Hamilton’s Barton Village needs some attention and the city should help to “re-invigorate” the downtown neighbourhood, say city councillors.

They voted 16-0 in favour of a plan put forth by Councillor Nrinder Nann at a General Issues Committee meeting Wednesday.

The neighbourhood “deserves our best effort,” the Ward 3 councillor said. “It’s a long time coming and if we get Barton Village right, we’ll get the rest of the city right.”

The area has a “high concentration of empty and vacant storefronts, abandoned or stalled development projects, and a significant amount of dumping and garbage that all negatively impact the appearance of the corridor, reducing the sense of pride and safety in the local community,” Nann’s motion said.

Those factors “overshadow any positive work we do, no matter how hard we try,” Nadine Ubl, who directs the Barton Village Business Improvement Area (BIA), told councillors. 

‘Lingering perception of neglect’

Ubl spoke in “enthusiastic support” of Nann’s motion in the council chambers, saying “a lingering perception of neglect,” is keeping down what was once “the commercial corridor of our great city.”

Nann’s motion calls for staff from various city departments to meet this quarter, audit the BIA and develop an action plan. The action plan is to include immediately enforcing existing bylaws to deal with incomplete development projects, derelict and vacant buildings and illegal waste. It’s also supposed to include finding public art opportunities and “robust” outreach to housing and health services. 

From there, staff will meet with community stakeholders and identify grants and support for start-up businesses. They’re to report back to council in the third quarter to share what steps have been taken, and what the future plans are.

Ubl said they appreciated that Nann’s motion had some urgency, adding that previous plans to improve the neighbourhood were too far in the future. 

“The people who live and play and work in the neighbourhood know its value and know its potential,” Ubl said, and while the neighbourhood has detractors, “it’s time to change their minds.” 

Alice Plug-Buist, a BIA member who leads the Helping Hands Street Mission charity, also spoke in favour of Nann’s plan. 

She called it “a plea for help and a request for inclusion after many years of neglect and exclusion from participation in the flourishing of the city.” 

A community that cares, struggles

Currently, Barton Village is an affordable place for people to live and to start businesses, Plug-Buist said, adding she wants the neighbourhood to flourish so more newcomers want to stay there.

To do that, she said, people need to hear good-news stories about local successes to inspire and encourage them. 

Councillor Ted McMeekin (Ward 15) asked Plug-Buist what gives her hope about the community. 

“I consistently see both a community that cares and engages deeply as well as a community that struggles and feels forgotten,” she said. Supporting Nann’s motion is like council telling residents: “We want to help you have hope again.”