Hamilton is in danger of becoming a bedroom community. The downtown core is slowly becoming a sad, downtrodden ghost town.

I have worked in downtown Hamilton for 16 years and truly enjoyed every minute of it. As a transplanted Torontonian, I felt comfortable and at home here. Hamilton has so much character. Just walk down Bold Street, between MacNab and James -- the gorgeous architecture rivals anything found in Cabbagetown or on Front Street in T.O.

I am writing because my 20 workmates and I have recently found ourselves faced with the reality that the company we work for (Bell Canada) will be closing our office and moving us to Toronto. I do not want to go back . We are by no means unique, and there will likely be more moves in the future within our company.

My point is that Toronto doesn't need us, Hamilton does. We buy our coffees at the local Tim Hortons and our lunches at the food court in Jackson Square. We support local vendors with our paycheques.

We will likely get on GO Transit every morning for the commute to Toronto, but where will that leave downtown Hamilton? We want to work in and support the city we call home. We have started a petition. A statement must be sent that large corporations can't just make arbitrary decisions without thinking about the bigger picture, rather than the almighty dollar.

We don't want to go to T.O.!