Amalgamation

[kitchener-lrt]

I don't see what Cambridge is so afraid of losing culturally. Who cares if others don't know specifically about Cambridge. If we were to join forces, and have a single municipal government (only for KW and Cambridge), we'd promote regional tourism, which would still include Cambridge.
Kitchener and Waterloo are basically one city, no wait, they are one city. Signs off the highway even say Kitchener-Waterloo. Why so much negativity towards doing the only thing that is obvious for KW and Cambridge, amalgamate?

[vid]

KW should amalgamate and just leave Cambridge out of it. Screw them.

[MolsonExport]

Fuck, just amalgamate and call the whole thing Kraft Dinner.


...or better yet, RIM

[WaterlooInvestor]

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[MolsonExport]

^yeah, otherwise people might have trouble finding it, eh?

[WaterlooInvestor]

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[Brenden]

I have been to every election debate in the last 4 years for Waterloo region (not including city councilors). This question is brought up time and time again, the federal say its not for them to decide, the provincial say they will not force anything and the local say (for the most part) they would be open to it. No there is one big kink in that plan, Mayor Doug Craig of Cambridge. I have never heard a man so admittedly against something and so convinced that a "conspiracy" exists that will force the tri-cities to combined.
In the last election debates Mayor Craig said that in the next 6 months amalgamation would get a major push from a group of people with a lot of money and power who will try to make the cities combined. That stuck with me, because frankly I thought he was off his rocker or he may be on to something. So far nothing, but I for one would not have a problem with that.

Cambridge may not be a good idea to bring on board, although anything past the 401 should be Kitchener-Waterloo not Cambridge. But thats just my opinion.

[DHLawrence]

The group he's referring to is called Citizens for Better Government, who are pushing amalgamation even though (according to Craig and others) they only speak for a tiny percentage of the population (namely themselves).

The reason most people in Cambridge don't want amalgamation is that they don't want to lose any services provided by Cambridge in order to fund something in Kitchener. Cambridge residents also don't want their property taxes taken out of the city and used in Kitchener, Waterloo, or anywhere else in the region, with no benefit to them. Case in point; people in Cambridge don't want to lose the court house in Galt because it's easier to get there than to Kitchener for most Cambridge residents. The Cambridge identity will be the one thing few people will miss, because of the commonality of the names Preston, Hespeler, Galt, Blair and Hagey (the area around Sportsworld Drive and the Toyota plant). In my opinion, "Cambridge" is the area bordered by Highway 401, Hespeler Road, Townline Road, and the Delta. Everything else is one of the other districts.

Plus, you have people living in Preston, Hespeler, and Blair who don't like the preferential treatment given to Galt: Galt Collegiate was never a candidate for closure, but Preston High and Southwood were; Galt has received more attention for core renewal than either Preston or Hespeler; the new city hall and the new Drayton-run theatre were never intended to be anywhere but Galt. Now, imagine the same situation, but with everything leaving Cambridge altogether (which makes the people in Galt mad--now they lose their privileges).

I don't see amalgamation as a necessity. Mississauga hasn't swallowed up Brampton, Minneapolis hasn't swallowed up St Paul, and New York hasn't swallowed up Newark. Large cities can co-exist without absorbing their nearest neighbours and causing massive controversy.

As a final thought, consider the United Kingdom; it may surprise you to learn that the capital is not London. Buckingham Palace is not in London. Neither are the West End nor the National Gallery. They're all located in the City of Westminster. The City of Westminster, the City of London, and thirty-one other boroughs, responsible for administering many local services, are collected together into the administrative division known as Greater London. The Greater London Authority division manages several services common to all the boroughs, including transit and police (except in the City of London itself).

Sound familiar?

[Cambridgite]

Originally Posted by DHLawrence

The reason most people in Cambridge don't want amalgamation is that they don't want to lose any services provided by Cambridge in order to fund something in Kitchener. Cambridge residents also don't want their property taxes taken out of the city and used in Kitchener, Waterloo, or anywhere else in the region, with no benefit to them. Case in point; people in Cambridge don't want to lose the court house in Galt because it's easier to get there than to Kitchener for most Cambridge residents.

