Statement by Jordan Kerim

Thank you for setting up this web page. : )

Living as a child in Hamilton between the years 1989-1993, I saw first hand the pain, especially the economic pain the people of Hamilton had to endure, especially in the darkest hour of the early 1990s recession.

There were many rough kids at school who were mean to me, and I am sure their parents projected that grimness onto them too. But Hamilton has so much potential.

Yes, there is a lot of poverty in Hamilton. I say it is time to turn things around. Light Rail would totally turn things around. First of all I would invite any Hamiltonian to ride the Spadina Ave Streetcar here in Toronto to check out our nice new low floor LRVs from Bombardier. These new low floor Light Rail Vehicles are a total game changer.

Yes, Toronto is full of the older high floor streetcars, but soon they will be all gone and replaced with the low floor LRVs. Just as recently as a century ago North America was covered with city streetcars, interurbans and radials and intercity rail, so too we must once again take command of our destiny. We need to take a stand against the menacing nightmare that is the motor car. I am so incredibly sick of them, they are so loud and they only dimininsh the quality of life for cities. Go on YouTube and watch the many videos of light rail in Eurpoe or what they are referred to as trams and tramways. The new LRVs are very quiet.

Running the LRT along King from McMaster to Eastgate via the downtown would mark the beginning, a turn around for Hamilton. And then the city could start to attract developers along the light rail corridors and help further along Hamiltons revitalization. Back in the 1970s and 1980s, the city was pressured to accept what would have been similar to Vancouvers SkyTain, which of course would have been a disaster.

The light rail creates promenades, it gives vitality, it creates street life. The streetcars of downtown Toronto do their share of adding to the life of this city, they are more important to Toronto than many may realize, and Hamilton can of course have some of that magic too.

I support all forms of rail transportation, Light Rail, Metros and High Speed Rail. Cars meanwhile will just waste energy being stuck in traffic, a real waste of the Earths wealth. We can do better than that and that is why our future is in trains and not cars!

Until next time..

Jordan Kerim : )

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