Hamilton parking so cheap it's 'embarrassing': mayor

Parking in downtown Hamilton is so cheap that its embarrassing, says the citys mayor.

In his annual state-of-the-city address, Mayor Bob Bratina said hed like to see parking rates increased. Hed also like to see a parking garage.

Bratina has argued to local BIAs that Im embarrassed that we have 50 cent-an-hour parking metres, he said. Thats like Tillsonburg.

The cars that are parked there are nice, modern cars that are full of gas, he said. If you cant afford a buck or two for parking then why are you driving your car?

Bratina made the comments during a question and answer session during his state-of-the-city address on the 21stfloor of the Stelco Tower. The city is way below where we should be when it comes to parking rates, he said.

Parking is not evil, the mayor said, and Hamilton doesnt have enough of it.

The way you handle parking in an urban setting is you build parking structures, he said. Thats what we need to do.

Other topics mentioned by the mayor:

Tweets and negativity

Hamiltonians need to be more optimistic, Bratina said. The biggest problem is tweets and negativity. Afterward, he elaborated:

Social media tends to be a darker place than face to face for sure. But you know, everyone expects that. Its like comments. Im sure if you analyze it, thered be far more negative than positive tweets. Thats too bad but thats the way it is.

Hamiltons amalgamation hasnt paid off

The city needs to find a new way to deal with upper levels of government. Right now, theres a top-down approach that doesnt work for municipalities, he said.

The biggest imposition of a top-down or you might say cookie-cutter solution to municipal governance problems in recent memory was the amalgamations of 2001 created by the provincial government of the day. It is very reasonable and perhaps critical to ask the question more than a decade later so how has it worked?

Build transit riders first, then tackleLRT

Hamilton has to build up its transit ridership before it invests heavily in transit infrastructure such as light rail transit, the mayor said.

The first iteration of Metrolinxs Big Move transit plan gave a sense that the province would fund the $1 billion required for the plan, which includes LRT. Now its obvious that about $300 million will have to come from the city.

Were going to build and enhance our ridership on HSR to point where we can support other modalities, he said.

Hamilton needs to protect its good credit rating

The city has an AA stable bond rating from credit agencies. But the city may have to take on more debt for future projects, such as building infrastructure to service the Aerotropolis lands around the airport or development at Piers 7 and 8.

Bratina doesnt want that.

We have to be careful about a build it and they will come approach to infrastructure because it can be costly, he said.

The Hamilton Chamber of Commerce hosted the event on the 21st floor of the Stelco Tower. About 300 people attended.

The Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG) sponsored the event. An OLG representative sat at the head table with a mayor, and the corporation also had a table near the front. It also gave out a door prize.