CENTRAL Hamilton

The exact borders of what constitutes Central Hamilton aren’t totally agreed upon, but for our purposes we’re looking at the lower city between Queen Street in the West and Wentworth in the East. This area isn’t geographically huge, but the neighbourhoods are diverse, historic and, in a way, tell the story of the changes Hamilton has gone through culturally, socially and economically in the last century. 

Central Hamilton is sometimes referred to as The Core and often used interchangeably with “Downtown Hamilton”, which is technically the area between Hunter, Queen, Wellington and Cannon. Whatever you call it, this area has undergone huge changes in its density in recent years (and still increasing) with the recent introduction of several completed condo projects and the announcement of many more to come right in the core. 

What’s the biggest defining characteristic of Central Hamilton? Well, it always seems to be at the center of some form of political debate in the City. LRT is definitely the most notable (and frustrating) one of the past decade or so. Yes, you heard that right… a decade. Is it happening? Only time will tell, but no one can accuse us of not passionately arguing over every single pro and con of this massive transit investment. 

In terms of housing and neighbourhoods, Central Hamilton has a little bit of everything. Downtown, you’ll find trendy condos like the impressively revived Royal Connaught and the Theatre Lofts. The streets running off of James North in both Central and Beasley have lovely classic brick homes, both detached, semi and row-style which are in high demand, especially for those that are moving here for the first time. Sought-after Durand is a largely residential neighbourhood situated between Central and the edge of the escarpment. In terms of housing, this area is quite mixed with single families, low rise and high rise options. As you get closer to the escarpment you’ll find some incredible historic homes, noted to be one of the best preserved areas of Victorian and Gothic mansions in the country. 

Just east of Durand, you’ll find the Corktown and Stinson neighbourhoods. Corktown has a dense mix of old character homes (many converted into multi-family units), low-rise residential, and some newly developed townhome blocks. Stinson is home to the development of the old Stinson School into lofts by Toronto and now Hamilton based developer, Harry Stinson. This neighbourhood is one of those famous for being nestled up against the base of the escarpment with lots of big character homes, many had previously been converted to multi family homes and are making their way back to single family.

Finally, the North End – this neighbourhood has long had the reputation of needing to be avoided. Oooooh, the north end!! But in recent years, with the redevelopment of James Street North and the extensive plan for the Waterfront, this community has once again become known as a trendy and upcoming place to be. It is a family friendly community that features a mix of styles of homes, as well as many long term residents who were born and raised and have remained loyal to their community. It gives you easy access to many of the access points into and out of the city via Burlington heading East and Cannon heading West to the 403. Some much needed and welcome redevelopment is happening specifically with affordable housing in mind – like the Indwell units on James North. It’s no doubt that gentrification is a big topic in the city right now, so it’s important that developers and planners keep in mind that we have a great mix of people here to incorporate into all plans.