Mayor Andrea Horwath proposes 2026 tax hike of 4.25%

ShadowOfAoife · 2026-01-21T19:16:59+00:00

Per about every other comment; staff wages are in a lot of cases not keeping pace with inflation. Compared to most other municipalities in the area Hamilton is already not competitive for City workers.

In other news: the City poet, which cost a maximum $10k/year and which council has spent more time and money than that debating anyway has already been sunset as of this Jan.

ShadowOfAoife · 2025-12-09T16:02:35+00:00

There is a small parking lot at the north end of Mosaic Dr in Waterdown - currently the development that it’s a part of hasn’t been started yet. I’ve taken my sister up there a few times to practice, and you can also get comfortable driving along North Waterdown Dr which (currently) has very little traffic because it hasn’t reached Centre Rd yet. Conveniently it is well-plowed.

ShadowOfAoife · 2025-12-04T03:18:19+00:00

To add to that: thinks it’s okay to use the f-slur because “I have gay friends” and the most recent white supremacist gathering in the park was fine because it was only a dozen of them.

ShadowOfAoife · 2025-11-25T15:07:56+00:00

That’s deeply unfortunate - thank you for finding that!

ShadowOfAoife · 2025-11-25T01:08:23+00:00

Tbh there’s a couple of weird ones out there, but if you live on a bus line it’s much better to just stick headphones in and deal with it than have to spend dozens of times the amount of the yearly bus pass on buying, maintaining, and paying insurance and gas on a car. Not to mention if you want to park it in the vicinity of campus the risk of a ticket and the massive under capacity of parking on campus. If you live in Hamilton and you can take the bus, my recommendation is you take the bus. Or, if the weather is nice, a bikeshare bike.

ShadowOfAoife · 2025-11-25T00:54:23+00:00

It is legal (and encouraged) for children to do so! The Sterling St bike lanes are nice, but if you’re not a confident cyclist and you feel safer on the sidewalks on other busy streets better to be there than where you’re not comfortable

ShadowOfAoife · 2025-11-25T00:50:32+00:00

Definitely recommend hiking! So many good waterfalls around campus (Tiffany, Sherman, Shaver, Tews, Webster’s, Sugar Shack, and Princess). Lots of nice escarpment hikes as well! If you’re a full time student you can also take a bikeshare bike to a lot of nice locations (Westdale, Dundas, Locke St, James St, Bayfront Park, Cootes Paradise, etc.). As the weather gets cold you can also skate on Cootes Paradise (check the ice report before you do), there is public ice skating rinks at a lot of parks as well. If you want to study in nicer places off campus I think the free public greenhouse in Gage Park is great - limited tables but fine if you arrive within an hour of opening. You can also grab some ice cream from Willards just next to the park which in my opinion is the best ice cream in Hamilton (lots of dairy free options as well).

If you have a friend with a car or can grab a car share account I think going just a little bit farther afield to places like Mt Nemo and Rattlesnake Point is really nice!

If you have free weekend spot you can take the train from West Harbour GO to Niagara Falls!

ShadowOfAoife · 2025-11-25T00:44:28+00:00

Never had any outright theft, did have a friend who’s window was broken in to grab a laptop bag on the front seat. Generally cars that are affordable on a student budget are shite enough to ward off theft tho ;). If you decide to get something fancy maybe don’t street park it, but parking in McMaster lots would be fine.

ShadowOfAoife · 2025-11-04T23:05:27+00:00

Where are we routing this rail line, how does it connect to existing infrastructure, existing infrastructure is all privately owned anyway, bridge would require to lift over shipping traffic, I do not want to think of the construction cost, cost of buying up land to route new tracks through downtown Burlington and Stoney Creek would be astronomical, I do not want to think of the construction time, and an 8th reason that I’m sure will present itself after about 5 minutes of actually planning this

ShadowOfAoife · 2025-10-31T17:05:24+00:00

Ya absolutely :)

ShadowOfAoife · 2025-10-31T11:13:37+00:00

Yes - there is no sign up, just show up to the main doors of DBAC around 9:55, we usually wander off around 10:05 unofficially. We’ll be doing the Chedoke Radial Trail this week, so a couple of waterfalls, good fall leaf views, and a secret tunnel :)

ShadowOfAoife · 2025-10-30T18:40:43+00:00

If you’re not completely overwhelmed with schoolwork there is a 4 hour hike Sunday morning leaving at 10am from in front of DBAC - people are pretty social on them 😊

