All Statements of Support
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Julia Veenstra says,
To advance our city LRT is a wise choice. Please choose wisely.
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Aaron Neal says,
To fight the progressive change to downtown is to end up on the wrong side of history, why would anyone want to live in a city where the council cannot decide that we need to always improve?
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Lindsay Sarte says,
This is a big step into a better, brighter future for the city of Hamilton! Please, Premier Wynne, Mayor Eisenberger and Hamilton City Council: make this a reality.
I believe only great things can come from this investment.
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Daniel Evans says,
I absolutely support Hamilton LRT and expect city council to continue to support this project as they have for 8 years.
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Peter Moore says,
Hamilton has turned down funding for rapid transit before. In 1981, the City said no to an elevated rapid transit line connecting Jackson Square to Limeridge Mall; this is the same technology used to great effect in Vancouver aka the Skytrain.
Please don't turn down this opportunity again. Not only will we be able to move more people across the city but studies show that it will attract great ridership than BRT, be cheaper to operate than BRT and increases property values along the line.
That seems like a pretty good deal to me and I live nowhere near the proposed line and may never use it, frankly. But then I'm looking at the big picture, at what would help this city as a whole.
Say no to status quo.
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Alexander Szlafarski says,
As a resident of the Hamilton mountain, I see the growing need for light rail in our city. Too many times has Hamilton fallen behind in planning for the future. We are already in a dire situation when it comes to our transit as it is. Busses simply aren't going to cut it. Just look at the tens of thousands of cities across the world who are a near identical municipality and geography to that of Hamilton. We NEED to stop trying to play catch up and start planning ahead!
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Lachlan Holmes says,
We have the money given to us, why not take it? We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to have 100% funding for a billion dollar project. Why deny it?
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Jane Slote says,
To all Hamilton Councillors: Please get back "on board" and support investing in LRT to move Hamilton forward. Do not waste this time sensitive opportunity!!
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Biljana Vasilevska says,
I support LRT in Hamilton as an evidence-based means to improve the local economy, long term, and reduce sprawl in to our precious farmlands. Further, because buses that serve the current B-line will no longer be needed, they will be deployed elsewhere in the city, making it easier for someone who lives downtown (as I do) to enjoy the amenities of the suburbs (for example, movie theatres that are currently are very poorly served by transit).
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Hans Vermaat says,
Since the beginning of May we have been travelling in Europe and plan to return
to Canada on the 30th of May. We have been travelling exclusively using amazing modes of public transportation.
We have experienced first hand how an
efficient network works, be it busses,
trams or trains. It boggles our mind why
we continue to struggle in Hamilton with
the implementing of our LRT system.
Members of city council, please embrace
the future and stop living in the past;Hans Vermaat
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Ron Lariviere says,
As someone who uses public transit, as well as a car, a bicycle, and my own two legs, I encourage you to do all in your power to facilitate the implementation of light transit. I am old enough to remember a vibrant Hamilton downtown and hope to see one return. LRT can only help.
The newer wards were developed, in part, through funding from old ward taxes; time for the favour to be returned, the city will be stronger for it.
To city councillors I say that your time is valuable, and this has been studied to death. Lead, or step aside.Yours truly,
Ron Lariviere
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Jason Leach says,
Ladies and Gents, it's disappointing to even be sending this email, but as a Hamilton taxpayer and citizen, I again would like to share my full support for our LRT and east end GO Station plans as outlined in the $1.3 billion provincial announcement last year.
It's odd to see all the hoopla that surrounds a handful of jobs at a new plant in Hamilton with millions in local subsidies handed out just to get various companies to locate here. Yet it appears as though some councillors may be willing to turn down the millions in salary and great paying jobs over many years without a dime of expense to the local taxpayer?https://medium.com/@anthonymarco/hamilton-lrt-let-reason-triumph-41ca63f530b6#.z1idufqnh
Now is probably a good time to remind everyone of the phrase 'public servant'. Leaders do what is best for the entire city. I don't recall hearing this logic during construction of the Linc: "it only passes through a few wards and isn't accessible to a huge portion of the Hamilton population, so let's not build it".
