MarathonRunner Posted April 20, 2011 Report Share Posted April 20, 2011 I know this doesn't have anything to do with the medical school, but I did find it interesting that most undergrads don't want to stick around in Hamilton: http://oncampus.macleans.ca/education/2011/04/20/mcmaster-students-have-little-interest-in-hamilton/ Is it really that bad in Hamilton? I'm familiar with most of Southern Ontario (basically Guelph, Waterloo and London) but have never visited Hamilton, as I've had no reason to go there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ParkourParkour Posted April 20, 2011 Report Share Posted April 20, 2011 I know this doesn't have anything to do with the medical school, but I did find it interesting that most undergrads don't want to stick around in Hamilton: http://oncampus.macleans.ca/education/2011/04/20/mcmaster-students-have-little-interest-in-hamilton/ Is it really that bad in Hamilton? I'm familiar with most of Southern Ontario (basically Guelph, Waterloo and London) but have never visited Hamilton, as I've had no reason to go there. I was heavily involved with the McMaster Students Union (MSU) when I was an undergrad so I can give a bit of context to this situation. The overall perception amongst a lot of students at McMaster is that Hamilton is a dump. This is because they rarely leave Westdale (an amazing little community in and of itself) and stay in the "McMaster bubble". Years-and-years of commuter students and students who didn't explore Hamilton passing on information portray Hamilton as Detroit circa Robocop. The MSU has tried to do a lot of analysis and research into this as well as proactive measures to "burst the bubble". Unfortunately, like many urban legends, these rumours about Hamilton persist and students simply don't want to explore the city and just leave on weekends. I'm not from around the GTA but have spent a lot of time in high school and university in Toronto and while the nightlife in Hamilton is a bit constraining (one street of clubs/bars with a few more interspersed throughout the city) there's a lot of natural beauty and culture that's started to get a lot of attention over the past few years. The James Street Art Crawl is a perfect example. Every second Friday of the month, James Street in downtown explodes into a living and breathing art show with various galleries and performers. You can really see that people are proud of their neighbourhood in downtown Hamilton. The Casbah is an amazing venue for live music and the waterfalls/trails can't be beat. So yeah, people who **** talk Hamilton are probably the ones who haven't explored it. Also, for further reading, my successor in the MSU was the one who created this entire endeavour and put this on his personal blog: http://huzaifa47.posterous.com/commentary-for-spectator-article Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DubZteR Posted April 21, 2011 Report Share Posted April 21, 2011 I know this doesn't have anything to do with the medical school, but I did find it interesting that most undergrads don't want to stick around in Hamilton: http://oncampus.macleans.ca/education/2011/04/20/mcmaster-students-have-little-interest-in-hamilton/ Is it really that bad in Hamilton? I'm familiar with most of Southern Ontario (basically Guelph, Waterloo and London) but have never visited Hamilton, as I've had no reason to go there. Unfortunately, Hamilton gets a bad rep. cuz of the east end when in fact it's actually a great city with a lot more to do then people think. There are some really expensive areas in Hamilton but in general, that's not the first impression that comes to mind when people think of Hamilton,. The city tends to get snubbed by neighboring affluent Burlington and of course Toronto. There's also this mentality that some individuals hold which is that people in Hamilton are "gross and sketchy" ... which is not true. I'm in a lifestyle specialty and several of our residents would rather commute from downtown Toronto rather than live in Hamilton. The ones that do live closer are in Burlington, Oakville, Ancaster or Dundas. Only ~50% live in Hamilton. Of course to each their own, but living in Hamilton has definitely been a good experience thus far for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
