roof would start shiny but would age over time to a medium grey patina.

Asphalt shingle roofs look fine when they are new. However, when they are at the end of their lifespan they curl and fade and do not look very good. A journey through some of the poorer neighbourhoods of Hamilton or Lackawanna, NY will show you how age treats older asphalt shingle roofs: they do not age gracefully. I have seen asphalt roofs that are only eight years old that have begun to take that slide into decrepitude. This seems like very poor value for your money.

Disadvantages of metal roofs

Admittedly, there are some real disadvantages to metal roofs:

  • Expense: they always are going to cost more than shingles
  • Availability: it takes some effort to find a roofer who can install one
  • Noise: if there is a gap between the roof deck and metal a resonating chamber could form that can make quite a racket during a hail or rain storm
  • Prominence: metal roofs, especially if they are shiny, will make your house stand out from others on your street
  • Snow shedding: snow on your roof can form a large mass which could slide from your roof all at once and damage vehicles or people beneath

Why are asphalt shingle roofs so common on houses in North America?

If you look over the residential roofscapes of Hamilton, or any other North American city, all you see are asphalt shingle roofs. Why is this? Hamilton is a steel city that even produces Galvalume sheeting in its steel mills. Where are all the metal roofs?

Some possible reasons why asphalt shingle roofs are so common:

  • Expense: asphalt roofs for normal residential buildings are the cheapest solution. Initial costs are a deciding factor for many
  • Shifting the expense to the next owner: people put on new roofs and anticipate that they will not own the house when it is time to replace the roof
  • Familiarity: everyone seems to get a asphalt shingle roof when they need to replace a roof
  • ‘Big’ asphalt and availability: roofers who can re-roof your house quickly with asphalt shingles are everywhere. Standing-seam or other metal roofers are much less common and much harder to find
  • Home building industry: new home builders like to reduce their costs, in the absence of a perceived demand for a higher quality product
  • Absence of green policy: lack of government or policy incentives to encourage greener, longer-lasting residential roofs

More expensive but not that much more expensive

Art’s price for standing-seam was about 25% more than the highest quote for a conventional roof. This doesn’t seem like much more to pay for what seems like a much higher quality product, especially when the environmental benefits are factored in.

By way of example, you can buy an inexpensive new car for about $14,000. 25% over that price would be $17,500. Say you were deciding between a cheap car for $14,000 or $17,500 for the greenest car available, which would last two or three times as long and establish you as a person who votes for green initiatives with their wallet. I think most people would go for the more expensive product, if they could afford it.

What surprised me with my experience of pricing standing-seam roofs was not how expensive Art’s roof would be but rather how small the difference would be over a conventional shingle roof. If I had just a little bit more money – and it disturbs me that I don’t – I would spring for Art’s standing-seam roof. I have chosen instead to put on a much cheaper metal roof (almost half the price of Art’s). This roof will look similar in that it is made of Galvalume Plus but has exposed fixings. This means that across the roof there are holes in the surface of the metal, as opposed to concealed fixings where holes are hidden beneath a layer of metal. Metal roofs with exposed fixings are commonly found on barns in rural parts of Ontario. If I’m lucky this roof should look fine, keep out the rain and may last about 25 years.

For those in the Hamilton or Niagara region of Ontario looking for a top-quality standing-seam metal roofer, I suggest you call Art Barker at (905) 296-2102.

Posted in Renovation | 2 Comments

Hamilton to Buffalo

Kleinhans Music Hall, Buffalo, NY

Kleinhans Music Hall, Buffalo, NY

I am lucky to live in a border region of Canada. Over the weekend I visited some old friends in Buffalo, NY. Driving to Buffalo takes about an hour from my home in Hamilton. Passports are now required for travel into the States. This prevents those without passports from making the crossing. This tends to discriminate more against Americans than it does Canadians, since the proportion of Americans without passports is higher. Going into the USA from Canada is a more unsettling experience than the reverse journey (regardless of your nationality). The heightened American border paranoia discourages casual tourism between the countries and overall this policy of treating all visitors with heightened suspicion appears contrary to American interests. But they do let me in.

Quality of architecture

Buffalo has a reputation as being an iconic rust-belt city whose fortunes have fallen on hard times. It tends to reinforce the Canadian attitude towards the States as a place where social and political problems somehow seem more intractable. However, from an architectural perspective it might surprise some that Buffalo contains many architectural jewels. The eras before and after the Gilded Age have been kind to Buffalo, at least for buildings you might find in architectural guide books. Outstanding architects such as Wright, Richardson, Sullivan, Upjohn and Olmsted left their mark in way that cannot be matched on the Ontario side of the border, even in the larger cities such as Toronto. Whatever appeal Canada might have does not appear to be caused by the quality of its architecture or urban planning.

End of Steel

Despite its wealth of architecture, Buffalo appears to suffer from the processes of post-industrialization much more severely than does Ontario. In Buffalo and nearby Lackawanna (the Buffalo equivalent of the East End of Hamilton), the mills pulled out quickly, leaving behind a wealth of industrial ruins, which are photogenic in that post-apocalyptic style I so admire. As in its sister city of Pittsburgh, the steel producers decided very quickly that there was no point in pretending that steel production had a future there. In Ontario, they apparently didn’t make such a decision and the steel factories continue to belch smoke and to provide employment. The industrial districts of Hamilton continue to appear much like Lackawanna did thirty years ago. It is not at all clear why the two nations have had this different trajectory despite being located in what seems to be similar geographical and market contexts.

Geography

Buffalo, even though it is the second largest city in New York state, is an outpost for the state on Lake Erie. It is separated from the main population centres in eastern New York state by the Appalachian mountain range. Buffalo faces the sometimes obscure northern country of Canada and depends on the Great Lakes for its water-bound transportation. A major factor in Buffalo’s history was the construction of the Erie Canal system, which connects the inland waterways of the Great Lakes to the Hudson River. When the canal first opened in 1825 it provided a direct link to the fast-growing regions of the West. This geographical advantage, which encouraged the early growth of Buffalo, has now disappeared. Canada is a country for which proximity to the USA is a fundamental factor in development. The USA has a huge internal market. This means it’s not too dependent on exposure to its northern neighbour.

Population and population decline

Ontario is the centre of population density in Canada. Hamilton is near the geographic centre of the so-called ‘Golden Horseshoe’ area of Ontario, situated at the western end of Lake Ontario. It is part of one of the few regions in Canada that approaches the population density of the eastern seaboard of the USA. Hamilton not only functions as an industrial centre [in probable decline], but also as a city which is in commutable distance to several dynamic, growing cities in the region, such as Toronto and Waterloo. Hamilton is geographically at the centre of its own national context whereas Buffalo is off to one side. Buffalo, like Pittsburgh and other rust belt cities has suffered de-population due to the processes of de-industrialization. This appears to be a major factor in the overall morale of the city. It is harder to feel good about your city if your friends and neighbours are continually ‘voting with their feet.’ Hamilton has not experienced such de-population and its morale seems correspondingly higher.

Race Relations

Hamilton has a predominantly white population and has, until fairly recently, been populated predominantly by those of European descent. This is now changing after the introduction of more equitable, colour-blind immigration policies in Canada in the 60’s and 70’s. Hamilton now sees the growth of new communities by immigrants from Asia, Africa and the Middle East. If immigration trends continue Hamilton will follow the lead of Toronto and increasingly have a foreign-born population whose ancestral ties are not with Europe. This demographic change is welcomed from most quarters and adds to the attractiveness of the city for both investment and daily living.

In Buffalo, there is a similar population of Europeans who were attracted during the last century to jobs in industry, as can be found in Hamilton. An important aspect of American social history is the Great Migration of blacks from the southern states to work in northern industrial cities such as Buffalo. This internal migration, which has had such a dramatic effect on racial politics in the USA, has no equivalent in Canada.

In Hamilton, as in Buffalo, there are blighted neighbourhoods where property values are low, environmental degradation is severe and overall morale and opportunities are limited. What appears to be different is that in Hamilton the racial composition of these neighbourhoods does not appear to be a factor in their blight. In Buffalo, and in other American cities such as Pittsburgh, Cleveland and Detroit, the racial composition of neighbourhoods plays an important role in urban geography.

Posted in Cities, Hamilton | Leave a comment

Hamilton’s Art Crawl

Gallery Opening on James St. North, Hamilton

Gallery Opening on James St. North, Hamilton

Hamilton’s Art Crawl occurs on the second Friday of every month. My wife and I try to go to it every month. What attracts us is not the only the art, which can sometimes be quite interesting, but also the street life and crowd scenes that the crawl attracts. These types of crowds we find very enjoyable. There is a variety of people who form these crowds: young hipsters, middle-aged people with interest in art or culture, people who happen to be walking by and those who simply wish to enjoy the streets of Hamilton.