I think this is the biggest issue. Even under the regional government, Cambridge gets the shaft a lot of times. It's not just the court house, but we don't even have a testing centre for drivers anymore. You have to go to Kitchener for that, as with most government services. And now, we will have to wait god-knows-how-many years before we get LRT here, despite that our taxes will still go towards paying for it. I'm not surprised many Cambridge residents feel like co-operation with Kitchener, in particular, has turned us into a peripheral no-mans-land as far as metro-wide and government services are concerned.

Originally Posted by DHLawrence

The Cambridge identity will be the one thing few people will miss, because of the commonality of the names Preston, Hespeler, Galt, Blair and Hagey (the area around Sportsworld Drive and the Toyota plant). In my opinion, "Cambridge" is the area bordered by Highway 401, Hespeler Road, Townline Road, and the Delta. Everything else is one of the other districts.

I don't know how much the Cambridge identity will be missed, really. A lot of people still think in terms of Hespeler, Preston, and Galt. A lot of people in my area still consider where we live to be (North) Galt, even though there was nothing but farms kilometers from here back when amalgamation happened. People living in the subdivisions off Townline, north of the 401 still consider themselves to be from (new) Hespeler. The way I see it, if it's identity you're going for, revert Cambridge back to its former towns. If it's efficiency you're going for, amalgamate it with KW.

Originally Posted by DHLawrence

Plus, you have people living in Preston, Hespeler, and Blair who don't like the preferential treatment given to Galt: Galt Collegiate was never a candidate for closure, but Preston High and Southwood were; Galt has received more attention for core renewal than either Preston or Hespeler; the new city hall and the new Drayton-run theatre were never intended to be anywhere but Galt. Now, imagine the same situation, but with everything leaving Cambridge altogether (which makes the people in Galt mad--now they lose their privileges).

That's another thing as well. The way the City of Cambridge has operated in terms of 'town' equality might be indicative of how a Kitchenwaterbridge (lol) megacity might function. Even if this amalgamation might occur, we will still have wards, which could correspond roughly to the original towns in some cases. We will still have the old towns pitted against each other, either way you look at it. It's juvenile and provincial, but that's how it is.

Originally Posted by DHLawrence

I don't see amalgamation as a necessity. Mississauga hasn't swallowed up Brampton, Minneapolis hasn't swallowed up St Paul, and New York hasn't swallowed up Newark. Large cities can co-exist without absorbing their nearest neighbours and causing massive controversy.)

This is true. What really needs to change is the relationships between the cities and the attitudes of the residents. By and large, we still think of ourselves as a set of separate communities, rather than a large, unified conurbation with many local histories and identities. We need to think more equitably when it comes to sharing the pie and working to market ourselves as one of Canada's largest urban centres (10th largest).

Originally Posted by DHLawrence

As a final thought, consider the United Kingdom; it may surprise you to learn that the capital is not London. Buckingham Palace is not in London. Neither are the West End nor the National Gallery. They're all located in the City of Westminster. The City of Westminster, the City of London, and thirty-one other boroughs, responsible for administering many local services, are collected together into the administrative division known as Greater London. The Greater London Authority division manages several services common to all the boroughs, including transit and police (except in the City of London itself).

Sound familiar?

Sounds like a much larger Region of Waterloo.

[DHLawrence]

Yep--and they've been doing it a lot longer with little complaint, if you ignore the century-old rivalry between the Metropolitan Police (who patrol most of Greater London) and the City of London Police (who patrol "The City" or the "Square Mile"). Marketed as one area, but everyone gets the services they need and still hold on to a semblance of their identity and control of local affairs. Maybe if we had a borough system replace the regional government, with Boroughs of Preston, Hespeler, Galt, Bridgeport, Waterloo, etc., amalgamation would be a little more tolerable. It will probably happen eventually, but every single person who lived in 'Cambridge' before 1973 is going to have to be dead and buried first.

