When I left Hamilton, 30 years ago, it was an average industrial town - steel mills pumping black smoke into the air, men (overwhelmingly) working 3 shifts a day, their families living in little brick houses. But, it was also heading into a period of decline. Its economy was totally reliant on the steel mills lining Hamilton Harbour and they hadn't changed since the nineteenth century. Along came cheaper steel from elsewhere, and Hamilton's economy tanked. The downtown, now, is someplace nobody goes, there's no building going on in the city centre. It doesn't look good.

Except! As I mentioned the other day, all the unused railbeds have been converted to hiking/biking/running/blading trails, and these can take you pretty much anywhere in the city. Yesterday I walked along one that runs along the bay. It brings you to this site. Above, out of frame, is the High Level Bridge. Going under it (something one never used to be able to do except in a boat) takes you to Cootes Paradise - a large, shallow bay. The structure in the background that runs along the water's surface is a fish fence. It keeps carp out of Cootes Paradise while letting other fish in. The carp are an introduced species that had turned Cootes Paradise into an algae-choked swamp, pretty much killing off all the native fish and vegetation. Since building the fish fence, all of this has been reversed.

So, Hamilton's doing a lot of things right. The "rail-trails" are, as far as I've seen, packed with people. Hamilton Harbour looks a lot cleaner. I like this place!