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Well, I'm back home again and I'm glad to hear all that good news for U of W! :)

This was my first day back on campus and I was impressed to see all the construction going on. I saw construction sites between the co-op building and ES, by Hagey Hall and Arts, and I only walked through a very small section of the campus. That doesn't include all the other proposals such as optometry, the building by the SLC, and the engineering expansion going on on east campus. I'm sure I'm missing something, but UW is really expanding.

I took a walk through downtown Kitchener just for fun today and noticed a few things.

- Next to the new Chic Bar and Lounge (which is now open), there is a liquor licence application on the former "Stages" storefront.
- The UW school of pharmacy is about 6 storeys tall now and really coming along. The apartment building on Queen is on its second storey.
- They are now working on the top storey of the arrow lofts (conversion + additional storeys). You can see the crane working on it from quite a distance. Work hasn't started on the high rise yet. Across the street from the arrow lofts, there is a "for sale" sign on the abandoned house and lot and it is zoned for multi-residential.
- There's some house being built on Queen street. I think it's affordable housing or something. :shrug:
- The Victoria park neighborhood is really nice to walk through and the homes seem really well kept, lots of mature trees, front gardens, and it's just pretty lush all around.
- Even at 5pm, there seemed to be quite a few people walking on King street.

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[rapid_business]

I've been away from the forum lately as we haven't had internet access. Living in KW now! Renos are nearly done, I'll post pics later. Just wondering if there has been any 'major' news in the past month or so? Fill me in.

[xxxtim68]

Just wondering if anyone knows what is being developed on Charles St. at Kent?

Shovel went in the ground last week.

[GreatTallNorth2]

I've been away from the forum lately as we haven't had internet access. Living in KW now! Renos are nearly done, I'll post pics later. Just wondering if there has been any 'major' news in the past month or so? Fill me in.

The only major news is happening down the road about an hour. London downtown is currently getting two 28 storey apartment towers, one 23 storey condo tower, one 14 storey apartment tower and there is an RFP for a new hotel tower next to the convention centre. One bit of big news for K/W is that Lastman just opened a "Bad Boy" furniture. It's now the region's tallest building.

[Cambridgite]

The only major news is happening down the road about an hour. London downtown is currently getting two 28 storey apartment towers, one 23 storey condo tower, one 14 storey apartment tower and there is an RFP for a new hotel tower next to the convention centre. One bit of big news for K/W is that Lastman just opened a "Bad Boy" furniture. It's now the region's tallest building.

:haha:
Quite the comedian, you are.

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:previous: Interesting. I wonder what part of town the Cambridge food processing campus will be in. Hopefully in one of the 3 core areas. But alas, it's Conestoga College and they have a habit of building their campuses in the middle of nowhere :rolleyes: . UW/WLU/Conestoga are really expanding their influence by an impressive margin. Keep the good news coming! :tup:

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[Cambridgite]

I guess I can see your points above being related to the "San Francisco of Canada", but we have a very long way to go to become a city to own up to that kind of stature. Mostly a matter of scale + size + landscape + history and architecture. And let's face it, the bridge proposal from Fairway to Fountain is hardly the Golden Gate Bridge. ;)

On another note, I find it interesting that we think of the tri-cities as a conurbation of an original central city (Berlin/Kitchener), plus 4 other large towns (Waterloo, Galt, Preston, Hespeler), but what we don't know is how many small villages and hamlets were absorbed into the metropolitan area and forgotten. Some examples, such as Bridgeport and Blair are more well known, but there are several others I've never even heard of. Check out this link of the old Waterloo County and you can see their old names, where they're located, and which ones were taken over. Click on the names, and you can read their history.

http://www.region.waterloo.on.ca/web/region.nsf/c56e308f49bfeb7885256abc0071ec9a/98e7aecceabbb50f85256e050064f9ec!OpenDocument

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[Cambridgite]

Royal Hotel to be turned into condos
September 18, 2007
KEVIN SWAYZE - RECORD STAFF - CAMBRIDGE

http://news.therecord.com/images/assets/303299_3.JPG
The former Royal Hotel at the corner of Main and Wellington streets in Cambridge is to be turned into upscale condos.

The rotting, city-owned Royal Hotel will be transformed into upscale condominiums and retail space if a city developer's plans unfold as promised.

But taxpayers lost $732,668 on the deal to sell the building at Wellington and Main streets.

A $115,000 offer to purchase the building, from AAK General Construction of Cambridge, was formalized unanimously last night, after being accepted in principle in a closed-door council meeting Aug. 13.

