I don't think I've shared anything about my experiences in grad school since I started in September. So this entry will be all about that.

My grad school experience has been, well, lukewarm. I don't really have another appropriate term to describe it. It's comfortable yet tame.

Surely there are some benefits of being in grad school that I do enjoy.

ONE:
Professors and staff take dedicated interest in learning and helping me with my research endeavors and academic financial assistance.

TWO:
Having an office means I actually have a permanent space on campus that is dedicated solely to me.

THREE:
There's no need to check when my library books are due, since I can borrow them for a term.

FOUR:
There are a lot of serious grad students with a true passion in all facets of planning.

I commend the University for really striving to help students reach their academic potential, and I encourage everyone to come here if they also want to have their academic potential met. Unfortunately, the good news comes to an end.

I understood ever since I drafted my applications a year ago that attending grad school was a choice. And because I continue to see this as a choice among other options (i.e. go to work, be a bum), I have higher expectations about the life that I would like to live.

With that in mind, I continue to question my decision. Was this the best choice for me? How much precedence should my professional advancement have over my personal life? What do I seriously value more? Is it really a short term pain for a long term gain? What exactly are my long term gains?

Grad school, at least in my experience, is about a lot of thinking-- which the Planning department proudly encourages and wilfully facilitates. While my thinking activity is happening, I can tell you that it's not always academic thinking-- just lots of random thinking. The low requirement of course-based work for the first eight months truly faciliates a lot of this random thinking. Thinking that can be destructive-- and usually revolves around the above questions.

I found that undergrad work, as many of you can concur, was just about deliverables. There was no time to think thoroughly, the objective was to get your shit done, or face drowning in the sea of papers, labs, assignments, and exams. Because there wasn't even time to think things thoroughly for course work, this certainly leaves no time to think about these 'random things.' Grad school, however, is very different.

Anyways, as much as the school component of life is fine, but the life in Waterloo is just so blah. Living in Uptown is surely no compromise to the hussle-bussle, accessible, and the good-food-nature of Toronto. And I totally feel the effects of the shrinking-to-almost-no-existence social network here in Waterloo, leaving it quieter than I would like. I miss my summers where I can quickly call up someone and we can just grab a coffee, dinner, or just whatever.

In an ideal world, the University of Waterloo would be in Toronto. Yes, Waterloo was named the Intelligent Community of the year, but unfortunately, it was not also awarded for its community vibrancy. This is why I'm torn these days.

Yes, pity me. Or slap me out of it.

... way better than KW at least.

I want to quote my friend Denise, a long-time student at McMaster:

Wow, I have never heard someone use Hamilton and beautiful in the same sentence! But it's true, you just have to look hard to find the nice spots.

... and we certainly found many of these 'nice spots'! I find that most people never even consider visiting Hamilton because travellers like me are turned off by the big steel manufacturers which is in clear view when driving along the Queen Elizabeth Way.

Anyway, believe it or not, Hamilton is a beautiful city with so much potential. It has a large city feel, and because the inner downtown core hasn't developed much since the 1960's-- they've retained much of their old architecture.

Our first stop was along the waterfront to the Pier 4 Park. There was very few people by the water, but the park holds a Federal Government "Discovery Centre", a marina, a small coffee shop, many sailboaters, and even some fisher-people! I can feel the effort the city placed to fix up the area-- but it seems like there isn't enough of a draw for people to visit, perhaps because it's quite a distance from the downtown.

Then it was off to the downtown. Wow. Urban designers should really check out Hamilton. The City's recent redesign of street features, especially the sidewalk, is seriously worth commending.

It's called the Urban Braille System, and it incorporates tactile elements on sidewalks that help those with impaired vision get around efficiently. I understand that Downtown Kitchener has implemented a similar concept along some stretches of King St, but it's definitely not as expansive as Hamilton's. Check out Plan Canada's feature on the Urban Braille System.

We travelled around James Street, which is a very diverse part of town. I understand that it is slowly transforming to an up-and-coming art and design district. The street has major 'bohemian' character and the rents are cheap-- so it comes perfect for this demographic. Check out the James Street North Art District website.

Then there is King Street, a main arterial bisecting east-west across the city. I particularly like the street-lined buildings along the downtown stretch. Except for the downtown epicentre at King and James, most buildings along this strech of King Street ranges roughly from four to ten storeys-- the perfect height, methinks.

Perhaps the biggest planning disaster that took place in Hamilton is the construction of the downtown malls, Jackson Square and Hamilton City Centre (formerly Eaton Centre Hamilton). Many cities in Ontario also share a similar disaster.

Through the Ontario Downtown Renewal Program, downtown malls were constructed in most medium- and large-sized Ontario cities in the 1970s and 1980s as a way to 'save' the downtown from the retail competition in the suburbs. Instead, the malls sucked the life out of the downtown, while at the same time, had increasing trouble retaining tenants. Jackson Square and the Hamilton City Centre however was able endure longer than other cities like Kitchener (Market Square), Waterloo (Waterloo Town Square), London (Galleria London), Brantford (Market Square), and Sarnia (Eaton Centre). Now, with the exception of the Toronto Eaton Centre, nearly all the downtown malls have since more or less been re-marketed to fit other uses, and in some cases, demolished outright.

While the Jackson and City Centre malls continue to have a large retail component (mostly B- or C-list stores), they continue to be under capacity. This has forced developers to find other uses to keep them operating, and many have opted for
the conversion to office space. Our own Pierre Filion and Karen Hammond wrote an article articulating these changes in Plan Canada.

Anyways, I'm stirring away from the disaster element of this development. At the time, Hamilton demolished what appears to be six city blocks for the multi-phase redevelopment of the downtown. This "Super Block" development included the construction of the Jackson Square, Hamilton Public Library, Stelco Tower, Copps Coliseum, a major hotel complex, a farmer's market, the Standard Life Building and the Hamilton City Centre.

Now in 2007, the office towers sit nearly empty, and the podium level 'roof top garden', which connects the office complexes to the library, farmer's market and Copps Coliseum remains extremely quiet and I believe it is a easy venue for criminal activities.

Aside from that, Hamilton is great. The Hamilton GO Terminal is beautifully constructed in the Art Deco design. It is the main hub for all GO Trains and Buses. I particularly like the interior. It is like stepping into history.

Then we ventured to Hess Village for a drink. Hess Village is a quaint, pedestrian-oriented, tucked-away part of town and the main hub for neat restaurants and bars. There is seriously no place like it that I've been to. I suppose Crescent Street in Montreal has the closest resemblance but with much fewer cars. Anyway, I hear that it's a happening place for post-secondary students.

There are a few other neat places we visited, but I think I'm going to cut it short for now. If you ever feel like venturing to Hamilton, let me know!

Here are some photo credits:
Hess Village - [hickerphoto.com]
Hamilton GO Centre Outside - [flickr.com]
Hamilton GO Centre Inside - [flickr.com]
Downtown Hamilton - [flickr.com]
Eaton Centre Hamilton - [flickr.com]