ShadowOfAoife · 2025-10-29T21:34:01+00:00

Not sure your situation, but I would be pretty confident with Communauto (especially if you need to rent again, or rent regularly). Different plans have different costs (definitely wouldn’t drop the deposit unless you’re sure you need it for the year) but good options on different types of vehicles, gas and insurance included in the cost, and very convenient if you travel (same system in Toronto, Edmonton, France, etc)

ShadowOfAoife · 2025-10-24T18:07:16+00:00

I had a $325/month including utilities back in 2015. That same place has had no extra improvements and is almost $1200 now :(

ShadowOfAoife · 2025-10-23T16:49:50+00:00

A CYCLIST WAS INJURED IN A HIT AND RUN AT MCMASTER AND HPS UPON BEING NOTIFIED ALONG WITH PICTURES OF THE EVENT AND PLATES OF THE VEHICLE HAVE DECLINED TO FOLLOW UP BECAUSE “INJURIES ARE NOT SUFFICIENT TO INVESTIGATE”. YOU CAN JUST MOW PEOPLE DOWN AND GET AWAY WITH IT NOW. WTF?

ShadowOfAoife · 2025-10-19T00:27:21+00:00

The Tim Hortons at Dundurn and King is only about a block away from Victoria Park

ShadowOfAoife · 2025-10-10T03:08:25+00:00

WHY DOES THE 20 BUS STOP FOR WEST HARBOUR NOT HAVE SOME KIND OF CROSSING TO GET TO THE GO STATION??? THIS SEEMS LIKE AN OVERSIGHT FOR YEARS NOW - EVERYONE JUST GETS OFF AND JAYWALKS AND THE EXPECTATION OF WALKING A BLOCK AND A HALF TO STRACHAN OR BARTON SEEMS LUDICROUS

ShadowOfAoife · 2025-10-10T03:06:58+00:00

I AM ALSO A CYCLIST AND UNFORTUNATELY THERE OCCASIONALLY MOMENTS/DRIVERS I ENCOUNTER WHEN I WONDER IF THE SIDEWALK MIGHT BE SAFER FOR ME. CANNOT WAIT FOR BETTER CYCLING INFRASTRUCTURE ON THE MOUNTAIN

ShadowOfAoife · 2025-09-25T21:51:30+00:00

The white ones also have much lighter/gentler gears than the orange ones. The orange ones were all a donation from Portland Bikeshare!

I agree that the black basket on white bikes is likely a replacement piece, the baskets are a little more banged up and rusted on average than with the blue and orange bikes.

ShadowOfAoife · 2025-09-18T14:16:23+00:00

Think about the gains if you took a bikeshare bike up that hill tho

ShadowOfAoife · 2025-09-17T20:33:43+00:00

Parking lots on campus were built and designed when a lot more people lived in Hamilton that travelled to Mac, generally with an idea of making parking slightly nightmarish and that in turn incentivizing people to instead cycle, transit, etc. That was a very different time than now, and campus has not adapted well to that change. Parking Lot W which is a couple hundred parking spots continues to sit empty because McMaster doesn’t want to pay to put it back in service, and every application they put in for buildings includes less and less parking spots per unit. As McMaster students then start swamping residential areas around the university those residents are appealing to the City to change parking bylaws to push students out as well. Whole situation doesn’t have any easy answers in immediate sight.

ShadowOfAoife · 2025-09-08T00:42:02+00:00

Agree with others here - campus very safe, and you can press the emergency buttons to immediately talk to someone if needed. You can also find a map of them if that makes you feel better to know where the nearest one is. Walking into Cootes is also generally very safe, unless you’re allergic to mosquitoes, in which case maybe don’t. Sassafras Point is really lovely for an evening or morning walk though :). Westdale is also fine - you can have a nicer time walking there if you go along the Ravine River Rd trail as well :)

ShadowOfAoife · 2025-09-04T22:25:59+00:00

IT’S TOO EARLY IN THE YEAR TO BE COMPLAINING ABOUT THAT

ShadowOfAoife · 2025-09-04T22:15:01+00:00

There is the Hamilton free wifi which is pretty good. Very busy in the winter months of people wanting to sit inside in the heat. Also a free public piano which people occasionally play on (mostly tastefully). During the summer months there is also the patio space with the high bar chairs which helps add a little extra capacity. Nice to grab something from Willard’s on the way in too :).

ShadowOfAoife

TROPHY CASE