Here you’ll find our picks for the Greatest of Hamilton. This year’s edition is a little different from 2008, where we asked our readers to pick their Greatest in a variety of categories. This year, we’ve started the picks and we are asking you to also contribute yours. Not only do you get to pick ‘em, but you also get to tell us a little bit about why you think your choices are so great.

Without further ado…

Greatest ambiguous space: Cathedral Park. What is this space? It looks like a park, but it hardly sees any use and despite having one vehicular and two pedestrian entrances it feels somehow inaccessible. The lack of signage makes you feel oddly unwelcome, the overly perfect and elevated landscaping says “covered landfill”, yet the lush grass and wide open feel of it all just says, “Come, play”. JT

Best breakfast: Harbour Diner I guess it has been said before but the new management make this place perfect for the big breakfast without the dishes. EC

Greatest building: The Lister Block. I can’t stop looking at it because it always seems to be changing. VS

Greatest coffee shop vibe: My Dog Joe. Where else in the city can students, seniors, hipsters and parents with small kids all hang out comfortably together sipping delicious fair-trade coffees in a cool, friendly setting? My Dog Joe is my most recommended place for those looking for Hamilton’s one and only true cafe experience. Also digging their newly installed sign! DK

Greatest conversion from tavern to live music hangout: This Ain’t Hollywood. Within the blink of an eye, Copper’s Corner Bar ceases to exist and the aptly named This Ain’t Hollywood opens its doors on James North to much acclaim and head banging. DK

Greatest current civic building renovation: Farmers’ Market/Central Library complex. No other project in the city will make the impact that these two joint renovations will when they are completed in late 2010. Buildings that were afterthoughts when they were originally built will have new life breathed into them courtesy of architect, David Premi and his team at dp.ai. This is urban design at its best and I can’t wait to see it finished. DK

Greatest facade: Dominion Public Building (renamed The John Sopinka Court House in 1999). It’s a shame it’s so difficult to get a good view of this building, especially the side that faces onto John. One of the pleasures of drinking on the patio of the London Tap House – surely deserving of a Greatest mention itself – is taking in the great view of the Public Building that that elevated vantage point affords. JT

Greatest fairytale-like trail: Walk up Upper James, past the hospital, and view the city before entering into a forested area of light greens and diffused sunlight. VS

Greatest fountain to run through: In Victoria Park there are always children playing and running through the water feature. Join them next summer. They love it when adults and their four legged friends play too. VS

Greatest insight: Harry Stinson’s remark that Hamilton’s urban infrastructure is like Rip Van Winkle, sleeping and waiting to wake up. JF

Greatest insult to injury: Ancaster councillor Lloyd Ferguson’s decision to clad City Hall in concrete. It’s already starting to chip and they just installed it. Mark my words – twenty years from now, we’ll be working on this building again. Nice legacy eh? DK

Greatest lobby: Medical Arts building. What’s not to like? High ceilings, chandeliers, pillars, antique brass mailbox and a little snackbar. Hands down my favourite place to duck in to escape the modern world. DK

Greatest local album of 2009: Waxmannequin. Hamilton’s ever-changing musical genius does it again with his latest offering, Saxon. It is chockful of gritty, catchy songs that just may be his greatest effort yet. DK

Greatest “lonely” walk: Bruce Trail east of Corktown. Heading east on the paved trail that cuts through Corktown Park, you can hike all the way up the mountain to Stoney Creek. You’ll pass plenty of hikers, cyclists and dog walkers, but if you’re looking for a more isolated trek, cut up the Escarpment once you cross Wentworth Street. The trailhead located between the paved path and the Wentworth stairs leads to a gorgeous, woodsy section of the Bruce Trail where you’ll rarely run into another person. AK

Greatest new building: The new Engineering building at McMaster. Sure, it’s glass, steel, and concrete, but its lines move beautifully and the reflections that play off its exterior teach volumes about the colour and angularity of light. JT

Greatest perseverance: Larry Strung and his Hamilton365 project. Many photographers would have felt fine cutting a corner or two in such a project, as long as they had a portrait to post online each day. Not Larry, who took the portrait-a-day concept so seriously that he timed his (two-day) vacations so that he could shoot a portrait early in the morning one day and late in the evening the next. In his perseverance through the year he demonstrated his commitment to his craft, his project, and the city. JT

Greatest pizza: Locke Street Bakery. For years a spot that offered a reliable, appetizing, but limited menu of bagel-based sandwiches, LSB has made a successful foray into high-end pizza. Though billed as “gourmet”, it’s really just what a pizza should be – a thin but sturdy crust serving as a vehicle for creatively combined flavours and contrasting textures. JT

Greatest place full of endless contradiction: Gore Park. VS

Greatest recent food trend: Small farmers’ markets filled with real farmers. As these markets find homes in more neighbourhoods across the city, it becomes easier and easier to find fresh, locally grown food for sale just down the block from your home. The farms running these markets understand that there are many people who want to buy locally grown food but who aren’t committed enough to make use of the farms’ gate sales or to buy CSA shares. JT

Greatest secret sight: Pastel alley off James North. Just a lovely little splash of colour hidden just north of Barton Street. Makes it feel a bit like Greece! AK

Best skating rink: Dundas Driving Park. I have only visited in the summer but the facility looks amazing and I can hardly wait to take our kids. I wish there was a rink just like it in front of City Hall. EC

Greatest site in need of some love and attention: St. Mark’s Church (Bay & Hunter). Just down the street from the successful Core Lofts reno and the redesigned street scape between Main and York, and just around the corner from the stunning architecture on James South, this site properly used would be a perfect stepping stone for the revitalisation of downtown to start moving into the residential sections of the Durand neighbourhood. JT

Greatest (Big Box) Treat exclusive to Hamilton: Chocolate sour cream Timbit at the Dundurn Plaza Tim’s. The chocolate sour cream timbit – with its rich, thicck coating of matte finish icing – was one of about a dozen new flavours released by Tim Horton’s roughly ten years ago. Though wildly popular and incredibly delicious, this timbit, along with a handful of its short-run, limited release counterparts, was discontinued soon after being brought into circulation. I’ve searched Canada coast to coast and the one and only place you can still find this mythical dessert is the Tim Horton’s in Dundurn Plaza. AK

Greatest welcome: “Wednesdays at Whitehern” are free concerts in Whitehern’s garden in July and August on every Wednesday from 12:00p.m.-2:00p.m. I am lucky enough to work there. The location is lovely, there is tea in real China cups available, great music, and a fabulous group of regulars. Dance with local poet Jeff Seffinga, smile at Theresa, and sit with the gang including Anita and Wilma. I have seen transformations of spirit because of this gathering. EC

Greatest $10 pitcher: The Ship. Score an affordable pitcher of ale (Robert Simpson Confederate to be exact) at Augusta’s newest, and most recently renovated, addition. AK

VS – VANESSA SAGE
JT – JEFF TESSIER
DK – DAVE KURUC
AK – AMY KENNY
EC – ELIZABETH COREY

NOW IT’S YOUR TURN CONTRIBUTE YOUR OWN GREATEST OF HAMILTON PICKS – FILL IN THE FORM BELOW: