Hey guys. Im moving in from Toronto, and was wondering how Hamilton is like. Are there stores close by to mac, like grocery stores, restaurants, pubs, malls etc.
Also, what would be the most interesting/fun thing to do at mac (on campus or off campus)?

Thanks guys.

Originally Posted by amitoj

Hey guys. Im moving in from Toronto, and was wondering how Hamilton is like. Are there stores close by to mac, like grocery stores, restaurants, pubs, malls etc.
Also, what would be the most interesting/fun thing to do at mac (on campus or off campus)?

Thanks guys.

Hey,

I'm also going to be a first year student @ mac (pretty excited for it) and I've been to Hamilton quite frequently in the past months or so and I would say it is not a bad place at all. At first it may seem strange to you (it happened to me as well since I've lived in Mississauga for about 3 years now) but you'll get adapted pretty quickly. As far as the grocery stores, restaurtants, pubs and malls are concerned, I'm pretty positive that they are not more than 10 minutes walk from campus (correct me if im wrong).

P.S. I would highly recommend a Hamilton resident to reply to this thread for a more comprehensive answer

What faculty are you two going into?

Going into second year myself, but I live in Brantford which is only 20 minutes away on the 403, so I've been around Hamilton a bit. Walking distance from Mac, there's tonnes of grocery stores, restaurants, fast food, convenience stores just within 10 minutes walk from either East side of campus or South Side. Outside of that, Hamilton is fairly big outside the Mac area: Get on a bus (bus pass with your student card) and you can get up to the top of the mountain where the REAL mall of Hamilton is (Limeridge) or just go downtown (can be interesting... Not my favourite)

That's what I have so far... Ask for detail if wanted in specific areas.

Busy. Busy. Busy. oh, and kinda dirty in some parts.

As soon as one of my friend found out about me going to Mcmaster, he was trying to convince me how crap hamilton was and he printed out a map of hamilton showing that there was only 2 gas station in the entire city.
Yea it was pretty funny

Originally Posted by cjdzl

As soon as one of my friend found out about me going to Mcmaster, he was trying to convince me how crap hamilton was and he printed out a map of hamilton showing that there was only 2 gas station in the entire city.
Yea it was pretty funny

Oh my god, my friend did this to me too! And then he showed it to all my friends and got them saying it! To quote them, 'Hamilton is a one horse town.'

Glad to see I'm not alone =D.

BAHA, So, they've judged a city by the number of gas stations in it's core? I'm not a Toronto pro, but I don't think there's a tonne of gas stations downtown there...

//ASIDE
Then there's a city like Budapest which I can recall really well, and which make a great example. If you want a gas station, there's maybe 1 near downtown (and by "near" I mean 10 minute drive). After that, get out of town if you need gas. And yet, Budapest makes Vienna look tiny, and it's been called the Capitol of the East (of Europe). Any of your friends might feel at home with the rush and all the business/goings-on in Budapest, but they'd complain that it was a piece of crap because there weren't enough gas stations....


.... Maybe a lot of people think that about Budapest actually... And maybe a lot of people think that about Vienna too when I think about it. To those that see those cities as small and pathetic compared to Toronto, I laugh at you.

Really boring.
Other than that, its pretty safe and the people are nice... sort of.

BAHA!

Seems like we have this conversation each year, which I suppose is more indicative of the image problem Hamilton has than of the actual characteristics of the city.

The Zen Buddhist Master Thich Nhat Hanh says that "Wrong perceptions are at the heart of suffering." This is all too true when it comes to Hamilton.

I was born and raised in the Hammer and still proudly call it my home. Hamilton is a city of many diverse components, and each neighbourhood has different qualities and failings, but exploration is the only way to fully grasp the unique nature of this city. Here are some highlights -

Most of your time will be spent in Westdale. This village has a close and trendy feel, and is loaded with things to do. From the Westdale movie theater (one of the few independent theaters in the city), the Snooty Fox (a favorite off-campus pub), Bean Bar (a tres chic bistro), My Dog Joe (an indie coffee shop), Global Village (storefront for the Hippie in all of us), to Bryan Prince Booksellers (another indie scene, one of the few independent book stores in the city), there are definitely things to do in Westdale.

The Main West neighbourhood is as practical as it is close, with major chain restaurants like Boston Pizza and big grocery stores like Fortinos.