It's called city-building. To pull out that kind of exceptionalism now smacks of elite classism towards the poorer neighbourhoods in Hamilton.
Surely our elected officials care equally about all residents in this city.Many cities in Ontario and across Canada are building LRT systems and expanding ones that already exist. NO, a few councillors in Hamilton do not know something the rest of the world is unaware of.
LRT works, offers great economic uplift, great transit convenience and as we've seen in other cities, is always expanded with new lines in the years following construction of the initial line.
Of course some residents will complain about this. That's what people do.Elected leaders make decisions with a 50 and 100 year lens. You are elected as city-builders, not mini Empire builders in your own wards.
Let's not turn down a massive investment in Hamilton over petty politics and mis-information.
In 50 and 100 years, none of us will be here. Will we hand over a growing, prospering, 21st Century city to our kids and grand-kids? Or will we squander yet another great chance to see Hamilton finally lose it's status as the donut hole in Southern Ontario.
K-W, London, Mississauga, Toronto, Ottawa, York Region are all cities building or planning LRT lines. There's a reason for that.
Let's not fall further behind our competition and continue to lag as a city.Cheers
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Robert Prouse says,
I am really disappointed by council's lack of vision and direction on the LRT project and on transportation on a whole within the city. The only way we will turn the city around is if we have safe streets and a working transit system. If council members want to still have their jobs after the next election, then it is about time that they started supporting great initiatives like the LRT rather than delaying and stonewalling every change for the better. Shame on them.
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Jeff Crow says,
This project is so important to the advancement of our city. Yes construction will be a difficult time for the core and the business in the core but it is so worth it in the future.
I moved to Hamilton 10 years ago and I fell in love with this city and continue to fall in love with it over and over again everyday. I am so looking forward to LRT to come and to set us up for an amazing future.
Please don't blow this council. You will cause so much uprise in the city.
Please not another stadium mess up.
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Tony Mancini says,
I've been living in this city now for over 5 years and the direction it is going and the rate at which it is happening is just astounding. More businesses are opening, more people are coming and the core is really coming along quite well. From that, you can see side streets starting to catch up.
Why wouldn't we want LRT? It will add more revitalization to the downtown core by allowing people to quickly travel into town. Sure there will be construction, lots of it and I can understand why this would cause concern, perhaps some road closure tests are in order to help mitigate this worry. Figure out a way to divert the traffic first before actually needing to and running into problems.
Start in the core, bring people to the core and the streets just beyond that will start catching up... it'll spread.
I appreciate the critical thinking you're doing about this project, thank you for that. It is better to research and ensure success before implementing a disaster. As much as I hated the fact that the vote was pushed, it actually does make sense... be prepared. But please make sure that it isn't pushed so far that we end up losing the opportunity.
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Bob Mike Hanley says,
Please, no more looking in the rear-view mirror. This is a wonderful opportunity to move our city forward.
We've been making strides and this is a giant step in the right direction.
Thank you
Bob Mike Hanley -
Lena Scholman says,
I just read an article about how in Vancouver the average income is around $43,000, while the average home is $2.2 million. One particularly snotty investor (on the winning side of this equation) said "Millenials will just have to get used to the reality of long commutes."
Vancouver, a spectacularly gorgeous city, will become a resort to the ultra-rich, with all of it's neighbourhoods losing their heart and soul.
Without infrastructure like LRT, another generation will be doomed to long commutes, clogging up the highways and roadways of the GTA.
LRT makes Hamilton a vibrant option for families to live, work, play and go to school, without spending their whole lives on the road.
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John Thompson says,
May 13, 2016
I strongly support the Hamilton LRT project, as it will strongly benefit the city and it is far more economical to build it now than later; and, it would bring much-needed jobs to many Hamiltonians.
LRT is environmentally-friendly and is more appealing to transit riders than buses, has a greater carrying capacity, is smooth and quiet, and the LRVs last in service at least three times as long as buses (Toronto experience).
