From Hamilton, to Santa
- Ayolt de Roos
- 08 Dec 2019
To make sure that Santa has everyone’s holiday wishes well documented, it’s advised that you write him a letter. Writing it down helps make it real — without it, he won’t know what wishes to make come true!
Everyone, of course, has their own personal wishlist. A new set of headphones, a slow cooker, the latest John Grisham novel. But most Hamiltonians have wishes for the city as well; something they’d love to see changed, improved, or introduced to their hometown.
To make sure that Santa doesn’t overlook these wishes either, some of them have been documented on the opposite page and will be delivered to the North Pole promptly!
“My wish for the city of Hamilton is that we find a way to keep many of the existing things that make this community so amazing, while making room for progress. A lot of the problems I see are because so many people want things to stay the same as they’ve always been. But that’s an impossible dream. Everything changes, including us. What we need is to be open-minded and accepting of positive change, plus willing to contribute with solutions if we feel that the change can be done in a better way.”
Max Francis — Founder of True Hamiltonian apparel who has immensely helped Hamilton shed its negative image
“If I had one Christmas wish for Hamilton, it would be that no child in our city would have to go hungry. This sounds extremely daunting, but we can all make a difference by working with wonderful organizations such as City Kidz, Hamilton Food Share and Food 4 Kids Hamilton. If we all spent a fraction of our holiday gift budget to donate to one of these charities, it would have a massive impact on the kids in our city who are going without food every week.”
Lindsey Mrav — Owner of Grain & Grit Beer Co., giving the city awesome brews since 2017
“My wish – and that of my team – actually encompasses a large variety of things: more affordable housing options in the city, safe injection sites for those who need them, safe bike lanes. Also, I personally love green spaces in urban environments, so I am excited about the new city park being built across from the community health center at John and Rebecca. Even more of those would be very welcome!”
Rachel Hofing — Owner of Relay Coffee Roasters, serving Hamilton some of its finest coffee since 2008
“This year for Christmas I’d like to see my hometown learn to love itself a little more. While we have work to do, Hamilton is a great place to live, work and play. The world should come by and have a pint or two with me at any of our 6 breweries and then we can have dinner at one of the amazing restaurants this city has. Arts, science and industry are colliding in the most beautiful way and I wish Hamiltonians would let themselves feel good about how far this city has come. Let’s raise a glass together and celebrate The Hammer!”
Polk — Has lived in Hamilton for nearly all of his 46 years and could not imagine living anywhere else
“All that the Hammer City Paws Rescue dogs want for Christmas is YOU! Only as many dogs can be saved as there are foster families, so open your home to a dog in need. We take care of the food and vetcare, but you provide the most important things: unconditional love and training. We have the tools to help you make a success story out of each dog. Are you unable to foster? You can always volunteer or donate, since every little bit counts. It takes a village to find a home for as many homeless dogs as possible, please become part of ours.”
Hammer City Paws Rescue — Finding loving families for homeless dogs since 2016
“If I could wish for one thing for the city, it would be for a Hamilton wide tour company, which encourages Hamiltonians to explore parts of the city they aren’t familiar with. Amazing parts of the city that are not regularly featured on online listicles would receive a boost. Entities like 541 on Barton, the Erland Lee Museum and McMaster Museum of Art would grow in popularity. New perspectives on unique parts of our city would unfold while sharing the love of this Ambitious City. The people that live and work Hamilton are what make this city sustainable, and the more we understand the different parts of our city and the people who live there the better this city will be.”
James Hutton — Account Manager at Hamilton’s own Forge FC, the first ever Canadian Premier League champions
“I’d really like to see King St. East – from Wentworth, to Sherman and on to Gage – to have a bit more life to it. There are currently a lot of places boarded up. I know it is a difficult time to get small businesses to invest in the area, with the LRT construction coming up, but the real estate would now be a lot cheaper than when that’s completed. They could get in on the ground floor and grow with the area. Ultimately, it would be great to see King East become a thriving community, like many other streets and areas have seen to become in recent years.”
Chloe Moss — Lifelong Hamiltonian and recent resident of the King East area
“My wish for Hamilton is continued support for beautification. We have a lot to work on as a city, but we also live here everyday, and public art installations like the James St. S mural, the electrical box wraps, sculptures like those added to Gore Park and the Waterfront, the graffiti murals and even the street flower beds all impact people’s daily experience. Pops of colours, putting a smile on people’s faces as they walk, bike and drive through the city.”
Jeannie Crawford — Moved to Hamilton in October 2011 and now helps others make the move through Move To HamOnt
“Collaboration! I would love to see collaboration both within the walls of city departments and council working together to solve the big problems and externally seeing the city staff engaging the community to move the city forward to be the number one place to live and work in Canada.”
Tim Potocic — Founder of Supercrawl and Sonic Unyon Records, 2013 Citizen of the Year and much, much more
Do you also have a wish for Hamilton and do you want to make sure Santa Claus gets it? Simply post your wish on Twitter, include the hashtag #mywishforHamOnt, tag @urbanicityHAM and we’ll make sure he gets them all.
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