People and Their Places

After my excursion around the Hamilton Gardens and the subsequent thoughts about the effects of social interaction, I decided to pursue this idea and link it with one of my initial goals of coming to Hamilton; to explore local residents' perception of their city in terms of their own identity interwoven with the identity of the city. I start talking with the ladies behind the counter at an i-site, asking questions about Hamilton and the reasons why they are living here and how it affects their lives. After this conversation I walk around Victoria Street at lunch hour and find even more people to talk to, I do not tell them I am researching but simply an interested and curious tourist. I realize that I have received different responses from the different age groups I engaged with. Older aged residents claimed that they have always lived in Hamilton and enjoy the size, the activities that go on and the familiarity of the place. Young working men and women claimed that this is where they have found a job, where their friends and family are, yet on the most part they did not think too much about the activities and events, but more along the lines of a lack of activities. This was quite interesting for me in that I did expect a difference of response but was taken aback at how some young people's responses were similar to older generation responses and vice-versa. This provokes thoughts that the event oriented nature of Hamilton City has quite an impact on how local residents perceive the city.

(video of Sheldine Christie, local Hamilton Resident)