Downtown can be hit or miss, with some areas lacking in most anything to do and others like 'downtowns' in and of themselves. I would definitely recommend shopping on Locke Street, and hitting up the clubs in Hess Village.

The Mountain is suburbia at its finest, with little to do in walking distance of anything else. The Meadowlands power centre is a vast, hideous expanse of urban sprawl at the end of one of the bus routes that runs through Mac (5C - Meadowlands), where you'll find all the chains - Chapters, Silver City, Sobeys, Kelsey's, Best Buy, etc.

Again, this is just a sampling of what Hamilton has to offer, and the best places are always the ones you find by doing some exploring for yourself. I encourage every first year (and even seasoned Mac veterans) to utilize the subsidized bus pass we have and check out the city for themselves.

And yes, you can even check out one of our THOUSANDS of gas stations. Yeah, thousands. A city of 650,000 people needs a lot of gasoline...

Well said. I've lived in Hamilton for 17+ years (near Ivor Wynne Stadium which apparently is the scariest part of town???) and I'm proud to call it my home as well.

Can someone give the frosh a spiel on the Natural Aspect of Hamilton? McMaster is right next door to Cootes Paradise & Royal Botanical Gardens aka Hundreds of Acres of Biodiverse green space. Hamilton is also the waterfall captial of the world with quite a few within bussing distance.
Alot of people perceive Hamilton based on what they see when going down QEW Across the Bridge towards Niagra aka the Dirty Industrial Factories on the East End. However if they choose to judge hamilton based sorely on that they are very mistaken.

Sure some areas are clearly struggling and I wouldn't recommend walking around there after dark(Barton Cannon etc) but there is alot of Hamilton that people fail to explore in their 4 years here and are quite shocked the first time they go there.

For example recently I biked down James North towards the Harbour Front and that area clearly shows signs of recent development.

Now if only we could get a stadium at West Harbour....

Kick-****ing-Ass.

I love Hamilton. There are some shady parts, just like any city, but I avoid them.
You'll spend most of your time in Westdale, so you don't have much to worry about. Westdale is the cutest town that eve existed and it's a lot of fun. It has tons of little stores, but also has a Shopper's Drug Mart and Metro just a short bus ride away.

There's bars/clubs in downtown Hamilton that is probably a 15 minute bus ride, and a mall on the mountain that isn't too far (Limeridge).

I bet a lot of people will say they dislike Hamilton because it's dangerous, which is kind of true. Personally, I don't ever go outside alone at night. But if you're with friends you'll be fine. It's a nice city, especially Westdale. I like it because it kind of has the busy-city feel like Toronto, but there are tons of quiet and not-so-city areas too

People always complain to me that all Hamiltonians are rude and mean. After moving out of Hamilton for the summer, I can surely say that is NOT true. I'm currently living near Ottawa/Gatineau and the people are rude as f***! If someone bumps into you on the street in Hamilton, they'll say sorry. They'll hold doors for you if you're carrying a lot of bags. They say "thanks" to the bus driver when they get off at their stop. Cashiers smile when they give you your change.
Personally, I haven't seen that kind of stuff where I'm living now. So I've learned that Hamiltonians are actually quite nice people!

As for the often cited "higher crime rate," the actual data doesn't generally support that. Stats Can just released the Crime Severity index for 2009, which has Hamilton among the lower crime rates for metropolitan areas. Lower than places like Montreal, London and Kitchener-Waterloo.

http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quoti...0720a3-eng.htm

So while you should be aware of the higher crime areas, Hamilton, like most canadian cities is quite safe.

Hamilton in many ways is a great place to live, but its definitely has its set of problems too. One of its greatest strengths is the openness and general friendliness of its people. In the summer, its common for neighbourhoods to be filled with people sitting on their porches and mingling with each other. Its a very different feel from regular suburbia where people tend to shutter themselves inside.

I think the more time you spend learning about Hamilton, the more you'll get to appreciate it. There are fantastic bits of Canadian History here (Dudurn Castle was the official residence of the PM of Upper Canada before confederation), the birth of the Canadian Labour movement and Stoney Creek was the location for one of the definitive battles in the War of 1812. So come and explore, take the time to walk around downtown and the residential areas near the escarpment which are home to some amazing 100+ year old mansions and estates.

It's great, really. This is what my backyard looks like: