For the love of Hamilton

OUR STORY, YOUR MAGAZINE

What is HAMILTON CITY Magazine?

Driven by the love of all that makes Hamilton one-of-a-kind, HAMILTON CITY Magazine’s vision is delightfully simple: to celebrate all things Hamilton and to tell the stories that have influenced the city’s past, present and future. Featuring stunning photography, videography, illustrations and world-class writing, HAMILTON CITY Magazine (HCM) will be your go-to guide for all things Hamilton — from the arts, culture, music and entertainment to food and fashion, to history and heritage, people, politics, business and innovation and current events. It will also showcase all that makes Hamilton a fantastic place to visit, live and do business. 

Each issue of HCM will celebrate, educate, inform and entertain in five engaging sections: City File, Food + Drink, Arts + Culture, Made in Hamilton and Things To Do. Think of us as your plugged-in friend telling you about your city: what’s cool, what’s exciting, and what’s not to be missed.

HAMILTON CITY Magazine is launching out of a co-work studio in Hamilton’s historic Cotton Factory. Located in the city’s former industrial hub, it is home to more than 100 businesses, many of them from the creative arts and communications sectors. It is the ideal place for us to be and we look forward to growing our presence there from a single desk to a bustling office. 

Who’s making this magazine?

We aren’t rich corporate types. We have no corporate investors backing us who will be pulling the levers from elsewhere. We are doing this for all the right reasons. Yes, we’d love to make a living at this, but we are doing this because we are Hamiltonians who love this city and want to celebrate all that makes it great. 

HAMILTON CITY Magazine has been a labour of love two years in the making. We’ve literally spent hundreds, if not thousands, of unpaid hours working tirelessly to bring this project to life – there’s been blood, sweat and tears (and that’s just at our weekly planning meetings). 

Backed by a talented roster of established and new writers, photographers and visual artists, the core team behind HCM consists of five talented and passionate people – Jeff Martin, Meredith MacLeod, Marc Skulnick, Will Vipond Tait and Mark Wu – and we love Hamilton as much as you do. 

PHOTO: Will, Jeff, Marc, Meredith, Mark | Photo by Jon Evans

Why now? 

There is no urban city lifestyle magazine for Hamilton and its 600,000 people. Other cities our size (and much smaller) have thriving city lifestyle magazines.

Hamilton is a vibrant, dynamic city of artists, entrepreneurs, designers, innovators and creators, but the city’s media landscape lacks a high-quality publication dedicated to telling their stories. HAMILTON CITY Magazine will fill the void that was created when the former Hamilton Magazine was abruptly shut down in late 2019 by Postmedia after 41 years of publishing.

The time is right for a new magazine as we emerge from the pandemic and embrace all that this city has to offer in a way that we haven’t been able to over the past two years. Our shops, galleries, museums, music venues, restaurants, bars, business corridors, tourist attractions, entrepreneurs and innovators across Hamilton need our support and our love.   

Why Hamilton?

Hamilton has a deep and rich history but its best years are still to come. HCM will be there every step of the way. And we won’t simply be observers. We have big ideas for initiatives and events that will only reinforce what makes this city special.

Hamilton is a city like no other. Canada’s ninth-largest city is growing, optimistic, diverse and an unapologetic underdog. Hamilton has long been the Ambitious City, dating back to its time as Canada’s bustling steel, manufacturing and industrial powerhouse. It has transformed into a city built on a knowledge and culture economy thanks to its strength in health, education, life sciences, technology, and creative industries. Despite the challenges of the pandemic, the city has been experiencing phenomenal growth across key sectors. Hamilton’s film industry has become the third-largest centre for filmmaking in Canada. The city’s fashion sector is now the fifth-largest in the country. Hamilton is home to major sports teams, a food landscape attracting international attention, and one of the country’s largest and most diverse music scenes.

Building permits passed the $2-billion mark for the first time in 2021, partially driven by a downtown renaissance and new condo boom that is attracting people from across the GTHA due to the city’s unmatched quality of life. 

