Editing Hamilton, Ontario (section)

==Geography==
{{Main|Geography of Hamilton, Ontario}}
Hamilton is in [[Southern Ontario]] on the western end of the [[Niagara Peninsula]] and wraps around the westernmost part of [[Lake Ontario]]; most of the city, including the downtown section, is on the south shore. Hamilton is in the geographic centre of the [[Golden Horseshoe]]. Its major physical features are Hamilton Harbour, marking the northern limit of the city, and the [[Niagara Escarpment]] running through the middle of the city across its entire breadth, bisecting the city into "upper" and "lower" parts. The maximum high point is 250m (820') above the level of Lake Ontario.<ref name=about>{{cite web |last=Seward |first=Carrie |title=About Hamilton; Physical features |url=http://www.ueyhamilton.ca/ |access-date=January 4, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071015210727/http://www.ueyhamilton.ca/ |archive-date=October 15, 2007 |df=mdy-all}}</ref>

According to all records from local [[historians]], this district was called ''Attiwandaronia'' by the native [[Neutral Nation|Neutral people]].<ref name=SAGA>{{cite news |title=Saga of a City |first=Milton |last=Watson |work=The Hamilton Spectator |year=1938}}</ref> Hamilton is one of 11 cities showcased in the book, ''Green City: People, Nature & Urban Places'' by Quebec author [[Mary Soderstrom]], which examines the city as an example of an industrial powerhouse co-existing with nature.<ref name=GREENCITY>{{cite book |last=Soderstrom |first=Mary |title=Green City: People, Nature & Urban Places |publisher=Independent Pub Group |year=2006 |isbn=1-55065-207-9}}</ref> Soderstrom credits [[Thomas McQuesten]] and family in the 1930s who "became champions of parks, greenspace and roads" in Hamilton.<ref name=GREENCITY2>{{cite news |first=B. |last=Lawson |title=Green City |work=The Hamilton Spectator |page=Go-7 |date=January 26, 2007}}</ref>

[[Hamilton Harbour]] is a natural harbour with a large [[sandbar]] called the Beachstrip. This sandbar was deposited during a period of higher lake levels during the last [[Quaternary glaciation|ice age]] and extends southeast through the central lower city to the escarpment. Hamilton's deep sea port is accessed by ship canal through the beach strip into the harbour and is traversed by two bridges, the QEW's [[Burlington Bay James N. Allan Skyway]] and the lower Canal Lift Bridge.<ref name=Bay>{{cite web |title=Burlington Bay/ Beach strip, Hamilton Harbour, Skyway Bridge |url=http://beachvideo.info/ |access-date=January 4, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071215084635/http://beachvideo.info/ |archive-date=December 15, 2007 |url-status=live}} (Requires navigation to relevant articles.)</ref>

[[File:Waterdawn Webster Falls5.jpg|thumb|[[Webster's Falls]] at [[Spencer Gorge Conservation Area]]. There are [[List of waterfalls in Hamilton, Ontario|more than 100 waterfalls]] in the city.]]

Between 1788 and 1793, the townships at the Head-of-the-Lake were surveyed and named. The area was first known as The Head-of-the-Lake for its location at the western end of Lake Ontario.<ref name=headlake/> John Ryckman, born in Barton township (where present day downtown Hamilton is), described the area in 1803 as he remembered it: "The city in 1803 was all forest. The shores of the bay were difficult to reach or see because they were hidden by a thick, almost impenetrable mass of trees and undergrowth".<ref name=barton2>{{cite web |title=A History of the city of Hamilton |url=http://epe.lac-bac.gc.ca/100/200/301/ic/can_digital_collections/cultural_landmarks/hamhist.htm |access-date=January 4, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071015225925/http://epe.lac-bac.gc.ca/100/200/301/ic/can_digital_collections/cultural_landmarks/hamhist.htm |archive-date=October 15, 2007 |url-status=live}}</ref>

