ORAC '09--Hamilton or Toronto?

[joey_capps]

Okay, step one. Let's figure out which in city to hold the event. If you choose the other option, please specify where in your post. I've set the poll up to run for a week. So, as they say, vote early, vote often.

Joe

[tmossman]

Toronto.

I am much more inclined to want to spend time in TO than Hamilton. But I will do either.

[Ontario_RIC_fan]

Toronto definitely seems to be in the lead here so far...

[sloop_john_b]

Toronto.

I am much more inclined to want to spend time in TO than Hamilton. But I will do either.

+1

[Ontario_RIC_fan]

John:

You would come up from NYC for this? I did not think that we would draw much beyond 100 mile drive for ORAC...

Hamilton is actually closer to the US border then Toronto is...

Brian

[sloop_john_b]

John:

You would come up from NYC for this? I did not think that we would draw much beyond 100 mile drive for ORAC...

Hamilton is actually closer to the US border then Toronto is...

Brian

Sure, never been to Canada before. It's less about the drive then it is about seeing some sights - I assume there's more to see in Toronto. At the very least, the Hockey Hall of Fame and maybe a Blue Jays game...

[Ontario_RIC_fan]

John: That's neat! It will be great to meet up face to face...

If you look at a map of Lake Ontario, Hamilton is the city right at the farthest west end of the lake. When you are driving it is the mid point between Niagara Falls (which is a border point) and Toronto, which is the big population centre at 3 million +. Toronto and Hamilton are about a 45 minute drive away from each other, and indeed if you are driving from any of the Niagara/Buffalo border points you must pass by Hamilton in order to get to Toronto. (If you are coming in from Detroit that would be a different story)...

In NYC terms think of Manhatten and Newark NJ as the rough distance.

Hamilton is also an industrial town, (steel), and yet has lots of high tech research going on because of the McMaster University and its specialtys; esp in Health related fields.

The best discription I ever heard of the place was by the late Canadian folk singer Stan Rogers, (who grew up here). He called it, "Pittsburgh, without the glamour!"

Hamilton was also a centre of much history especially around the war of 1812, where one of the pivotal battles took place just on the outskirts of the modern city at a place called Stoney Creek. There a rag tag force force of 700 loyalist miltia and British regulars, managed to defeat a much larger force of Americans (4000) by cleverly attacking them in the middle of the night. This stopped the American advance towards Kingston and Montreal, and is why Ontario is not currently a US state.

I was a history major in University, in case you hadn't guessed...

Brian

[stubby]

And to carry the history lesson even further did you realize that when you sing about the "rockets red glare, the bombs bursting in air," those were our bombs and rockets you guys are singing about??!!

Hamilton is a nice central location to lots that southern Ontario has to offer. If you're planning on visiting for a bit, it's a good spot to have as a base and much more affordable to stay than Toronto too.

[Ontario_RIC_fan]

John or Todd... Just checking whether you folks were still planning to join us on June 6th? If so we'll see about finding you some cheap places to stay...

Brian