100in1Day Hamilton

100in1Day is a global festival of civic engagement that came to Hamilton for the first time this year on June 6th with sponsorship by Evergreen. HamiltonCLT partnered with this initiative that worked with residents and organizations to bring 118 urban interventions to the city, all on the same day. Urban interventions are simple, low-cost ways for people to showcase their ideas for a better city, stronger community, or more resilient neighbourhood. Think pop-up parks, collaborative art activities, giant board games, temporary bike lanes, or beautification projects.

Prior to the main event, we teamed up with the amazing Kenilworth Revitalization Team to bring a 100in1Day workshop to Kenilworth. It was an inspiring evening that generated some fantastic ideas for urban interventions that could take place on Kenilworth to make the area safer, healthier, and livelier.

I Wish This Was

Inspired by the I Wish This Was campaign in New Orleans, I Wish This Was- Hamilton invites residents to share their wishes for vacant properties through the use of removable, non-damaging vinyl stickers that can be placed around vacant buildings, empty lots, and beyond. The goal of this campaign is to begin a grassroots movement to re-imagine and create a vision for Hamilton’s underused spaces.

Kenilworth’s Wishes

We launched the campaign during 100in1Day at a vacant lot on Kenilworth Avenue [click here for CHCH’s coverage). Here is a sampling of the wishes that the people we met have for Kenilworth:

How Can I get Involved?

• Create your own wish-wall. Is there are vacant lot or building that is dragging your neighbourhood down? Do you wish you could do something positive with it? Chances are, many of your neighbours feel the same way. Send the message that your neighbourhood cares by creating a wish-wall on the property, inviting your neighbours to fill it in, and sharing the results! E-mail allison@hamiltonclt.org for more information.
• Make a wish. If you see these stickers in the city, we invite you to make a wish and share it with us by snapping a photo and e-mailing it to allison@hamiltonclt.org. Or, if you are a Twitter user, use the hashtag #HamOntWishList to share your wish! We will post the locations of the wish-walls on our website and social media so you can find them.
• Share your wish in-person. What’s missing in your neighbourhood? What would you like to see more of? As part of our summer outreach we will be collecting your wishes for your neighbourhood. Look for us at events around the city to share your wish.

Summer Outreach

HamiltonCLT is gearing up for summer outreach. To learn more about us and to participate in the I Wish this Was campaign, look for our friendly volunteers at the following events:

• Open Streets, Sunday, June 28th, James Street North

More events to come!

Planners’ Network Panel on Community Land Trusts

On June 4th, our Project Director Allison Maxted was a speaker on the panel Alternative Housing Models: Community Land Trust? , hosted by Planners Network Toronto. She was joined by Kuni Kamizaki, Planner at the Parkdale Neighbourhood Land Trust and Michael Shapcott, Director of Housing Innovation at the Wellesley Institute. It was an engaging discussion about the role of community land trusts in addressing affordable housing needs. The panelists agreed that:

• community land trusts best serve as part of a broader strategy which includes such innovative tools as inclusionary zoning and social finance
• the unique contributions of community land trusts are that they establish local, democratic control of real estate assets and can preserve affordable units long-term
• as an alternative model of land ownership, community land trusts help to foster the systemic change that is required to establish truly empowered and inclusive communities