REMINDER: "LRT Ready" Workshop Series on June 6
The first “LRT Ready” workshop is quickly approaching! As shared in our last newsletter, the Hamilton Chamber of Commerce, in partnership with the International Village BIA and the Downtown BIA, and supported by Metrolinx, has launched a four-part business preparedness seminar series, “LRT Ready”. The series targets business owners that will be impacted by construction of the LRT, to better prepare them ahead of time.
| What | The LRT Big Picture: How to Prepare for Construction and Its Impacts
Learn what to expect during construction from those who have been there.
FREE TO ATTEND - Register Online |
| When | Tuesday, June 6 from 6 – 8 p.m. |
| Where | Homewood Suites: 40 Bay Street S. |
The evening will feature a keynote address from Rollin Stanley, General Manager of Urban Strategy with the City of Calgary, who has vast LRT experience from across North America, as well as a moderated panel discussion featuring various BIA representatives.
For more information on the June 6th workshop and to register, visit the Chamber's website.
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Q.What to expect?
ReplyDeleteA. Hardship. If you are on the route, and in anyway dependent upon "walk in" commerce(and why else would you be there), life as you know it has ended. The good news is this will all be over in a decade or so. Just hang in there, happy days await. We think. Maybe.
Q. How to prepare?
A. Board it up, get out of Dodge while you still can. Contact your nearest "Service Canada" outlet, they'll help you with the paperwork.
The only "winners" here are those being expropriated. Initial offers are 30% above current market conditions-which have never been hotter. Spending like drunken sailors, on our dime.
Sound practice. Makes perfect sense.
Trade up at premium. Sell to those who are supportive of transit oriented planning and densification. Make that pretty penny and retire to Hagersvillle.
DeleteRimshot
What like Gilberts or 007 Hairstyling or Lydia Nails? If these business owners want to work into their 90s fine. They dont want to retire and sell fine. Market forces will make the decision for them.
DeleteAdam Smith
Where do I sign up to get expropriated?
ReplyDeleteIn all seriousness, each time I drive by the Scott Park district and get an eyeful of that horrendous looking stadium, it reminds me of what a famous Hamiltonian said at the time about the stadium " Hamilton has one again clutched mediocracy out of the jaws of excellence." It is so true of the stadium fiasco and its resulting monstrosity in a residential neighbourhood and it will be true of the LRT fiasco. When the shovels hit the dirt and people realize just how much of an upheaval this will be for.....? what problem again?..and why was it that important to me? ......they will revolt.
Sorce
So, 2025 or thereabouts?
DeleteRimshot
Lots of excitement out there for the coming LRT! The deal is done but lots of details still to be worked out. Looking forward to seeing everyone out there on the 6th of June.
ReplyDeleteChamber of Commerce President Loomis has characterized those with reservations about LRT Hamilton as "clueless, saboteurs or cowards"(Andrew Dreschel, Hamilton Spectator, 5/24/17)
ReplyDeleteWhat sort of objective advocacy can affected business people anticipate from him?
The decision has been made about going forward. It is sad that Mr. Loomis takes such a position. I would definitely not join the Chamber to pay the salary of such an individual.
ReplyDeleteRegardless, as the decision has been made to move forward, then it is so important that peoples/business owners concerns are addressed and the best effort is made to mitigate any negative effects.
Unfortunately, the Chamber has shown that they aren't interested in being part of the solution by allowing Mr. Loomis to alienate business concerns so the City will need to step up and do the best they can to address any issues which I'm sure they will do.
Jimmy
"In 2 years, much of King Street will be in shambles as construction for Hamilton's LRT project begins"
ReplyDeleteCBC Hamilton, 06/06/16
Construction or destruction?
Rollin Stanley?
ReplyDelete"he is known for pushing agenda's that may not be immediately popular" Huffpost 2/27/13
Well then, perfect choice.
We too, have a leader pushing unpopular agenda's. Looks like they could use some help.
Takeaways from last night:
ReplyDeleteLie.
If you tell the truth about the chaos outside your door, customers will stay away.
If you keep the messaging "positive" you may trick a straggler or 2 into stopping by, and these stragglers may well be the difference between survival and oblivion.
Zavitz acknowledged construction in Waterloo has been extremely disruptive and created hardship for many, including the venerable Kitchener market, which has seen revenues fall by more than 30% since the start of construction. He confirmed the class action lawsuit launched by more than 50 affected business groups is proceeding, with the list of plaintiffs increasing steadily.
He also stressed he thinks the area has actually enjoyed a "net gain" in the retail sector-more have opened than closed-but was unable to provide specifics.(positive imaging perhaps?)
These owners are going to suffer. And I don't believe they can anticipate much assistance from this crew.
Imagine if Loomis and the "Anchor Institutions" actually put some skin in the game and brokered some sort of fund to assist a business devastated by their vision.
ReplyDeleteImagine the goodwill generated by such accountability. "we are all in this-together"
Instead, we get circling vultures, waiting, watching, hoping for the vulnerable to draw a last breath, so they can swoop in and "develop" the remnants.
Shameful really.
Tony
13km of phased road reconstruction has gripped Ancaster's Wilson Street from 2012 to 2017. How many businesses have gone under?
Deletehttps://www.hamiltonnews.com/news-story/7246500-ancaster-residents-prepare-for-delays-as-final-phase-of-wilson-street-road-construction-begins/
Roundabout
Apparently quite a few.
Delete"Everybody is suffering" says Geoff Walker, Vice Chair Ancaster BIA. Hamilton Spectator 4/9/12."Typically, businesses have seen revenues drop by more than 50%"
And Wilson Street has never been closed to vehicular traffic-for years at a time.
When they get to that stretch of Wilson that has 4 lanes of traffic running in one direction which generates hundreds of millions a year in commercial tax assessment, we can speak again.
Tony.
""Everybody is suffering" says Geoff Walker, Vice Chair Ancaster BIA. Hamilton Spectator 4/9/12."Typically, businesses have seen revenues drop by more than 50%"
DeleteWhen are some of these business going to produce some factual evidence to back up their claims?
Teddy
"we get circling vultures, waiting, watching"
DeleteYes, Vultures have been perched and nesting on King for over twenty years. King Street has been a dead and decaying corpse for twenty years. Full of payday loans, high interest car loans, saloons, lotto booths, pawnshops and second hand junk shope selling twenty old used VCRs and vacuum cleaners.
LRT will clean this area up and make it safe profitable and tax generating.
Karl
@Roundabout
DeleteAug 13, 2013:
Three weeks after dire predictions from local business owners the Wilson Street reconstruction will have negative consequences on their community, the project while troublesome, hasn’t become as destructive as expected. “No question it is inconvenient,” said Ancaster councillor Lloyd Ferguson. “But it is going very well.”… Ancaster Heritage Village Business Improvement Area executive director Leah Higens said the work “seems to be going very well.” Although the work is disruptive for businesses, she said compared to last year’s construction, it’s a minor distraction. “People are still driving down Wilson Street, and there are people in the stores,” she said. “That’s a good sign.”
https://www.hamiltonnews.com/news-story/5428201-residents-packing-their-patience-as-wilson-street-construction-continues/
~Ravenscroft
@Tony
DeleteIn the interests of clarity, the article you cited appeared in the Ancaster News, and the second quote does not actually appear in the article.
https://www.hamiltonnews.com/news-story/5423370-ancaster-businesses-cope-with-road-closure/
~ Ravenscroft
in the interest of clarity
Deletewhat are you talking about?
Tony
one positive from all that Ancaster construction....no more overhead power lines!
Delete"the Heritage Village doesn't deserve to have wires and poles in it" Bob Wilkens, Ancaster BIA, Hamilton Spectator, 07/04/12
But King Street in Hamilton deserves them. So we can cut down all those trees to accommodate them.
Ancaster News, July 4 2012
Deletehttps://www.hamiltonnews.com/news-story/5424322-wilson-street-re-opens-to-rave-reviews/
Ctrl-C, Ctrl-V
The Ancaster Village BIA has been aggressively dedicated to streetscaping and branding itself as a Victorian-era retail centre. But it's possible that if there is political and commercial will, that stretches of the King West BIA, Downtown Hamilton BIA and International Village BIA will be able to press for catenary-free zones (both Bombardier Primove and Alstom Citadis Spirit are LRVs that support this option).
Deletehttp://www.raillynews.com/2017/alstom-receives-order-61-citadis-spirit-light-rail-vehicles-greater-toronto-hamilton-area/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1cdvD9yvb0
BIAs generally place high emphasis on streetscaping, and street design is arguably part of that. The AHVBIA is 2km long. Combined, KWBIA, DHBIA & IVBIA encompass 1.5km along King. It's not hard to imagine a catenary-free section of LRT running from Queen to Wellington.
The newly minted transit boosters on council could also opt to invest substantial capital in this project, which would probably expand the range of implementation options. Even so, the City's historic fixation on road widening and council's resistance to pedestrian-oriented street design would put amenities such as street trees at a disadvantage. If it came down to trees or cars, cars would win hands-down — see Skelly & Whitehead's campaign for a safe and walkable Upper James… just so long as traffic doesn't have to make concessions.
https://www.hamiltonnews.com/news-story/6859986-mountain-councillors-want-upper-james-more-pedestrian-friendly/
~ Ravenscroft
there are trees there now....and cars....and buses.
Deleteyour correct of course Ravenscroft- it is the local BIA's who are to blame for imposing this "beauty" on the core. They haven't been aggressive enough.
DeleteThen again, perhaps advocates could have considered aesthetics, streetscaping, and design. Maybe we could have insisted we too deserve something beautiful. Communities generally placed high emphasis on attractive streets, yet have been completely ignored with this undertaking.
Advocates place little emphasis on functionality or design, but great weight to disruptive value. And this plan fits the bill to a tee. Mission accomplished
Suzie.
Beyond gaudy annuals in traffic medians, council has shown little interest in attractive, balanced development — dragging their heels on two-way street conversions for over a decade, squashing bike lane infrastructure, balking at safe street-level design until pedestrians die, and so on. Transit has been no different, as is evidenced by our disinvestment in community-building infrastructure. Waterloo Region staked $250M+ on their LRT system, while Hamilton looks for ways to invest less than nothing.
DeleteBIAs will typically realize a better streetscape than non-BIA areas, and I expect the same will hold true for this project. Advocates have called for this very goal, but their energies have often been distracted by having to counter the cynical FUD, and alternative facts traded by the anti-transit camp.
If critics of Hamilton's LRT proposal weren't so dead set on killing this project off, there might be a wider coalition of civic partners to demand the best possible outcome. Instead, those who campaign determinedly against this without engaging substantially and constructively themselves only help to ensure that the end result will be less than it might otherwise have been.
That's true of all aspects of civic life, it seems to me. Always easier to point fingers than lend a hand.
~ Ravenscroft
if advocates of Hamilton's LRT proposal were insistent upon achieving something palatable to the masses-as opposed to "we will take anything that disrupts automobile traffic"-civic engagement would have increased.
DeleteHow can anyone "campaign determinedly" without engaging constructively? Your bias is representative.
Civic partners-like "anchor institutions" wont demand the best possible solution because their feelings are hurt? Because everyone has not blindly accepted a badly flawed plan? Who are they trying to help?
Some can not accept critical input of any sort, and immediately begin finger pointing. That is real.
Accept anything. Make the BIA pretty it up...at their expense. Quite a plan.
Suzie.
$1 billion dollar investment.
Delete$200 million for LRT.
$130 million for unnecessary infrastructure "upgrades"
....and nothing left over to make it pretty.
Great math. Bad plan.
Tony
apparently about half of those funds are set aside for the inevitable lawsuits...that sound like they are already percolating.
DeletePriorities. Contingencies. We don't deserve pretty.
Waterloo's LRT is owned by Waterloo Region, which committed $253M toward the project's Phase 1 capital budget. IIRC, Hamilton LRT will be owned by the province, which is committing $1B+ to the project's capital budget. Litigants will presumably be naming the province in those "inevitable lawsuits." Worked out well for the City on their RHVP action. Or at least the lawyers seemed happy. $6M in billables will do that.
DeleteSapiens
"In vertebrates the gallbladder (also gall bladder, biliary vesicle or cholecyst) is a small organ where bile (a fluid produced by the liver) is stored and concentrated before it is released into the small intestine. Humans can live without a gallbladder."
ReplyDeletehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gallbladder
Rimshot
This forum was more of a success than could be expected. Real advice from real business people that survived during the LRT build and in some cases prospered. That during the Waterloo LRT build the area had a net loss of only two business. Amazing what can be achieved. More great news from these forums is that the City is going to end the huge financial incentives that landlords get for keeping their properties vacant and shuttered. The current idea being evaluated is taking these millions of dollars in new tax gains for the City and divert it to programs that help business survive on King during LRT build. let your councillor know what you think of this plan and let them know of any other ideas you want to explore. If you have the right councillor they will listen.
ReplyDeleteRemember when all this was going to be "free?"
DeleteRemember when it wasn't going to cost us taxpayers a dime?
And now Councilors want to make taxpayers responsible for subsidizing lost commercial revenue?
Bad idea.
Remember "we" do not support this."We" should determine where those funds are reallocated, and it wouldn't be here.
I understand there is a very successful lawyer in Burlington who is busy framing a class action suit for affected businesses in Hamilton. This guy does not lose. We have every reason to be concerned.
Suzie
I dont remember anyone framing lrt this way?
DeleteWhos Suzie talking about?
Rainbow Candle
hundreds of millions spent, in order to lose business.
ReplyDeleteAmazing.
$1.2 Million (singular) divided by an estimated 800 businesses affected.
$1,500.00 each.
Better than a sharp stick in the eye. But not much.
Let your Councilor know your idea...because they don't have any. This token is the best they have come up with to date.
Not a single elected official in attendance. Not one. That spoke volumes.
"Let your Councilor know your idea...because they don't have any. This token is the best they have come up with to date"
DeletePlans to leverage ie force developers to build affordable housing if they want a place at the money trough LRT will bring. Construction companies being made to use local tech schools students for apprentice programs in trades during LRT build. Only a few of the many ideas different local groups have and are working with public and private entities to achieve. I know some think we should forgo this great opportunity because a few dozen HSR drivers may have to change the routes they drive after LRT comes. Good thing they dont make the decisions or have any involvement in the process.
"Not a single elected official in attendance. Not one. That spoke volumes."
A business group for business people. Not a forum for politics. Thats City Hall. Not C of C.
Why wouldn't a business group of business people-anchors-invest some of their own money to assist those being railroaded?
DeleteI mean they endorsed it, right? Believe in it, right?
Why not demonstrate some faith? Some empathy? A little goodwill?
Don't want to make room at the trough?
Ryan
"Why wouldn't a business group of business people-anchors-invest some of their own money.."
DeleteThey have. For members and non members alike.
Randy B.
not a nickel,not one of them.
DeleteRyan