Shift Change: Scenes from a Post-Industrial Revolution

by Stephen Dale

Hamilton's industrial age is over. In the steel capital of Canada, there are no more skies lit red by foundries at sunset, no more traffic jams at shift change. Instead, an urban renaissance is taking shape. But who wins and who loses in the city's not-too-distant future? Is it possible to lift a downtrodden, post-industrial city out of poverty in a way that benefits people across the social spectrum, not just a wealthy elite? In Shift Change , author Stephen Dale sets up "the Hammer" as a battlefield, a laboratory, a chessboard. As investors cash in on a real estate gold rush and the all-too-familiar wheels of gentrification begin to turn, there's still a rare opportunity for both old-guard and newcomer Hamiltonians to come together and write a different story--one in which Steeltown becomes an economically diverse and inclusive urban centre for all. What plays out in these pages and at this very moment is a real-time case study that will capture the attention and the imagination of anyone interested in equitable redevelopment, housing activism, and social justice in the North American city.

Genres: Nonfiction

288 pages, Paperback

Published October 1, 2021

Reviews

[Em · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and learnt so much. It was such a joy to be able to learn the histories of streets, buildings, or even people that I personally know in Hamilton. I think every Hamiltonian..no no, I think everyone should read this book. Long live Hamilton.

[BACsop · Rating 3 out of 5]

Picked this up at a bookstore in Ottawa. Interesting read on the de-industrialization and (revitalization?) of Hamilton, Ontario. A good overview of the economic and social challenges Hamilton has faced over the past few decades, with some really cool anecdotes discussing how various parties have worked to address the blight and poverty that Hamilton became known for in the 1980s and 1990s. The role that labor unions played (and continue to play) in doing everything from building a local social safety net to redeveloping vacant industrial properties was really cool. Lots of good examples and ideas in this book.

Where I think Shift Change struggles a bit is in its discussions of gentrification. The book spends a lot of time setting up Richard Florida's (admittedly outdated) "Creative Class" theory as a bogeyman for where Hamilton has gone wrong, and sometimes indulges in narratives about gentrification that I'm not convinced are really grounded in reality. There's no extensive discussion about how to quantify gentrification (e.g. observed shift in median income, poverty rates, property values within a given census tract in a specified period of time) and instead the book falls back on the more familiar tropes about what gentrification feels like (e.g. artist galleries, new amenities). But even though the author makes his personal views on gentrification as a general concept known several times, I think on the whole he presents a fairly balanced view of the debates going on in Hamilton itself, and for that I give him kudos.

All in all a good read for anyone interested in urban history, especially of a lesser-known Canadian city.

[Alex · Rating 5 out of 5]

4 stars bumped up because I'm sentimental — historical context with a fairly multifaceted view on the issues facing Hamilton. Interviews with a lot of familiar names to someone who has lived there. Like many similar books, struggles with organization when exploring the many aspects of a complex issue.

[Scott Neigh]

I reviewed this one for *Canadian Dimension*. Check it out here: https://canadiandimension.com/article...