summery Posted April 21, 2011 Report Share Posted April 21, 2011 When I interviewed in Hamilton, I didn't find it to be as bad as people described. I stayed with a friend who is an undergrad there, and she told me about all the natural beauty that Hamilton has to offer. It is apparently the "city of the falls", and has many many waterfalls, and it was her goal to visit all of them before she graduates (or at least the top 16). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thehumanmacbook Posted April 21, 2011 Report Share Posted April 21, 2011 It's fine really....3.5 years here, I do want to leave but I wouldn't mind staying if I get into mac med. You can always commute to TO or Sauga for anything really. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psychlops1 Posted April 21, 2011 Report Share Posted April 21, 2011 Article doesn't surprise me one bit lol. The one time I've visited (interviews), I got the same vibe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McMarauder Posted April 22, 2011 Report Share Posted April 22, 2011 I grew up in the busy downtown core of Toronto, so moving to Hamilton was a huge step down. I've ventured around Hamilton alot, and it's really not bad though. All cities have their sketchy areas, so just avoid East Hamilton. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joba17 Posted April 22, 2011 Report Share Posted April 22, 2011 It's really unfortunate that HAmilton gets such a bad rep! It's actually in a fantastic location ( Lake Ont, the escarpment, lots of hiking trails). I know that I had pretty low expectations of it too before I moved there.. it doesn't look too pretty if you buy-pass it on the QEW, because all you see is massive factories and smoke stacks. However, I was really pleasantly surprised with how much i like about it! Every place you live is going to have some bad areas, but I find there's a lot here that really balances it out! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
notjk Posted April 26, 2011 Report Share Posted April 26, 2011 I know this doesn't have anything to do with the medical school, but I did find it interesting that most undergrads don't want to stick around in Hamilton: http://oncampus.macleans.ca/education/2011/04/20/mcmaster-students-have-little-interest-in-hamilton/ Is it really that bad in Hamilton? I'm familiar with most of Southern Ontario (basically Guelph, Waterloo and London) but have never visited Hamilton, as I've had no reason to go there. Actually if there is anything i loved about hamilton, it was the city itself. I used to attend George.R public school, and everything was really close to one, timmies, the library etc and till today I will probably end up looking for a job near it as I rather live there then here (Brampton) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattg Posted April 26, 2011 Report Share Posted April 26, 2011 having attended to both mac and UofT, and visited queens and western a few times, i'd have to say the surrounding area in hamilton is by far the worst Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dblu7 Posted April 27, 2011 Report Share Posted April 27, 2011 It's really unfortunate that HAmilton gets such a bad rep! It's actually in a fantastic location ( Lake Ont, the escarpment, lots of hiking trails). I know that I had pretty low expectations of it too before I moved there.. it doesn't look too pretty if you buy-pass it on the QEW, because all you see is massive factories and smoke stacks. However, I was really pleasantly surprised with how much i like about it! Every place you live is going to have some bad areas, but I find there's a lot here that really balances it out! I was actually just talking about this with someone. I grew up in hamilton (and therefore have a biased opinion, but) Hamilton is great. I can definitely see why people think it's a hole when they spend 4 years moving between Westdale, Hess, and a few island bars on John or Augusta, but it's an incredible city with a lot to offer (art galleries, amazing food places [if you've got some money to blow go to 7 windows on Aberdeen], golf, sweet pubs, golf, and golf). Also, I kind of think the smoke stacks and giant pillars of flame are pretty gnarly....... I completely understand that Hamilton isn't for everyone, but try not to rag on a city when you've seen 2% of it. p.s. I'm using golf to pass the time between now and May 5. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inspiring-curmudgeon Posted April 27, 2011 Report Share Posted April 27, 2011 I was actually just talking about this with someone. I grew up in hamilton (and therefore have a biased opinion, but) Hamilton is great. I can definitely see why people think it's a hole when they spend 4 years moving between Westdale, Hess, and a few island bars on John or Augusta, but it's an incredible city with a lot to offer (art galleries, amazing food places [if you've got some money to blow go to 7 windows on Aberdeen], golf, sweet pubs, golf, and golf). Also, I kind of think the smoke stacks and giant pillars of flame are pretty gnarly....... I completely understand that Hamilton isn't for everyone, but try not to rag on a city when you've seen 2% of it. p.s. I'm using golf to pass the time between now and May 5. As a student, however, we will only get to see a small part of it anyways. I go to UWO, and the difference between London and Hamilton is that you don't have to go out of your way to enjoy the neighborhood, it's just nice all round Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dblu7 Posted May 1, 2011 Report Share Posted May 1, 2011 This picture makes me laugh every time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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