Downtown ward Coun. Ben Tucci was the only council member to speak to the issue.

"I support the motion wholeheartedly," he said.

Two years ago, he pushed council to expropriate the building for $650,000 to remove the public safety hazard from downtown.

Police and downtown residents had ongoing concerns about the low-income rooms for rent. The building, built in 1850, was the hub of downtown's drug and prostitution problems. When a fire inspection in December 2005 found exposed wires, and hearing rumours that someone was planning to torch the building, city officials ordered the building condemned just before Christmas. City and region officials helped tenants find other places to live.

Since then, the city has spent another $197,668 on boarding up the building and security patrols. When the city decided to sell it, it had an appraisal value of $450,000.

The building was listed with Coldwell Banker realty, which toured 15 potential buyers through the building over six months.

Council wanted the landmark building's exterior saved. Council rejected one offer on the building, from Cambridge Rollerama earlier this year, because it wasn't clear about its plans for the building, neither was it offering enough, Densmore said. The offer price was never made public.

As the building sat boarded up, mould and rot grew in the stale air, prompting open talk by councillors in the summer that demolition might be the only future for the building.

The building also lost resale value because there was no business operating in it after the hotel was closed, said Bo Densmore, the city's economic development commissioner.

Amir Klein, one of the owners of AAK construction, toured the building in June and worked fast with city officials to bring the offer forward in August.

He proposed to preserve the exterior of the building while reworking the interior. That was key to the city accepting the offer, a report to council says.

Klein has agreed to work with the city's heritage advisory committee "to restore the architectural facade of the building to its original states, or as best as feasibly possible," the report says. Klein has also agreed to have the prominent building designated as a historic structure once work is done.

As part of the deal to sell the building, the city will grant six parking permits in a nearby city lot for use by residents of the new condominium units.

Awesome news! :banana:

I'm glad they're keeping the facade. It cost taxpayers a lot, but that was going to happen either way once it was shut down. And no developer in their right mind would pay the full cost of remediating that property. It will take a whole day just to clean up all the used needles. :haha:

So, for downtown Galt, they have Waterscape condominiums (2 buildings), Tiger Lofts, Spruce Street Lofts, the Grand Lofts, the Overland Hotel renovation, and now the Royal Hotel renovation.

Holy conversion Batman! :)
I don't think that, after this, there will be many buildings left to convert. Hopefully we'll lose some surface parking...a test for Cambridge.

[ikerrin]

I actually saw our area listed as the San Francisco of Canada on one of the threads here or SSC. It might sound odd to some people at first, but it's actually the direction we're heading:

- large education sector
- tech sector
- financial services
- high incomes
- lofts
- condos
- multiculturalism
- strong transit (looking to the future with our LRT)
- strong modern urban area (again looking to the future- but it's clear to me this is already underway and should be our reality in 20 years)

I think that's taking it a bit far. I like Waterloo and the new development, but I still think that you are more San Jose than San Francisco. At least you aren't Oakland anymore.

[Cambridgite]

I think that's taking it a bit far. I like Waterloo and the new development, but I still think that you are more San Jose than San Francisco. At least you aren't Oakland anymore.

Well...theoretically, if Waterloo were San Francisco, I think that would make Kitchener Oakland. ;)

Don't know what Cambridge would be...Berkeley? San Jose? One of the ones that people know less and care less about, lol.

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I believe the thread was looking at metro areas. However I agree with you that San Jose is more accurate.

The other city I've seen the UW President refer to us as is the Boston of Canada. This is in reference to his goal of turning Waterloo Region into the knowledge Capital of Canada.

Well, whenever you hear statements like these, you have to keep the source in mind. If you hear it from someone like the UW president, members of Communitech, etc., you have to be aware of bias. It's always a matter of opinion. In such a comparision, we could shoot a couple of movies here and call ourselves Hollywood North. Presumably, the comparision to Boston and San Francisco was made because of the tech sector and education. Ottawa also has a significant tech sector, and for some reason, so does Markham. Does Canada has 3 Bostons?

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Tourist in his own town
Adam Thornton, with camera in hand, goes wherever a bus will take him
September 15, 2007
COLIN HUNTER - RECORD STAFF - KITCHENER

http://news.therecord.com/images/assets/301154_3.JPG
Adam Thornton snaps a picture after getting off a Grand River Transit bus at Highland Hills Mall in Kitchener.

http://news.therecord.com/images/assets/301155_3.JPG
Adam Thornton studies a satellite photo of southwest Kitchener, loosely plotting his route for this day's journey.

He looks like tourist, all wide-eyed and curious, quick to snap a picture of whatever landmark piques his interest.

Ooh, a bus shelter. Snap.

A sidewalk. Snap.

A split-level suburban home with beige aluminum siding and a basketball net out front. Snap.

Granted, they are not typical tourist traps.

But that, for Adam Thornton, is the whole point.

"I am a tourist in my own town," he says, tromping through what most people would consider a wholly unremarkable stretch of Kitchener suburbia.

Thornton, a 34-year-old technical writer, is on a self-imposed mission to rediscover his home turf of Kitchener and Waterloo. And he has devised a simple but effective plan to do so.

He boards a Grand River Transit bus at the downtown depot, rides the bus to the farthest stop on its route, then gets off and walks a scenic route home. He takes pictures and jots notes for a summary of his adventures on his blog.

This is his second such excursion since the idea dawned on him while tipsy a few weeks ago. He's doing the bus routes in numerical order, so this evening's journey started on Route 2 -- the Forest Hill line.

"I'm seeing things I would probably never otherwise see," he explains.

"I love nothing more than getting off the main drag."

Drag. Since he brought it up, it's worth pointing out that Thornton has another interesting hobby: he is a drag queen.

Under the guise of Muffy St. Bernard, Thornton often dresses like a starlet and "lip syncs for drunk people" at Club Renaissance and other hot spots around town.

It bears mentioning because his blogs about the BusWalk Tour, as he has dubbed this venture, appear on alter-ego's website, dangermuff.com.

As Muffy, Thornton is a bit of a celebrity in some circles, and his/her website gets several hundred hits a day.

The BusWalk tour is ostensibly the brainchild of Muffy St. Bernard, even though Thornton has opted to do it without hindrances like tight evening gowns and high heels.

"To do this in drag would be, well, it would be a drag," he quips while huffing up a steep hill in a small suburban park.

During the bus ride from the downtown depot to the strip mall at Highland and Fischer-Hallman, Thornton studied a satellite photo of the southwest Kitchener, loosely plotting a route.

Very loosely. Spontaneity is an important aspect of the tour, and Thornton lets the scenery and simple whims guide his way. He's hoping to avoid major thoroughfares, though.

As soon as he got off the bus he headed behind the mall, "just because you're not meant to go there."

Then he clambered down a grassy hill, through a dried-up marsh and -- eureka -- onto a crushed gravel trail he never knew existed.

"Who knows where this will go?"

Where it went was a few hundred metres to the southwest, before emerging near the corner of Westheights Drive and Queen's Boulevard.

Now, after some aimless meandering and a few accidental loops around crescents ("I hate crescents -- they don't go anywhere"), he is beside a small forest that abuts Westforest Trail. A well-tramped foot path beckons.

He turns into the woods, not knowing or particularly caring where he'll end up.

"My philosophy is, if you just keep on walking, eventually you'll arrive."

Arrive where?

"Wherever."

Thornton doesn't think his BusWalk Tour is the least bit strange. On the contrary, he thinks everyone should try it.

"People don't walk much anymore. For some reason, some people think an hour-long walk is torturous. I would suggest that everyone walk in areas where they don't need to be, just to see what they find."

The path ends at the far edge of the forest. Thornton steps into the daylight and gasps loudly at what he sees -- a small pond, glimmering under the setting sun, inhabited by at least one croaking bullfrog.

It's not the world's nicest pond, mind you. It's murky, probably man-made and underneath a row of hydro wires. But it's a nice surprise.

"Serendipity," Thornton says.

"The joy of this is that it's unexpected. I never would have known it was here. Probably most people who live around here don't know it's here."

He snaps a picture and keeps walking, eventually winding up at the spot where, until recently, Victoria Street ended. An extension has just been built, continuing Kitchener's sprawl to the south.

The never-ending construction is another reason Thornton wants to reacquaint himself with his hometown -- to document its changing character in words and images.

After a couple of hours of random meandering, he decides to take a relatively straight route back downtown -- which is still about an hour's walk away -- following concrete drainage canals.

He'll do plenty more walking in days to come if he is to embark on each of Grand River Transit's 25 routes.

He's trying not to think that far ahead. For now, it's just one step at a time.

"I haven't been bored a moment yet," he says. "As long as there's another corner I haven't been around, I'm interested."

ON THE INTERNET

To read Thornton's blog on the BusWalk Tour (and many other subjects), visit the Muffy St. Bernard website (www.dangermuff.com).


Interesting. I also have gone around snapping pictures of the Region, just not in areas as sporadic as he has. I've focused mainly in the core areas. I wish I had the time on my hands to do it in such detail.

[SteelTown]

http://news.therecord.com/images/assets/301154_3.JPG
Adam Thornton snaps a picture after getting off a Grand River Transit bus at Highland Hills Mall in Kitchener.


*giggles* that pose, especially the pinkie finger is G-A-Y!! lol

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[SteelTown]

What about these 2 poses? (photos by Muffy)

Double whammy G-A-Y! lol

Personally I had a horrible experience with a drag show, only went once and that's it haha

This friend of mine that I've known since high school, he's gay, bitch and moans that he doesn't have any straight friends, so I've been trying to butch him up unsuccessfully for awhile now lol. For example I'm a big tea lover so often I'll have tea with him and he'll stick his pinkie finger out, what's when I'll smack his pinkie finger and tell him "butch it up Dorothy!"

[Cambridgite]

Holy crap! There will only be 3 undeveloped sites left? Where will tech companies who want to be near U of W expand after that?

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[Cambridgite]

I'm a big tea lover so often I'll have tea with him and he'll stick his pinkie finger out, what's when I'll smack his pinkie finger and tell him "butch it up Dorothy!"
:haha:

It's in the code for straight males: Thou shalt never stick thy pinky out.
Consequence: Harrassment for life.

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[SteelTown]

What happened that you had a bad experience?

Sometimes they aren't the best, but I've had some fun times. Drew, in the first drag pic, does a really good "Christina Aguilera - Beautiful" performance. I think he even won Miss Embassy a few years ago doing that song. In Toronto, sometimes I'll head to Crews/Tango to start the night off, and they have decent performances there as well.

Well it's probably the most embarrassing moment in my live. I went to this bar first time I ever to a gay bar. I'm shy so I was super shy that night. It was also drag night so my friends sat me down and just told me to relax and watch the show, so I did. Everything went nice and it was funny. Then this drag comes out with long black hair doing "gypsy woman" so Cher haha. I keep looking and looking and thought to myself I know that person......ding! ding! It's my cousin Justin!.....I'm totally freaking out at this point, breathing out of control, sweating and my heart was beating like insane. I'm trying to hide behind my friends and everything. Once he was done he goes on the mic and says "Hey everyone my cuz Andy is here....stand up cuz!!"....I literally died....my friends forced me to stand up.

So there I was basically outed to the entire gay population haha.

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[SteelTown]

Well I knew he was gay, just based on his appearance and you know the way he talks and moves lol. He didn't tell me I got the clues. But I never knew he liked dressing up as a woman until that night.

No, I've never told anybody in my family about me, still haven't haha.

[rapid_business]

Sooo, back to development news... I wonder how the tech park is going to have to remodel itself when it starts to become a significant portion of the North campus? It's not pedestrian friendly right now at all, and if UW is planning more, the way the uni. buildings interact with eachother north of Columbia (and especially the traverse back and forth) is going to be vital.

[Cambridgite]

Sooo, back to development news... I wonder how the tech park is going to have to remodel itself when it starts to become a significant portion of the North campus? It's not pedestrian friendly right now at all, and if UW is planning more, the way the uni. buildings interact with eachother north of Columbia (and especially the traverse back and forth) is going to be vital.

Yeah, I don't even think they have sidewalks there. It's quite terrible. I have a friend who used to regularly walk through there and he said it feels so much longer than it is. With a planned LRT station on the east side of it, you'd think more amenities would be incorporated into it. There's the fitness centre, but little else.

Also, does anyone know what's going on with those lots on Willis Way, near Caroline? How about the uptown shops and residences? I walked by there the other day. The sign isn't there anymore. When I saw that it was up before (a while ago), some of the units had been sold.

For your interest, Bauer has redone its site.
http://www.bauerbuildings.com/

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[jeremy_haak]

[QUOTE=WaterlooInvestor;3066864]
Some of Google's Waterloo team
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1206/1408453470_16d5715a8a.jpg?v=0

Hey, the second guy on the right is a really good friend of mine. I knew Google was posed to be announcing something soon, but I wasn't able to wrestle the details out of him. In any case, the old office was woefully inadequate. I actually burst out laughing when I first saw it.

[ldoto]

Tech, health link proposed

Sat, September 22, 2007

Waterloo Region eager to tap into London's health research expertise.

By NORMAN DE BONO, SUN MEDIA



Canada's Silicon Valley is reaching out to London's technology community, wanting a closer, working relationship with researchers here. :)

Waterloo Region, which this week celebrated the expansion of global technology giant Google in its community, wants to tap into the heath-care research in London to grow technology industries in both communities, said John Tennant, chief executive of Canada's Technology Triangle, representing business in the Cambridge, Kitchener and Waterloo areas.

"There are strengths in London, in health care and we are talking about working together more closely," Tennant said yesterday.

Waterloo does not have a medical school, as London does, and the work being done at the Lawson and Robarts research institutes as well as the Integrated Manufacturing Technology Institute at the University of Western Ontario's research park, offers opportunities to expand technology research, he added.

"There are plenty of opportunities to collaborate. In a global scale we are small players, we need to think about pooling resources," said Tennant.

Marilyn Sinclair, general manger of TechAlliance in London, welcomed the news.

"We always embrace the opportunity to work with tech communities in the region, we have to work co-operatively," Sinclair said. "We have laid the groundwork here to support growth in the technology sector."

In addition, the London Economic Development Corp. is holding a workforce development seminar at Conestoga College in two weeks, added Tennant.

"That dialogue (between London and Waterloo) is already happening on a number of levels. We are all interested in finding new investment opportunities," said Tennant.

As for Google, it is moving to the school's research park from a small office near the school, and is looking to add to the 20 software engineers who now work for the company.

"We have been in Waterloo two years now and want to strengthen our ties with the University of Waterloo," said Wendy Rozeluk, corporate communications manager at Google's Toronto office.

"We see Waterloo as the Silicon Valley of the north. We want access to that.

The University of Waterloo currently has the largest mathematics and engineering faculties in the world, said Tennant.

"This is a pivotal move for Waterloo Region. It makes a statement to the global community that world leaders in this industry see talent and opportunity here," he said. "This gives them the visibility and proximity to assist in their recruiting efforts. They want the best and brightest to consider a career with Google and the research park is an ideal location for that."

As for its name, a "googol" is the mathematical term for a 1 followed by 100 zeros, says Google's website. "The term was coined by Milton Sirotta, nephew of U.S. mathematician Edward Kasner, and was popularized in the book, Mathematics and the Imagination by Kasner and James Newman," a company history said.

[Cambridgite]

Thanks for that article. I think it will be a great partnership for both cities involved. :)

[rapid_business]

Googled some pictures of Waterloo and came across this:
http://img264.imageshack.us/img264/3124/waterloorealestatereferty4.jpg
via Charity Link Realty

What's the plan with the uptown redevelopment from here on in? Is there plans to complete it to this much of a build out? or is it going to stay like it is (surface lot infront of shoppers and all).

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[Cambridgite]

Members visited Ontario communities that had been amalgamated and found benefits in moving to single-tier government. According to the group's report, the benefits include:

More and better services provided at the same cost

Elimination of confusion and delays in planning

Fewer politicians and bureaucrats.

Pooling of some services.

More efficient use of vehicles and equipment.

The ability to market the community "under one collective brand."

The creation of "a single, larger and more influential political voice when speaking with senior levels of government."

It sure sounds like it on the surface. However, I've heard exactly the opposite from Torontonians and Hamiltonians whose cities have already been there. Higher taxes and more beauracracy is what I've heard. I think their perspectives on amalgammation would be beneficial for us. Also, I don't think it would be easier to "market the community under one collective brand". They have different histories, different identities, and Cambridge itself is proof that municipal reform can't take that away.

Tucci later complained: "I think it was a clear message that it really doesn't matter what Cambridge says . . . and that's what worries me."

Yeah, it's common for people in Cambridge to feel that the region only cares about the twin-cities. If amalgammation were to happen, I think it only makes sense that all 3 municipalities agree on it. Right now, I believe it's mostly being pushed by Mr. Zehr.

However, irrespective of who forms the government after the Oct. 10 provincial election, "one of the biggest challenges" the lobby group faces is that there is little appetite at Queen's Park for significant municipal reform.

The report the citizens group released yesterday said it believes "single-tier government can preserve and reinforce local community spirit by empowering communities."

Clearly Queen's Park has no appetite for it. Little good has come of it. Also, amalgammation won't empower communities. It will lead to a sense that some communities are being leached off for the benefit of the other. In Cambridge, Preston and Hespeler feel that Galt "gets everything". When something happens in the suburban no-man's-land in between them, people make up boundaries for the 3 towns to claim whether something is happening in Galt, Preston, or Hespeler.

"Currently, we are the 10th largest economy in Canada . . . yet we speak with eight separate voices through multiple layers of bureaucracy and 51 politicians," Erb said in his talk.