Hamilton is home to one of the world’s top-rated universities in McMaster University. Mohawk College is one of the nation’s leaders in applied research. And Hamilton is endowed with the natural beauty of the world-renowned Niagara Escarpment, Lake Ontario, the largest inland harbour in Canada, more waterfalls than any other place in the world (yes, you read that right), the Royal Botanical Gardens, stunning heritage architecture, distinct and vibrant neighbourhoods, and idyllic farmland.

Our city is already great and it’s only getting better.  Game-changing investments are coming to Hamilton, including a light-rail transit corridor through the lower city and downtown, a transformative waterfront development, a historic redevelopment in the city’s core, a new film district, and a build-out of McMaster Innovation Park in the city’s west end.

Where so many cities in southern Ontario are suburban by nature, Hamilton is a genuine, authentic city. It has a heartbeat and history, a gritty charm and a true sense of self. Hamilton deserves a world-class city magazine and this is the perfect time to bring it to life. 

What we believe … 

Our vision is simple: To celebrate all things Hamilton.

Our mission: Telling the stories that celebrate the city’s past, present and future.

Our values statement speaks proudly of our commitments. 

“HAMILTON CITY Magazine is a proud living-wage employer. We value and support our local writers, photographers and illustrators with some of the best professional fees in the Canadian magazine industry. To truly reflect this great city and its people, HAMILTON CITY Magazine also embraces and reflects the values of equity, diversity and inclusion. We support local vendors for our product and service purchases and look forward to making an economic, social and cultural impact in our city. We are a force for progress and a continuous celebration of all things Hamilton.” 

A sneak-peek inside the magazine … 

We’ve developed a small pre-launch, preview issue for both print and online versions, to showcase what is to come — real stories, real people, real celebrations. We’ve garnered support from friends and peers in our city’s professional and arts communities and already lined up a roster of contributors who are excited about the new magazine. 

This is just a sneak peek of what HAMILTON CITY Magazine will deliver. Check us out online too.

CLICK this link and have a look at our PREVIEW EDITION: https://issuu.com/hamiltoncitymagazine/docs/hcm…

Why do we need your support? 

Within our team, we have more than a century of writing, editing, graphic design and web development experience. Our expertise and passion are unmatched. 

But we literally cannot do this without you. We can’t stress this enough. We are 100 per cent independent, proudly Hamilton and we are bootstrapping HAMILTON CITY Magazine from the ground up. And it is an expensive endeavour. 

Our digital platform will provide readers with the best online experience. And we need to cover all administrative costs and initial expenses (printing, editorial, distribution, marketing) for the first issue while we establish advertising revenue. 

Your financial support will help us to build a strong foundation that will sustain us for the future. To put it bluntly, without you, there is no us. We want to build something that we can all be proud of, a magazine that will inspire, a magazine that Hamilton deserves. We will foster inclusivity and celebrate diversity – we will seek to be a catalyst for positive change in the city and to do that we need your help.

Where will the money go?

We need about $125,000 out of the gate to cover:

• Corporate costs (legal, insurance, accounting)
• Website/digital version/content management system
• First issue printing and distribution costs 
• First issue writer and photographer fees 
• Marketing and market research. 

We are all in – are you?

To encourage you to support us financially, we’ve curated a selection of extraordinary and exciting perks, uniquely Hamilton perks that are literally a win-win: you get a once-in-a-lifetime experience AND you get to help us bring a world-class magazine back to Hamilton. We will be unveiling more amazing perks over the coming weeks, so be sure to check back often. 

Shipping + Pick-up

Please provide your mailing address for magazine subscriptions. Given the high cost of shipping and that this campaign is geographically focused, all perks will be available for pick-up the weekend of July 9 and 10 at the Cotton Factory in Hamilton (270 Sherman Avenue North). See our FAQs for more info. Local delivery in the Greater Hamilton area can be arranged if you are unable to attend the pick-up.