A plan to rejuvenate Hamilton - Thinktank offers blueprint for revitalization

A leading urban think tank has set out a blueprint to revive investment in the city.

The projects it says will reshape Hamilton are modelled on successes in other industrial cities that turned around their flagging fortunes. It proposes  28 projects in five key districts (historic core, James Street North, waterfront, west harbour rail yards, McMaster Innovation Park), that would generate$165 million in new assessment and $6 million in yearly tax revenue.

Hamilton should create an independent economic development corporation to drive 28 key projects necessary to build the city's tax base, says the country's leading urban think-tank.

Do it right, and the city will transform its downtown and waterfront and reap more than $165 million in direct new assessment and $6 million a year in property taxes, says the Canadian Urban Institute.

Those figures don't include any of the expected spinoffs that follow major investments.