Changing demographics in Hamilton may leave the kids behind

This paper addresses the stark geographic disparity that youth in Hamilton face when trying to access services. There is a high number of youth services concentrated in the inner and lower city, but this does not seem poised to meet the changing demographics and needs of the city of Hamilton. Gentrification and community uplift have started in the lower city, and as such, having a majority of youth services located in the downtown presents a major form of disconnection. This is especially shown as youths living in poverty begin to be pushed out of the lower city and into the inner suburbs on top of the Niagara Escarpment—a place that is geographically cut off from the rest of the city. This paper examines these issues and presents recommendations, to help youth and the City of Hamilton address this disconnection as Hamilton experiences unprecedented growth and development, which may leave the youth behind. Key words: An article on social planning and youth programing in Hamilton, Ontario, used the key words: Hamilton; youth services; gentrification; access.

Changing demographics in Hamilton may leave the kids behind

This paper addresses the stark geographic disparity that youth in Hamilton face when trying to access services. There is a high number of youth services concentrated in the inner and lower city, but this does not seem poised to meet the changing demographics and needs of the city of Hamilton. Gentrification and community uplift have started in the lower city, and as such, having a majority of youth services located in the downtown presents a major form of disconnection. This is especially shown as youths living in poverty begin to be pushed out of the lower city and into the inner suburbs on top of the Niagara Escarpment—a place that is geographically cut off from the rest of the city. This paper examines these issues and presents recommendations, to help youth and the City of Hamilton address this disconnection as Hamilton experiences unprecedented growth and development, which may leave the youth behind. Key words: An article on social planning and youth programing in Hamilton, Ontario, used the key words: Hamilton; youth services; gentrification; access.

The influence of fracture networks on stability and geohazards of the Niagara Escarpment in southern Ontario

<p>The Niagara Escarpment is a geological feature comprised of highly fractured Ordovician and Silurian shales and carbonates stretching through southern Ontario and parts of the north-eastern United States. Differential erosion of the shale and carbonate strata has generated a steep cliff face bisecting the city of Hamilton, Ontario. Fractures occur throughout the cliff face and result in the formation of loose blocks of rock that are subject to erosion through rockfalls. This presents structural stability issues and an associated geohazard, which is of particular concern due to the proximity of the escarpment to city infrastructure. Previous work has alluded towards the role of geologic fractures in controlling erosion and stability of the Niagara Escarpment, but the causal mechanisms and extent to which these processes operate remains unclear. As such, the aim of this study is to quantify and analyse fracture networks using a combined field and numerical modelling-based approach to understand the distribution and nature of fractures throughout the escarpment, their connectivity, fluid flow properties, and relationship to structural stability. The location, orientation, and aperture of fractures were systematically quantified and documented around Hamilton. Data were plotted and analysed using the software Orient to identify clusters representative of fracture sets and to calculate average fracture set orientations and the respective confidence intervals. Three primary sets of geological fractures were identified including: 1) a near-vertical bedding confined set oriented north-south, 2) a near-vertical bedding confined set oriented east-west and 3) sedimentary bedding planes which have facilitated fracture migration and controlled resultant fracture geometry. Discrete fracture network modelling of these fracture sets in MOVE highlights their high degree of connectivity and indicates that the distribution and nature of these discontinuities are predominant controls on the locations and sizes of rock fragments generated on the cliff face resulting in rockfalls. Moreover, fracture-controlled porosity is a significant contributor to fluid flow throughout the escarpment. We conclude that geologic fractures present a first-order control on the stability of the Niagara Escarpment near Hamilton.</p>

Thermal controls on the development of fractures in dolostones of the Niagara Escarpment, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

<p>Little research has been conducted to clarify the mechanism, extent, or factors involved in the fracturing of rocks exposed along the Niagara Escarpment in Ontario. Of particular interest are the effects of fluctuating temperatures during region’s cold winters which may be a contributor to the formation and expansion of fractures within these rocks. The results of a preliminary field-based study of temperature changes in fractured sedimentary rocks exposed at several sites along the Escarpment in Hamilton, Ontario are reported here. The objectives of the study were to examine the characteristics of operant thermal processes and to determine the effectiveness of mechanisms such as freeze-thaw and thermal stress in contributing to fracture formation and development. Fractured dolostone units were identified at three field sites along the escarpment that varied in their aspect, vegetation, and proximity to water. At each site, temperature probes were affixed to the exposed rock surface and inserted into a nearby fracture. Temperature measurements were taken at one-minute intervals throughout the winter of 2020-21.  In-situ field measurements of thermal changes within fractured dolostones on the escarpment were supplemented with recordings of rock surface and interior temperatures taken from unfractured dolostone blocks placed in a ‘controlled’ outdoor environment throughout the winter.  Initial results from the escarpment probes in the early winter show frequent, rapid shifts from warm to sub-zero temperatures and indicate that changes in temperature recorded at the rock surface closely follow diurnal atmospheric oscillations in both magnitude and timing.  However, temperature changes recorded within fractures are less extreme and show a temporal lag. Temperature fluctuations recorded at the field site with the highest degree of exposure, a southeasterly aspect, and little vegetation cover, are significantly higher and show larger thermal responses within fractures. Temperature fluctuations recorded from unfractured blocks in the ‘controlled’ outdoor environment show similar diurnal trends to those recorded on the escarpment but with reduced differential between temperatures at the block surface and interior. Together, these data indicate that temperature fluctuations sufficient to generate freeze-thaw cycles are abundant during the early winter months, temperature variability within fractures does occur, and slope aspect and exposure plays an important role in the determining the magnitude of diurnal temperature fluctuations experienced by surface rocks on the escarpment. The role of thermal stress in fracture development, created by rapid and substantial thermal changes, has yet to be determined.  </p>

A GIS Analysis of Intra-Site Spatial Patterning at the Early Paleoindian Mt. Albion West Site (AhGw-131)

The Mt. Albion West (AhGw-131) Early Paleoindian site is one of only a handful of Late Pleistocene sites in Ontario. Excavated by Archaeological Services Inc. (ASI) between 1998 and 2004, the site is situated adjacent to the Red Hill valley on the Niagara Escarpment in Hamilton, Ontario. The project yielded detailed analyses concerning the tools and debitage recovered from the four discrete artifact concentration areas at this site in addition to a brief assessment of potentially significant intra-site patterning within one locus. In this paper, the four activity areas from Mt. Albion West are analyzed using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to investigate these spatial relationships with an eye toward interpreting the duration and frequency of the site’s occupation(s) as well as its function(s) within the broader Gainey settlement system.

Boys and Patriarchy

This poem examines some of the feelings of paternalism the author had for small lizards, insects, and arachnids that he encountered in the forests of the Niagara Escarpment, when he was in early grade school. As a child, unrequited feelings of paternalism made the world of non-domesticated animals a mystery. Only later in adult life did he interrogate these early memories of encounter with animals as part of a gendered society.