As well, he asked: "How many chief librarians, fire chiefs, planning directors, mayors and councillors do we need? Would not a more streamlined model of municipal government deliver better services?"

The full report of the group can be found on its website at www.cfbg.ca.

I do think the above is a problem. On one hand, we need to be respectful of local identities and history. On the other, we need to plan for an integrated conurbation that represents a city of increasingly national importance. I think a review of services that are municipal and regional should be in the cards. Right now, we still have fire departments for each respective city. This needs to be a regional service. I'm still undecided on whether or not tourism should be a regional responsibility. Our local governments also need a broader perspective and realize that decisions made in a local municipality do affect the region as a whole.

[WaterlooInvestor]

moved

[Cambridgite]

You know it's funny you brought up the report about visualizing densities, since, in one of my Planning classes, we're supposed to pick out one of the articles our Prof listed and write a report on how they went about their research. This was one of the articles listed, so I scanned it last night. I found those photos of the region's growth pretty interesting. It's amazing how much farmland there used to be between all the communities. Hespeler Road didn't even start forming until around 1980. Look at it now!! You can also see that there was little growth between 1900 and 1950. Most Canadian cities experienced a lot of growth in the early 20th century. This would explain our relatively small footprint of "inner-city" and downtown neighborhoods. However, you can really see how much the region has exploded from 1960 to the present day and continuing.

I almost made an accident when I saw that 3D conceptualization for that area in King East. It was so beautiful, it nearly brought a tear to my eyes. The city did a good job at taking factors into consideration. It really achieves good form, good density, while doing a good job on the North side of the street at avoiding NIMBY reactions ahead of time. Great transitioning. Perhaps there will still be some opposition from the "no-growth" types, but I think that design pretty much eliminates any valid reasons to oppose it. Now all we need is a developer!! It COULD happen within the next few years, but I think the main focus right now is in the warehouse and city centre districts.

[WaterlooInvestor]

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[Elmiraguy]

Hello

First let me say how much I enjoy this board.

I have been reading this board for the past year while I was living/working in far off northern Ontario. I only had a hotmail account while there so was not able to post. Now that I'm back in the Region, I'm able to participate.

I am thrilled with the prosperity the region is enjoying, and am excited at all the new higher-density developments. I am also beside myself at the prospects of the LRT. I spent much time in Europe and there are definitely some lessons we could learn from them with regards to transportation and use of urban lands.

I have some thoughts and opinions on issues specific to the Townships of Waterloo Region which I am eager to discuss. I think some of these issues will be of interest to others on this board.

Looking forward to participating.

[Cambridgite]

Hello

First let me say how much I enjoy this board.

I have been reading this board for the past year while I was living/working in far off northern Ontario. I only had a hotmail account while there so was not able to post. Now that I'm back in the Region, I'm able to participate.

I am thrilled with the prosperity the region is enjoying, and am excited at all the new higher-density developments. I am also beside myself at the prospects of the LRT. I spent much time in Europe and there are definitely some lessons we could learn from them with regards to transportation and use of urban lands.

I have some thoughts and opinions on issues specific to the Townships of Waterloo Region which I am eager to discuss. I think some of these issues will be of interest to others on this board.

Looking forward to participating.

Welcome back to the region and welcome to SSP. :)

By all means, keep us up to date on township issues. WaterlooInvestor and I (the most frequent) posters live in the tri-cities, so we don't really get a perspective on these things. Maybe you can help give us a more balanced view of Waterloo Region issues.

[WaterlooInvestor]

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[WaterlooInvestor]

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[WaterlooInvestor]

moved

[jeremy_haak]

I'm not so sure that amalgamation is really in the best interests of the region. In cities such as Ottawa or Toronto, amalgamation made a bit of sense, as their metropolitan areas were far more cohesive. Here, the Waterloo municipalities are far more distinct. The situation with Cambridge is the most obvious example as it is still very much a separate city from Kitchener; however, even with Kitchener and Waterloo, which are far more integrated, there still exists a clear distinction between the two municipalities even if it isn't immediately visible.

Amalgamation makes sense where centralization would be beneficial; however, in this case, complete centralization makes no sense at all. The regional model works well for this area, and I think it will likely stay on. Waterloo and Cambridge have too much to lose with amalgamation. I do agree that fire services should be a regional responsibility; however, I understand that politics is a big barrier to that.

[WaterlooInvestor]

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[WaterlooInvestor]

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[WaterlooInvestor]

moved

[WaterlooInvestor]

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[Cambridgite]

Cambridgite: You should try to push for a Centre Block style development. The residential towers could be 10 and 8 storeys and the city could build some underground public parking.