[[George Hamilton (city founder)|George Hamilton]], a settler and local politician, established a town site in the northern portion of Barton Township in 1815. He kept several east–west roads which were originally Indian trails, but the north–south streets were on a regular grid pattern. Streets were designated "East" or "West" if they crossed [[James Street (Hamilton, Ontario)|James Street]] or Highway 6. Streets were designated "North" or "South" if they crossed [[King Street (Hamilton, Ontario)|King Street]] or Highway 8.<ref name=HAMBIO1>{{cite book |title=Dictionary of Hamilton Biography (Vol I, 1791–1875) |first=Thomas Melville |last=Bailey |publisher=W.L. Griffin Ltd |year=1981}}</ref> The townsite's design, likely conceived in 1816, was commonplace. George Hamilton employed a grid street pattern used in most towns in [[Upper Canada]] and throughout the American frontier. The eighty original lots had frontages of fifty feet; each lot faced a broad street and backed onto a twelve-foot lane. It took at least a decade to sell all the original lots, but the construction of the Burlington Canal in 1823, and a new court-house in 1827 encouraged Hamilton to add more blocks around 1828–9. At this time he included a market square in an effort to draw commercial activity onto his lands, but the town's natural growth occurred to the north of Hamilton's plot.<ref name=Hamilton2>{{cite DCB |last=Weaver |first=John C. |volume=7 |title=Hamilton, George |url=http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/hamilton_george_1788_1836_7E.html}}</ref>

