A judge who toured Hamilton to determine whether it is the most "intelligent" community in the world said the city is an "astounding" place and its citizens recognize that.

"There's a real pride here," said Robert Bell, co-founder of the Intelligent Community Forum, a U.S.-based think tank founded 15 years ago that studies and promotes the world's best cities and how those models can be reproduced elsewhere.

"The number of people I've talked to who've said, 'I'm a lifelong Hamiltonian, and boy this is just the greatest place on the planet.'"

"That's what I expect to hear in an 'Intelligent Community,'" he added.

Bell spent two-and-a-half days this week touring the city, which made ICF's top-seven list last fall after first making the Smart 21 list the year prior.

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