I agree with that. Unfortunately, that may be taller than the height limits Cambridge has put on the Galt core. Either way, surface parking and above-ground parking garages should not be built. If more parking is really necessary (which it's not), then it has to be underground. Galt isn't very big, so every parcel of land counts. Properties should be redeveloped into mixed-use and medium density projects. Design should also be an important component so that it blends well with historic streetscapes.

In the long run, particularly as Cambridge's population continues to grow, transit services may moderate the need for parking spaces, but expecting people at present to leave their vehicles at home when they go to a downtown core is unrealistic. In the short term, parking spaces are a necessity.

Typical Cambridge mentality. If they can't treat it like Hespeler Road, they won't use it. There are many half or less than half full parking lots in downtown Galt, but you have to pay to park there for more than 2 hours. If you're there for less than 2 hours, you can park in other lots for free. Southworks has free parking for all customers and there's lots of room. One can easily find a spot and from there, you can walk anywhere downtown in 5 minutes. It's all surface parking and there's plenty to go around. I've NEVER had trouble finding a space down there. The only place that's hard to park on is parallel parking on Main street, and that's because people want to get as close to their storefront as possible. Walking to get somewhere is unheard of in Cambridge. We must have a free space right in front of our destination.

In the most vibrant downtown areas I've been too, cheap parking is impossible to find. For example, to park all day in Toronto, you're likely spending a solid $20 or more. There are many transportation options into downtown Toronto, other than car, and people use them. For that matter, downtown Galt is pretty easily accessed by bus. Even if your area isn't well served by transit, you can park at the Cambridge Centre Mall (always lots of parking, except for Christmas) and take either the iXpress or route 51. You will be downtown within minutes. Isn't that great? But oh I forgot, the bus is only for poor people. Silly me :rolleyes: . There is no parking crisis in Cambridge, unless you're referring to too much parking.

I also disagree with Tucci's statement that transit will automatically become easier and more popular as Cambridge grows. Most of what is being built in Cambridge is your typical urban sprawl. Seldom are these places well-serviced by public transit. Every new development is getting further and further away from the core, so taking transit there is actually becoming even less convenient.

[WaterlooInvestor]

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[Cambridgite]

So have you decided to use the Downtown Concept? When you're finished your report, you should post it on here. I'd be curious to see all your conclusions.

I haven't decided yet, and I wont for a little while, since I have other projects due before then.

It's a very interesting report, and one that everyone on here should read. As time goes on, I'll post more of the concepts - there's been a lot of news lately so I don't want to bombard the thread all at once. :haha: One note: look at Ainslie & Concession in Cambridge. In the Region's concept, there's an 11-Storey Residential building. Now you just have to get the city on side :rolleyes: If I were to look at your calendar for 2010, it should say "busy campaigning to defeat NIMBY incumbents".[/QUOTE]

:haha:

I wonder if other cities have their historical footprints online. I should ask in the "City Footprints" thread. It would be cool to see a Southern Ontario Map showing all the various city footprints on the same image. I'd want to see the growth of Toronto, Hamilton, St. Catharine's, London and Windsor, and compare them against Waterloo Region during various decades.

It would be interesting to see what patterns of growth took place for these cities.

What are your thoughts on our growth pattern? How much did we under-perform from 1900 to 1950? How much did the 50's+ boom have to do with setting up the University of Waterloo? How much was due to the baby boom? How much had to do with construction projects such as the Conestoga Parkway? etc.. Have you discussed that chart at all in your classes?[/QUOTE]

I don't know the causes for our growth precisely, but I think I could take a stab at it. I think we underperformed from 1900-1950 because of transportation systems. At the time, Southern Ontario's rapidly growing hubs were Toronto and Hamilton, with access to Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence. Yes, there were some towns along the train tracks (ie Kitchener) and river towns like Galt and Guelph, but they were never major hubs in their time, especially compared to Toronto and Hamilton. The 50+ boom happened almost everywhere, thanks to the baby boom. A couple things unique to our region that happened during that post-war era were the creation of UW, Laurier, Conestoga, and our current highway network (most importantly the 401). While UW's founder was certainly an entrepreneur in establishing the first co-op program in Canada, I think the fact that the baby boom was moving into their young adult years really helped the universities establish themselves. Proximity to Toronto, while being in a "country-like" suburban setting probably helped attract students too. "Come to the cornfields of Waterloo" :haha: . Also, this time period is also when the auto-makers were making big investments in Kitchener (Budd and Goodrich come to mind). The Toyota plant coming to Cambridge (for 401 access and cheap land) helped bolster our 1980s growth. Today, I think growth is influenced by the universities, tech sector, cheap industrial land (compared to most of the 905), immigration, and commuters.