However, I feel that the LRT should be built out to Eastgate Square or at least Parkdale Avenue at this time; Queenston Circle is a terrible location for a terminal; the James St. spur is unnecessary; it would serve a minimum of passengers that could easily be carried by express buses to/from the West Harbour GO Station, and the money put towards the Main Line LRT.
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Peter Malysewich says,
I would be okay with the province installing parking meters at shopping malls to pay for this. We must be weaned out of cars. We need to give up the mentality that we must build roads for the automotive industry.
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Norman Newbery says,
Hamilton's LRT is too important to play political games with it. It will be a key ingredient to transformation of our city. Without transformation, Hamilton will become less and less desirable to live in. Embrace the future. Vote LRT.
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Stan Slovenski says,
Dear Provincial officials,
Please do not let the future of Hamilton and its public good be decided or derailed by our incompetent, cynical, petty-minded city councillors who clearly are working against the interests of our city as a whole. We the average people unfortunately need you to save us from our enemies who happen to be our "leaders". We need LRT for safer streets, economic prosperity, and a greener environment.
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Michael Pray says,
We need LRT to ensure safe, clean, efficient movement of people. It has to be the first step in a long term plan to modernize transportation in Hamilton.
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Gordon Marshall says,
Yes to LRT!! this city needs to move forward with the future and not lag behind like it has always done,
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Aaron Strong says,
Hamilton is in desperate need of an infrastructure overhaul. Gone are the days when every person owned a car and wished to drive everywhere. This is no longer a reality in urban centers and we need to address this as a city.
While some councilors are dragging their feet on LRT, claiming it in no way benefits their ward, the city as a whole must be considered. Transit infrastructure in the suburbs will never be a viable option as long as connections remain long or non-existent. The LRT may not directly serve any mountain routes, but it will benefit mountain transit users through improved connections and reallocation of buses from downtown to other areas.
It is shameful that council is showing resistance to this project after voting for it so many times, and it is particularly frustrating that councilors have all of a sudden appeared to change their long-held views on sidewalks and bike lanes to pretend as if they are cooperating with the city planning process. Issues should have long since been voiced and addressed, and it is embarrassing to me, a life-long Hamiltonian, that council holds such backward views for our city. Hamilton is the butt of so many jokes, and it will remain as such as long as this farce of a city council continues to operate.
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Van Hoang says,
100 percent support from me. Some people out there keep taking it away from this city. Please give it to hamiltonians as they need and deserve this service.
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Jason McGibbon says,
I was discouraged as I followed recent developments in the ongoing LRT discussions. I am fully in favour of LRT for Hamilton. I recognize that there are certainly challenges and concerns as there are with any major infrastructure builds. I don't, however, think that the concerns are insurmountable. In fact, deferring such infrastructure upgrades in transit would only make future challenges and interruptions to business etc. even greater than they would be now. Transit is paramount for any world class, destination city. It is a needed investment in our city if it is to realize its potential. I am asking that it be made a priority commitment for the city of Hamilton.
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Kim Newcombe says,
I thought we were past this. How can our Hamilton City Councillors even think of refusing this kind of investment? What wonderful alternative do they have planned? Where would that money come from? The Province? This is the future... it's clean, green and connects the city. Why would you ever consider not moving forward enthusiastically with the LRT.
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Al Horzelenberg says,
It is high time that Hamilton's City Council gather together as an entity and make decisions that will benefit Hamilton with a viable future in a post modern era. The means and tools are being offered, let us grab hold and run with the brilliant plans to unite this city through the highly successful examples displayed in Istanbuhl, Portland, Amsterdam, Miami, etc. The list is endless.
Implementation and installation of LRT will bring this "possibly" Great City of ours onto the World Stage:
Let us do this NOW rather than later!! -
Beverly Leslie says,
I am fully in support of the LRT build. Hamilton has got to stop our small town thinking and move forward with this transformative project. I hope council will support the building of the LRT line.
Sincerely
Beverly Leslie
Dundas ON -
james Dalgetty says,
What is with you people!?!Everything the council does is so short sighted.City hall and stadium fiascos ! Get the lrt. Hamilton has had horrible city governments for about 40 years.Do something progressive for a change!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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