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General Urban Kitchener Updates and Rumours
If I had to guess the only acceptable use for some of those people is to rip it down and make it a park.
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(10-20-2018, 12:44 PM)kps Wrote:
(10-19-2018, 06:54 PM)Lens Wrote: I was on the sites of a few local architects and came across these two project renders from Thinkform:

Queen and Charles:
[image: https : //static.wixstatic.com/media/2ab86b_8f2fa66fbc654913bff5ddff1fc79c73~…_s_4_2.webp]

Could someone repost these in a widely supported format?

Ah, yes, looks like webp is supported by Chrome and Edge only for now. I use Edge for WRC so I hadn't noticed the issue. Let me see if I can convert and post the images later tonight ...
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(10-20-2018, 05:24 PM)danbrotherston Wrote: *sigh*...I cannot understand these people who would rather live next to a burned out factory building for no other reason than that's what they live next to now and change is scary.

I was thinking the same thing. The fact that the reaction is this strong to the vision statement for the property, not an actual proposal, is striking.


Do owners really think that living next to a crumbling, polluted, potential fire hazard of a site is adding more value to their properties than a cleaned and redeveloped site?

Why bother living in the city at all? If you value peace and quiet, uninterrupted vistas, and no traffic, pedestrian or otherwise, why live in the heart of the city? Sounds like living in the country would be more appealing.
Everyone move to the back of the bus and we all get home faster.
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(10-20-2018, 10:20 PM)Pheidippide Wrote: Why bother living in the city at all? If you value peace and quiet, uninterrupted vistas, and no traffic, pedestrian or otherwise, why live in the heart of the city? Sounds like living in the country would be more appealing.

They want country living while being extremely close to everything so their drive is only 1 minute instead of 30 minutes.
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I've heard these neighbourhoods often described as 'an oasis in the heart of the city'. That they're the one quiet spot one can find among the hustle and bustle. Those who chose it for that reason are reluctant to give it up.
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(10-21-2018, 09:53 AM)KevinL Wrote: I've heard these neighbourhoods often described as 'an oasis in the heart of the city'. That they're the one quiet spot one can find among the hustle and bustle. Those who chose it for that reason are reluctant to give it up.

An oasis … next to an abandoned factory.
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Hey, it's quiet.
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They're likely original owners who refuse to acknowledge that the city has changed in the last 20 years, and want Kitchener to be a quiet small town again. Sorry, things have changed. You live in a highly desirable city now. It's growing up
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(10-21-2018, 12:27 PM)Spokes Wrote: They're likely original owners who refuse to acknowledge that the city has changed in the last 20 years, and want Kitchener to be a quiet small town again.  Sorry, things have changed.  You live in a highly desirable city now.  It's growing up

I couldn't prove it, but I suspect that such views are more likely to come from the newer, younger, more privileged owners who seem to hold sway in that part of town.  It sort of goes with porch parties, painted intersections, plastic children racing toward the street, etc, etc., no?
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The opposition to any development and change is common among both cohorts- those who have been in the neighbourhood for a long time, and the newcomers. But your point that the newcomers are more likely to be privileged is a good one- the more recently you've arrived, the more you paid for your house or the higher your rent is, and the more you probably feel "entitled" to whatever it is you want. Among long-time residents, there is a large proportion who are accustomed to accepting change without feeling that they can influence it. They're not all like that, though.

I think the neighbourhood is in a weird situation because it is reasonably urban by the standards of a KW residential neighbourhood, but that still means its residents are largely car-dependent and operate more-or-less as suburbanites. So, for me, when I get even a whiff of a commercial development on Shanley, say, I'm elated because that's the possibility for another amenity I can walk to. That doesn't factor in for most of my neighbours, so it's all drawback, and they can't see the benefits.
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Here we go again. Anyone who has more than I do must be ‘“privileged”!
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(10-21-2018, 07:08 PM)creative Wrote: Here we go again. Anyone who has more than I do must be ‘“privileged”!

Here we go again. Please try to understand what people are trying to say before dismissing them. For example, I recognize that in many situations I am the privileged one, and I am confident that many others similarly are capable of recognizing at least some of their own privilege. Now how does that square with your slagging of the concept of “privilege” as just meaning someone who has more than I do?
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(10-21-2018, 02:15 PM)panamaniac Wrote:
(10-21-2018, 12:27 PM)Spokes Wrote: They're likely original owners who refuse to acknowledge that the city has changed in the last 20 years, and want Kitchener to be a quiet small town again.  Sorry, things have changed.  You live in a highly desirable city now.  It's growing up

I couldn't prove it, but I suspect that such views are more likely to come from the newer, younger, more privileged owners who seem to hold sway in that part of town.  It sort of goes with porch parties, painted intersections, plastic children racing toward the street, etc, etc., no?

It could be, you never know.  I just always thought it was people who'd been there a long time wanting things to be how they'd always been expecting things not to change.  But then again that could go for anyone.
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The Queen and Charles proposal is pretty neat. The Zion Church project is very unique, I am not sure what to make of it, but I have a hard time imagining that one coming to reality.
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Apparently the Zion Church is going to be used as a night club for Halloween: https://churchentertainmentcomplex.com/
I REALLY hope this is just a one time thing.
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