I think the designs are beautiful as well. There's a few things we need in order for this to happen: Population growth? Yes, Wealth? Yes, Increased Urban Infrastructure (LRT,etc..)? It's coming, Municipal Gov't that's interested in Re-urbanization? Yes, Developers interested in our city? Yes, A change in consumer perception of the urban areas (being "cool" to live on King Street)? It's happening. So to me, we have a lot of the right settings for development like this to work. IMO, it's only a matter of time - I'd say in the next 5-10 years for sure, but the way things are going in this city, it wouldn't shock me if this type of development was announced next Thursday.

I'd be shocked if anything were proposed next Thursday. We haven't even started construction on Icon or Waterscape, Arrow Lofts doesn't have a website, and the potentially market-saturating Barrel Yards hasn't started construction yet either. Centre Block (fairly large development) is supposed to begin sometime next year. We have a good bit coming up. Give it time.

Remember how I was referring to Waterloo Region as an up and coming Canadian version of Boston? Obviously I think we're already getting there in terms of our education, high-tech and finance sectors. If we can make the architecture demonstrated in those proposals reality, I think we'll be able to add city design to that list in 20 years. Don't those high-end, high-density, medium-rise blocks just scream Boston to you?[/QUOTE]

Sorry they don't. We're not in the same league as Boston. It's not an easy comparison between Waterloo and Harvard. The architectural styles of our new developments look nothing like downtown Boston, but more like scaled-down versions of what's being built in Tor/Van/Edm/Cal. Just let KW evolve into its own city. There's no need to pretend we're something we're not. Also, there's a fine line between civic pride and rampant boosterism. I'm seeing you cross it a lot these days.

[WaterlooInvestor]

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[WaterlooInvestor]

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[Cambridgite]

I wasn't being serious about Thursday, it was said as a joke. :haha: (the problem with the net is you can't always tell how people are speaking - i'll try to put a 'haha' icon or something next time.)

Oops, my bad. Thought you were serious.


- Same thing goes for UW/WLU/Conestoga. They aren't as great as Harvard, MIT,etc.. but they form one of Canada's best university/college clusters.

Okay, I could agree with that analogy then.

-I was talking about streetscapes shown in this specific proposal:

http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa262/AndrewEH/CoreStudyAreas-Page35.jpg

Sorry, they don't look very Bostonesque to me. Too modern to be. They look more like Vancouver.

- Being a much smaller country than the U.S., we're constantly bombarded with American media/news/culture/sports. As such, lots of Canadians are aware of many American cities (Miami, NYC, Detroit, LA, etc...). Rightly or wrongly (I can tell you feel wrongly - and I can definitely see your point) Canadians tend to compare ourselves to the Americans: our music, our politicians, our weather, etc.. I was just trying to compare the two countries cities and to see where Waterloo Region would fit in. Right off the bat, these comparisons would be vastly different since Canada is only 1/9th the size of the United States. I'll drop the discussion since I don't see much interest.

Yeah, New Yorkers laugh when Toronto compares itself to them, so I guess Boston would laugh if we compared ourselves to them. So hey, why not?

[WaterlooInvestor]

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[Cambridgite]

He said starting with the UW School of Archetecture in Cambridge, and continuing education growth at that Campus, and hopefully more, he'd like to see Cambridge, ON will one day rival Cambridge, Massachusetts. He actually said that, and I thought you'd find it cute.

Haha, I do. :haha:

Now, I've always been told: "If you want to reach the moon, shoot for the stars. At least if you don't hit your goal, you'll probalby still make it to the moon." I guess that's what Mr. Johnston is doing, and I kinda like it.

Makes sense to me. :)


On another note, I'm not sure if you noticed, but I'm going through and updating our cities on SSP. I need your help for Cambridge:



Here's one tower I've found missing on the Cambridge Page. http://realstar.ca/default.aspx?SectionId=56&PropertyId=206&FromSearch=1 . This is the one up by Cambridge Centre. You said another twin is going up as well though right? So I should actually get them to add two towers to the Cambridge list - 1 built, 1 under construction?
Also, if you notice any other towers on your daily travels, try to post them on the SSP database thread.


I'd be glad to help out. And yes, that commie-block is missing on the Cambridge page and there's yet another twin on the way (they're on the second storey now). You may also want to check and see if the "River's Edge" twin condominium towers are there. They are also relatively new.