10-Year Downtown Hamilton Revitalization Strategy

The Strategy will primarily focus on City actions that will support business retention, catalyze new public and private sector investment, improve quality of life and amenities for residents/visitors, attract local and regional visitors, better support businesses during major construction projects and generally enhance community pride in the Downtown while creating a welcoming and engaging place that people want to live, work and play in.

Specifically, the Strategy will comprise the following:

• Establish an overarching vision statement for the Downtown supported by a set of guiding principles for Downtown revitalization over the next 10 years; 
• A Downtown population, demographic and employment profile;
• An overview of the systemic issues currently facing downtowns, with a particular focus on mid and large-sized cities both locally and across Canada; and
• Identify specific priority actions that the City should undertake over the next 10 years to support Downtown’s revitalization.  

To ensure consistent and sustained focus, the Strategy will identify priority actions the City should undertake to support Downtown revitalization over the short-term (2026-2028), medium-term (2029-2031) and long-term (2032-2035) with a particular focus on the following:

• Identifying specific priority capital improvements or undertakings for the Downtown that would best support the overall appearance, functionality, condition and availability of amenities to the public over the Strategy’s time horizon;

• Identifying specific strategic partnerships and investments the City could pursue, including with both private sector and not-for-profit/community-based organizations, to better leverage mutual expertise and resources to expedite Downtown revitalization efforts;

• Public realm improvements to support an active, engaging and welcoming public realm which may include, but not be limited, pedestrianization and beautification initiatives for major commercial areas/corridors of the Downtown, new pedestrian connections to improve access to and through the Downtown, placemaking, activations/event spaces, public art, culture, as well as safety and security initiatives;

• Identifying collaborative strategies with law enforcement, social services, and community organizations to address public safety concerns and enhance the perception of Downtown as a safe and welcoming space.

• Supporting a robust nighttime economy;

• Supporting a thriving and entrepreneurial focused storefront-based commercial businesses sector; 

• Supporting the role and resources of Downtown Business Improvement Areas to support key commercial districts in the Downtown;

• Identifying department-specific studies and strategies needed to further support Downtown revitalization;

• Identifying initiatives to enhance environmental sustainability, including green infrastructure, energy-efficient building practices, and climate resilience strategies to future-proof the Downtown;

• Opportunities to enhance existing marketing and branding efforts for the Downtown both locally and regionally; 

• Additional incentives, either financial or policy-based, that the City could pursue to support continued investment attraction supporting revitalization efforts;

• Opportunities to better support Downtown businesses through major construction projects occurring over the Strategy’s time horizon including the Hamilton Light Rail Transit project;

• Explore opportunities for smart city initiatives and digital innovations that support Downtown businesses and improve visitor experiences; and 

• Establishing Key Performance Metrics (KPIs) that the City will use to measure the state of Downtown revitalization against, year-over-year, through future annual State of the Downtown reporting to Council by City staff. The reporting framework and KPIs will include both economic indicators (e.g. number of residents, number of employers/employees, assessment growth, municipal tax revenue growth, business satisfaction, vacancy rates, etc.) as well as social, and environmental metrics;

Engagement will be targeted to reach a broad range of the City’s population with particular effort and means to ensure engagement opportunities are communicated to those living in the heart of Downtown and in potential hard-to-reach settings such as those in mid/high-rise residential buildings.  In addition, engagement efforts will seek to hear from key stakeholders in the Downtown as well as diverse communities, including equity-seeking groups, newcomers, and Indigenous communities, ensuring their perspectives and needs are reflected in the Strategy.

Visit engage.hamilton.ca/ourfuturedowntown