[koops65]

I grew up in Breslau, and have lived in Kitchener, Waterloo, and Cambridge over the years. I think it's just a matter of time before amalgamation happens. And if it happens or not, there will be alot of people who will be bitter and opposed to the decision. For many of the reasons stated above, Cambridge residents won't like it, and if amalgamation doesn't happen, alot of residents from all over the Region won't like it. Being from Breslau gives me a different perspective from those who live in the 'big city' since we had NO bus service, NO sewer system, and a host of other things the cities take for granted. It was sort of like looking in from the outside. If or when it ever happens I can't see them picking any names other than Kitchener, or Waterloo (sorry Cambridge) Did Toronto consider using any other name? It was the biggest and most dominant city in the GTA and guess what it's named now? Did Hamilton? Kitchener, being as big as Waterloo and Cambridge put together, will do the same thing, or the tri-cities will possibly be named Waterloo, for the Region. Any other names that have been put forward, as fanciful as they sound, will not be chosen.

[vid]

And when the provincial government (probably the next progressive-conservative one) forces amalgamation, they'll at least let you vote on a new name!

Choices will be "Waterloo", "The Waterloo" and "Kitchener".

Amalgamation of Kitchener and Waterloo at least is warranted. Cambridge can stay separate. Toronto didn't merge with Mississauga or Ajax in 1998, so why should Cambridge be added on to KW?

[Cambridgite]

Originally Posted by vid

And when the provincial government (probably the next progressive-conservative one) forces amalgamation, they'll at least let you vote on a new name!

Choices will be "Waterloo", "The Waterloo" and "Kitchener".

Or RIMstown.

[dunkalunk]

I'd imagine that if the cities of the region were to fall under some sort of larger juridiction it would most likely be called Waterloo for the region much like the Regional Municipality of Hamilton. however, i don't see any change being as abrupt as full Amalgamization. I would imagine with the two teir system we have set up, the Regional Government will become more and more responsible for city services such as road maintenance, the library system, city pools, ect. Living in Kitchener by KCI it seems a little convoluted to have to pay a premium to take swimming lessons at the Swimplex as an alternative to having to take them across the city. This was especially irritating when I lived in Bridgeport.

[DHLawrence]

If it does happen, I can see the name Waterloo being the only name everybody can agree upon. I think the general consensus, in Cambridge at least, is "Anything but Kitchener."

Of course, they could do something wild and go back to using the name Berlin!

[kwoldtimer]

Two separate municipalities, if I were the one deciding. One to the north called either "Kitchener-Waterloo" or "Waterloo", and one to the south called Cambridge. All the comment about Cambridge getting the shaft overlooks that nobody north of the 401 would shed a tear if they were on their own ...

[Brenden]

well on a world stage and provincial stage they often refer to Waterloo, over Kitchener and Cambridge.

Although there are several other Waterloo's around the world not to many Kitchener's (of our size). The other thing we need to keep in mind is a name that will sound good with a curtain billionaires NHL team.
But a name is a long way off.

[DHLawrence]

nobody north of the 401 would shed a tear if they were on their own ...

Likewise, I'm sure!

The other thing we need to keep in mind is a name that will sound good with a curtain billionaires NHL team.

Waterloo Warriors, anyone?

[kitchener-lrt]

Originally Posted by vid

And when the provincial government (probably the next progressive-conservative one) forces amalgamation, they'll at least let you vote on a new name!

Choices will be "Waterloo", "The Waterloo" and "Kitchener".

Amalgamation of Kitchener and Waterloo at least is warranted. Cambridge can stay separate. Toronto didn't merge with Mississauga or Ajax in 1998, so why should Cambridge be added on to KW?

Good point.
Name wise, I'd go with Berlin, or "Kitchener-Waterloo". Airline wise, everything mentions flights to Kitchener.

[DHLawrence]

Westjet uses Kitchener-Waterloo, I think. In any case, the name of the airport would probably stay the same since it's in Breslau and not Kitchener. A bit of a pity; the airport is probably the one thing around here that needs renaming. "Region of Waterloo International Airport" is a bit of a mouthful--needs streamlining or spicing up.