End The Curse wrote:
Why do I suspect they would say the same thing about us??
They can "say" the same - But, having lived in both cities for extensive periods of time, I'd say Hamilton has slid pretty far on the "decency" scale.
Perhaps 20 years ago, when the rust-belt was still intact, the illusion of parity or equivalence may have been supported - But, since then Hamilton has become (with the exception of the affluent breadwinners, who actually earn a living elsewhere in Southern Ontario, and only exploit Hamilton's depressed land-values, as a dormitory community) a pure and proper cesspool.
Populated with an aggregate of welfare cases and opportunistic, but somewhat xenophobic (stone-aged culture) immigrants.
Seriously. It pains me to visit what were once "safe" neighborhoods, only to find them riddled with urban-blight and the zoology of a National Geographic sense of "third-worldness".
Asian gangs (wearing "break-dancing" gear) and kids born with cleft-palates, with their eyes on the sides of their heads.
Gone are the "proper" ethnic neighborhoods, with their sense of community and their need to embrace the North American ideal...The rugged working-class.
It's really like
The Jerry Springer Show meets
Dog, The Bounty Hunter, with a goodly dose of
The Deer Hunter and
Clerks, added in.
Never mind. Don't visit Hamilton, unless you're ready to slit your own wrists and are looking for a reason to loathe humanity, shed all hope, and find your final resting-place.
It's become a pot-hole ridden, dollar-store-on-every-corner, shit-hole - Think: Akron, Ohio...but, worse. Much worse.