The Art Crawl is located on James St North–the heart of the historic core of Hamilton. On its route are the Hamilton Armory and the Anglican Christ’s Church Cathedral–two of the more attractive architectural landmarks in downtown Hamilton. Along the route there is some retail, several galleries, a few restaurants. The Mixed Media store at the corner of James and Cannon is a major crowd attractor. In the galleries not much art appears to get sold. On the surface not much money appears to be changing hands. At times other than during these once-monthly events, the neighbourhood goes back to its normal role as a downtown street with shops, sports bars and restaurants that serves a lively, mostly Portuguese community.

Art crawls provide not only a means to revitalize a city but also provide glimpses of alternative lifestyles. One group found at the Art Crawl are young people trying to establish identities as artists or designers, or to flirt with the possibility of creative, possibly unconventional lifestyles. In larger cities, with well-established cultural industries, the sight of such young people are commonplace. In Hamilton, they are a new development.

Such young members of the ‘creative classes’ I think are important for the future of Hamilton. In the current Canadian economic climate, which does not favour Hamilton’s economic base of heavy industry and manufacturing, an Art Crawl appears to be a low cost way to experiment with possible futures. It will not provide all the answers, but it does provide new ideas for a city dependent on declining smoke-stack industries.

If I were someone who wishes to invest money in the Art Crawl (as opposed to merely attend them) I would think about some of the following issues:

The Art Crawl only happens once a month. Is that enough to make a real impact on the city?

In my mind the Art Crawl is a big development in the cultural life of Hamilton. By their nature Art Crawls can’t be continuous events, since then there wouldn’t be time for artists to produce art or put together new shows. Art Crawls depend on the production of new art to remain interesting and authentic. In a city like Hamilton there is only a limited supply of such work.

Where could the Art Crawl lead for Hamilton?

The Art Crawl will likely have the effect of bringing development to James St North. If this development process is successful, practising artists who are dependent on cheap rents may eventually be driven out. In Hamilton’s case though, James St North is adjacent to regions of Hamilton such as the Beasley and Barton Street that should have cheap rents for the foreseeable future; a stone’s throw from James St North are some of the most poverty-afflicted urban areas in Canada.

What Hamilton needs are not just areas that might support development or gentrification (which is not necessarily a good thing) but in the creation of cultural industries where people might be able to find stable employment. In this respect I think the Art Crawl is very promising.

Should Art Crawls be about art or can they be generalized to other things?

Art Crawls depend on the existence of artists studios, galleries and other aspects of cultural production to become viable. Doors Open events on the other hand depend on the existence of a body of architectural and urban design resources that can be visited. They could be called ‘Architectural Crawls.’

Other possible types of crawls might be:

  • Crawls within and between neighbourhoods (e.g. Jane’s Walks)
  • Crawls between bars and restaurants (Pub Crawls)
  • Crawls that show the inside of factories or other workplaces (Factory Crawls)
  • Crawls between houses of worship (God Crawls)

What is common to all of these is that they involve people willing to engage in their city and to interact in a way that may not have been possible without them.

Art Crawls are cool and fun, but do they actually earn anyone any money?

Art Crawls are initially intended to support artists and galleries. It is usually the arts communities that initially promote them. If they become popular and start attracting crowds then these crowds can be put to many uses.

One of the most common side-effects is that they can increase property values in artists districts, which often has the effect of eventually displacing artists from these districts. I think the potential to create new markets for cultural goods is real yet the probability that artists will necessarily benefit from this process is uncertain.

Art Crawls are like websites that provide a service of real value yet are free to users. The initial goal is to attract an audience. Often the revenue stream that might be derived from this audience is not always clear at the beginning.

Are Art Crawls elitist events; do they alienate as well as attract segments of the population?

To become excited about an Art Crawl one presumably needs to have some interest in artists, galleries and cultural expression. This will likely remain a minority interest in an industrial city like Hamilton. Yet, being a minority interest is not necessarily elitist.

There appears to be no attempt by most participants to gain extra privilege by attending these events. Most participants just seem to want to enjoy art. People who enjoy art are not necessarily members of an elite group despite fine art’s occasional connection to those with power and influence. In fact, artists are often among the lowest paid members of society.

Posted in Art Crawls, Cities, Hamilton | Tagged , | Leave a comment