Midnight In Paris… I mean, James Street
- Frank Florio
- 05 Nov 2015
Why Hamilton’s present may be better than its past
In Woody Allen’s 2010 film, Midnight in Paris, Owen Wilson portrays a writer on holiday in Paris. One midnight, as he strolls the streets alone and lost, he sits down briefly before he is mysteriously picked up by a partying group of people in a 1920s vintage Rolls Royce. He is mysteriously transported back in time, to Paris of the 1920s. Once there, he meets people like Ernest Hemingway, T.S. Eliot, Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald and other artistic luminaries like Pablo Picasso and Gertrude Stein.
All this comes to mind after a strange couple of years in which I felt lured back to James Street North, an area where I grew up in the 1950s and early 60s. The renaissance of the street is certainly attracting all sorts of people, and that isn’t surprising because it’s a fascinating and alive place. From the rustic and welcoming Mulberry Coffeehouse, to an array of nice restaurants, galleries and food markets, it’s a great spot to spend a couple of hours. Still, for me, it seemed to almost transcend time.
Recently I was in Morgenstern’s buying some men’s clothing when I started chatting with the owner about the magnetic feel of the street. I told him I recalled attending several wedding receptions, as a child, at a place called St. Michael’s Hall. Whereupon he heightened the Midnight in Paris feeling by telling me, “this store is the former St. Mike’s Hall.’ Well, as they say in tennis, it was ‘game, set, match’ for a hopeless romantic like yours truly.
Whether, like me, you were a kid in Hamilton 60 years ago, or never saw the place before in your life, it emits great vibes. And for those of us who grew up in Hamilton, it evokes all sorts of thoughts about the old and new city.
Hamilton is often wistfully recalled by its older citizens as a place that used to thrive. The tens of thousands of industrial jobs along Burlington Street are framed as a golden era. But alas, it’s largely gone and today we wonder how to do it again, employing buzzwords and biz words like ‘economic development’ and whatever other trendy bon mots we can devise.
In my 70th year, I confess to such wistulness at times. But such is the energy and the creativity and the hopefulness of the new Hamilton that a remark by the late New York humourist and sports writer Arthur ‘Bugs’ Baer comes to mind. He said, “Things ain’t what they used to be — and never was!” Grammar aside, the man was right.
The Hamilton of the past was very good but it wasn’t perfect. But now, in many new ways, James Street included, it’s a more interesting place. More diverse, more verve. There are definitely challenges — undeniable pockets of poverty, the booming housing market is good for owners and much less affordable for renters, violent crime is a growing concern, and politics is, well, still politics. Protecting pensions and the thousands entitled to them is also crucial. But agencies, groups, labour unions and individuals are trying hard to address these urgent issues. Meanwhile, there is also much good happening here because we’ve become a place teeming with creativity and artistry.
It’d be a stretch, of course, to say that it’s 1920s Paris all over again with Hemingway-like characters dotting the landscape. The Hamilton of today is not so much a handful of colourful characters as it is a collection of interesting and thoughtful entrepreneurs. The Hamilton of today is much more of a ‘happening’ place than a yesterday place.
Newcomers have blended well with long- time residents and are both different and similar to newcomers of the past. These are the new ‘immigrants’. Instead of getting off trains at the CN Station on James Street North after arriving from foreign lands, these new immigrants simply took a GO train, a GO bus or drove 40 miles down the highway to check out the place. We, of course, still benefit from overseas newcomers and they add to a healthy, dynamic mix.
As newcomers rave about the possibilities, at least some of the oldtimers are cynical or at least frustrated. Discussing the city’s revival with a friend recently, he begrudgingly acknowledged the gains but added sombrely, “we’ve still got a long way to go.”
To go where? Nobody knows, but one thing seems certain: we aren’t going back to dropping out of school in grade 8 or finishing grade 12 and going to work in a factory on Burlington Street because, as Bob Dylan sang, “the times, they are a changin’.”
Fortunately, we have educational opportunities and institutions like Mohawk College, McMaster University, Redeemer University, the Dundas Valley School of Art and publicly funded and private school systems. These and other learning outlets are helping us help us adjust to these changing times — and also help us to shape them.
Security, a steady job and a regular pay cheque all have their merits and we need those things today too. And if you’ve got even a few spare dollars, meet a friend for lunch on James Street North, or have a meal on Ottawa Street and, if you’re nostalgic, drop into an antique store or Stardust Records for some great vinyl hits of yesteryear.
Or go on a similar treasure hunt in the stores of Locke Street. In these and other places, you’ll feel something taking you back to the old vibrant neighbourhoods while at the same time seeing the newness of it all.
We used to be called The Ambitious City. It wasn’t a bad moniker but blind or even focused ambition doesn’t describe today’s Hamilton. It is more of a ‘great becoming’ and I’d love to be around at 90 or 100 to see today’s seeds blossom. And if you’re a mere 20, 30, or 40, you’re in for quite a ride!
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