Reclaiming culture of ambition in Hamilton

We refer to it all the time — “The Ambitious City,” Hamilton’s nickname. It’s been the title of books, put on T-shirts and generally used as a rally cry for those who seek great things for our city. Of late, it might even elicit an eye-roll given the uneven state of affairs confronting the community.

In fact, the phrase had conflicting origins itself. It was first uttered by a reporter in the Toronto Globe newspaper in 1847. He referred to Hamilton as “the Ambitious City” in a derisive way. It suggested that Hamilton had ambitions far exceeding its talents. In response, Spectator editor Robert Smiley reclaimed the nickname, writing that the Ambitious City was a proud and perfect descriptor of a community with great potential.

Whatever you think of the moniker, the meaning behind it, the aspirational tone, is something worth striving for. In fact, the idea of civic potential is what has driven many achievements in Hamilton over the years. This type of aspiration led to the creation of the Royal Botanical Gardens in the 1920s and ’30s. It’s what led Hamilton to being known as “The Electric City” for being the first city to have AC electricity or, more recently, the establishment of Bayfront Park in 1995 that began the process of reclaiming the waterfront that we see today. Supercrawl is another testament to ambitious thinking that has transformed a local street festival in to a major annual event recognized nationally.

This brings us to the current municipal election which will see significant change around the council table, including a new mayor and several new councillors. Competing platforms full of promises are being unveiled and healthy debate is taking place.

We’ve heard about plans for transit, strategies for building more housing, and ideas to bring more decorum to city hall. These are all welcome and important, but we need to hear more about how candidates, whether incumbents or newcomers, are going to reclaim a culture of ambition in Hamilton — the larger vision or goal for the city that will make the community something greater than it is today.

What could this look like? Take for example light rail transit. Most candidates have declared their support for the project and thus it is not a ballot question for the first time in a long time, which is fantastic. However, LRT is a starting point, not the finish line. So what is the end goal? Some will say the goal is to build more rapid transit citywide. That is perfectly good, but what about something more ambitious? How about a goal that seeks to make Hamilton the most sustainably connected city in North America?

Alternatively, there is the Chedoke Creek spill into Cootes Paradise. Candidates are pledging to support cleanup and to ensure better transparency in the future. Again, these are positive steps, but beyond the short-term cleanup, could our ambition extend further? How about restoring Cootes Paradise into a pristine natural jewel that will become a defining landmark?

These goals might seem lofty and removed from the everyday concerns of municipal life, whether it is fixing potholes or collecting garbage. However, having a sense of ambition is what keeps us from sliding into the mindset that “good is good enough.” It’s the difference between managing problems, instead of solving them. Moreover, ambition makes Hamilton punch above its weight.

We’ve done it before as a community, so let’s hear more about reclaiming ambition in Hamilton as we look to the future.