The [[Hamilton Conservation Authority]] owns, leases or manages about {{convert|4500|ha|acre|-2}} of land with the city operating {{convert|1077|ha|acre|0}} of parkland at 310 locations.<ref>{{cite web |author=[[Hamilton Conservation Authority]] |title=HCH History: A Long History&nbsp;... |url=http://www.conservationhamilton.ca/corporate/aboutus/history.asp |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070607221331/http://www.conservationhamilton.ca/corporate/aboutus/history.asp |archive-date=June 7, 2007 |access-date=June 21, 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author=City of Hamilton |publisher=myhamilton.ca |title=Hamilton Conservation Authority: City Parks |url=http://www.myhamilton.ca/myhamilton/ArtsSportsAndRecreation/outdoor/city_parks.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070926234254/http://www.myhamilton.ca/myhamilton/ArtsSportsAndRecreation/outdoor/city_parks.htm |archive-date=September 26, 2007 |access-date=January 4, 2008}}</ref> Many of the parks are along the Niagara Escarpment, which runs from [[Tobermory, Ontario|Tobermory]] at the tip of the [[Bruce Peninsula]] in the north, to [[Queenston]] at the [[Niagara River]] in the south, and provides views of the cities and towns at Lake Ontario's western end. The hiking path [[Bruce Trail]] runs the length of the escarpment.<ref name=BRUCETRAIL>{{cite web |title=Bruce Trail Association |url=http://www.brucetrail.org/ |access-date=January 4, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070711004543/http://www.brucetrail.org/ |archive-date=July 11, 2007 |url-status=live}}</ref> [[List of waterfalls in Hamilton, Ontario|Hamilton is home to more than 100 waterfalls]] and cascades, most of which are on or near the Bruce Trail as it winds through the Niagara Escarpment.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.conservationhamilton.ca/waterfalls |title=Waterfalls - Hamilton Conservation Authority |work=conservationhamilton.ca |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120319015739/http://www.conservationhamilton.ca/waterfalls |archive-date=March 19, 2012}}</ref> Visitors can often be seen swimming in the waterfalls during the summertime, although it is strongly recommended to stay away from the water: much of the watershed of the Chedoke and Red Hill creeks originates in storm sewers running beneath neighbourhoods atop the Niagara escarpment, and water quality in many of Hamilton's waterfalls is seriously degraded. High ''e. coli'' counts are regularly observed through testing by McMaster University near many of Hamilton's waterfalls, sometimes exceeding the provincial limits for recreational water use by as much as 400 times. The storm sewers in upstream neighbourhoods carry polluted runoff from streets and parking lots, as well as occasional raw sewage from sanitary lines that were improperly connected to the storm sewers instead of the separate sanitary sewer system. Notably, in March 2020, it was revealed that as much as 24 billion litres of untreated wastewater has been leaking into the Chedoke creek and Cootes' Paradise areas since at least 2014 due to insufficiencies in the city's sewerage and storm water management systems.<ref>{{Cite news |date=March 9, 2020 |title=Chedoke Creek's sad legacy of abuse: 10 things you didn't know |language=en |work=The Hamilton Spectator |url=https://www.thespec.com/news/hamilton-region/2020/03/09/chedoke-creek-s-sad-legacy-of-abuse.html |access-date=June 23, 2020 |issn=1189-9417 |archive-date=June 26, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200626002908/https://www.thespec.com/news/hamilton-region/2020/03/09/chedoke-creek-s-sad-legacy-of-abuse.html |url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Climate===
[[File:8Hamilton Marina.JPG|thumb|[[Hamilton Harbour]] during the winter.]]
Hamilton's climate is [[Humid continental climate|humid-continental]], characterized by changeable weather patterns. In the [[Köppen climate classification|Köppen classification]], Hamilton is on the Dfb/Dfa boundary, found in [[southern Ontario]] because the average temperature in July is {{convert|22.0|C|1}}.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.plantmaps.com/koppen-climate-classification-map-canada.php |title=Interactive Canada Koppen-Geiger Climate Classification Map |website=www.plantmaps.com |language=en |access-date=October 11, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181012014555/https://www.plantmaps.com/koppen-climate-classification-map-canada.php |archive-date=October 12, 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref> However, its climate is moderate compared with most of Canada. The airport's open, rural location and higher altitude results in lower temperatures, generally windier conditions, and higher snowfall amounts than lower, built-up areas of the city. The highest temperature ever recorded in Hamilton was 41.1&nbsp;°C (106&nbsp;°F) on July 14, 1868.<ref name="Hamilton (July 1868)">{{cite web |publisher=[[Environment Canada]] |url=http://climate.weather.gc.ca/climate_data/daily_data_e.html?hlyRange=%7C&dlyRange=1866-01-01%7C1958-08-31&mlyRange=1866-01-01%7C1958-12-01&StationID=4931&Prov=ON&urlExtension=_e.html&searchType=stnName&optLimit=yearRange&StartYear=1840&EndYear=2016&selRowPerPage=25&Line=1&searchMethod=contains&Month=7&Day=12&txtStationName=hamilton&timeframe=2&Year=1868 |title=Hamilton (July 1868) |work=Canadian Climate Data |date=October 31, 2011 |access-date=March 23, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160609182902/http://climate.weather.gc.ca/climate_data/daily_data_e.html?hlyRange=%7C&dlyRange=1866-01-01%7C1958-08-31&mlyRange=1866-01-01%7C1958-12-01&StationID=4931&Prov=ON&urlExtension=_e.html&searchType=stnName&optLimit=yearRange&StartYear=1840&EndYear=2016&selRowPerPage=25&Line=1&searchMethod=contains&Month=7&Day=12&txtStationName=hamilton&timeframe=2&Year=1868 |archive-date=June 9, 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref> The coldest temperature ever recorded was −30.6&nbsp;°C (−23&nbsp;°F) on January 25, 1884.<ref name="Hamilton (January 1884)">{{cite web |publisher=[[Environment Canada]] |url=http://climate.weather.gc.ca/climate_data/daily_data_e.html?hlyRange=%7C&dlyRange=1866-01-01%7C1958-08-31&mlyRange=1866-01-01%7C1958-12-01&StationID=4931&Prov=ON&urlExtension=_e.html&searchType=stnName&optLimit=yearRange&StartYear=1840&EndYear=2016&selRowPerPage=25&Line=1&searchMethod=contains&txtStationName=hamilton&timeframe=2&Year=1884&Month=1# |title=Hamilton (January 1884) |work=Canadian Climate Data |date=October 31, 2011 |access-date=March 23, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160609191008/http://climate.weather.gc.ca/climate_data/daily_data_e.html?hlyRange=%7C&dlyRange=1866-01-01%7C1958-08-31&mlyRange=1866-01-01%7C1958-12-01&StationID=4931&Prov=ON&urlExtension=_e.html&searchType=stnName&optLimit=yearRange&StartYear=1840&EndYear=2016&selRowPerPage=25&Line=1&searchMethod=contains&txtStationName=hamilton&timeframe=2&Year=1884&Month=1 |archive-date=June 9, 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref> In 2023, it was found that the city has areas of poor air quality with a high concentration of [[benzo(a)pyrene]], particularly in neighbourhoods near industrial sites.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Peesker |first1=Saira |title=Breathing the air in parts of Hamilton is like smoking a cigarette a day, researcher says |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/air-quality-hamilton-1.6904964 |website=CBC News |access-date=July 14, 2023 |archive-date=July 13, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230713214901/https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/air-quality-hamilton-1.6904964 |url-status=live }}</ref>
{{Hamilton, Ontario weatherbox}}
{{Hamilton Airport weatherbox}}