Taking a Step Back

Though this is my 'civic activism' blog, I've contributed and posted elsewhere on the subject for a while. I'm not a city planner, I claim to be no authority, have no 'schooling', but have developed an abiding appreciation for living spaces over the years, especially having spent time in a fairly broad variety of locales.

When I've lived locally, I've always felt I was a citizen of two cities; Stoney Creek and Hamilton. I was born there...but raised here. I lived in Hamilton for long stretches of my adult life and established one of my careers there...and yet currently live in Stoney Creek, having returned here quite unexpectedly. I should add that I'm not 'torn' between them, not at all. Not when my tattoo declares: 'Nothing succeeds like excess'. Each city represents different things to me, and I revel in them all.

It's ironic that currently, both are in need of revitalization and rejuvenation. Funny, that...

I've mentioned in other essays that I'm always more interested in knowing the 'Reason Behind the Reason' ('RBR', my riff on 'Question Behind the Question', an approach to accountability coined by personal guru and business success consultant John G. MIller.) than I am in the details of what's happened. In fact, the actual event, the decision, the process almost never holds as much fascination for me. I want to know more about what led to what's in the spotlight than the object itself, I want the backstory more than I want the news item.

So I guess it should come as no surprise that I've gotten into my shares of tussles with people looking back on mistakes Hamilton has made. Mostly because a) they're often as not nearly old enough to have seen first-hand what they're ranting about, b) they've not done sufficient research to hold a qualified opinion, and c) they look back with the perspective of modern day, with a 2010 mentality. (I'm tempted to add d) that they take waaaaaaay too much delight in expressing righteous indignation...people for whom getting pissed-off seems to be some kind of side-vocation. But I won't. I do have some restraint.)

Probably the greatest target for them to aim their vitriol at is the Jackson Square effort. Originally conceived as 'Civic Square', it was a grand scheme with the lofty goal of reinventing the downtown.

Now, I'm not writing this piece in order to delve into what transpired, why it's regarded by so many as a qualified failure. For anyone who's interested, there's a fabulous essay available online entitled 'The Facelift and the Wrecking Ball: Urban Renewal and Hamilton’s King Street West, 1957–1971' by Margaret T. Rockwell. Google it. It's well worth the effort. In fact, if you live in the area, you owe it to yourself to understand why things are the way they are in Downtown Hamilton these days...and this document will supply a good half of the story.

What compels me to put finger to keyboard is the renewed understanding of how dangerous it is to look back and re-examine what was, what happened...without appreciating context. Because by insisting on interpreting 'facts' this way, nothing is accomplished...and the conversational waters definitely get muddied. To everyone's detriment.

In a nutshell, most people looking at the débacle that was the Jackson Square effort focus on what resonates for them (the loss of all those 'shantytown' residences, the light-manufacturing businesses that were woven into the fabric of the area, and perhaps the #1 complaint: Old City Hall) and forget to -or willfully decide not to- factor in all the contributing elements.

In effect, they don't consider the Reasons Behind the Reasons.

Jackson Square (or, as I have pointed out, 'Civic Square') was conceived in the 50s. The men who were responsible (yes, it would be almost entirely men shaping the future of a city's core), the movers and shakers, the planners and developers, the politicians and money-men were generally of a generation whose roots were in the turn of the 20th century. They were the products of two World Wars, one that had only been fought a decade and a half previously. They had lived through The Great Depression and were living within the circumstances of the Cold War, they witnessed the rise of Madison Avenue defining the new religion of consumerism, they were seeing the birth of rock and roll, of television, they rode the seemingly endless waves of the post-war boom...they were of a mindset predicated on the need for change, for growth, for creating a future that owed less to respect for the past, convention and conservation than it did to innovation and progress...progress, progress, progress.

These are the elements that the ranters seem to constantly forget. Or ignore.

These are the contributing factors that played parts in how badly things turned out downtown, informing the entire process to so great an extent...

...and yet mostly, they're disregarded by those whose motto seems to be 'Vilify, Vilify, Vilify!' Lord knows they rant it at full-speed (and full-volume) when they're in their revisionist-cups, and along with irking me something fierce, this tendency makes me sad. Because in their own way, they're crapping on the past as much as they're accusing the transgressors from back then of doing.

No matter the situation we're talking about, I think it's important to understand how we got to where we are. That we must truly understand to as great an extent as is possible, before we can effect any solutions or corrections. That it behooves us to take a really good look at the entire picture and not just the part we want to put under the microscope.

Humans are inherently flawed. All humans are foible-rich. While I believe that there are always going to be some who have dastardly intentions, most 'screw-ups' aren't the result of some diabolical plot...they're more a grand combination of missteps and miscalculations, badly-formulated concepts as executed by less-than-brilliant practitioners...rarely the result of evilness, but rather, orchestrations of stupidity. ('The Gore Park Fiasco', anyone...?)

So my wish for anyone trying to glean understanding of something -it could be a development scenario, it could be a political faux pas, it might be a crisis-of-confidence in a relationship- is to endeavour to grasp the fullest context possible, given your resources. To search out the Reasons Behind the Reasons.

Oh, and leave the ranting for the online 'experts'. Unlike Love and Wealth, I suspect there is a finite amount of Vilification in the universe, and really; who are we to deny the High Dudgeon group their sustenance?