General Urban Waterloo Updates and Rumours

[Acitta]

Neighbours strike out twice in fighting higher, denser housing in Waterloo

Upset residents could not persuade Waterloo city council to reject a 30-storey tower proposed in one neighbourhood and 11 townhouses proposed in another.

Councillors approved both developments this month, telling neighbours that Waterloo needs more homes in denser buildings, and urging residents to make peace with changes that are coming to their streets.

Four detached houses will be demolished at two locations to make way for the contested projects.

[Momo26]

Density is the name of the game

[timc]

I couldn't believe it when I read the article and residents said that three-story townhouses at Woolwich and Exmoor would be too high and not fit the neighbourhood. There are literally three-story townhouses across the street at that exact location.

https://www.google.com/maps/@43.4871703,...FQAw%3D%3D

[neonjoe]

They are too high for Waterloo, the three storey ones are in Kitchener. Waterloo wants to keep its small town charm... ... :/

[timc]

They are too high for Waterloo, the three storey ones are in Kitchener. Waterloo wants to keep its small town charm... ... :/

Oh, you are so correct. I forgot that the border runs down the middle of that street.

[panamaniac]

They are too high for Waterloo, the three storey ones are in Kitchener. Waterloo wants to keep its small town charm... ... :/

In order to keep it, they'd have to have some ...

[MidTowner]

They are too high for Waterloo, the three storey ones are in Kitchener. Waterloo wants to keep its small town charm... ... :/

Oh, you are so correct. I forgot that the border runs down the middle of that street.

Might as well be the Rio Grande according to many Waterloo residents. Incomparable standards, entirely different words.

[Kodra24]

Oh, you are so correct. I forgot that the border runs down the middle of that street.

Might as well be the Rio Grande according to many Waterloo residents. Incomparable standards, entirely different words.

Hahah this is very true - I have so many examples of Waterloo people getting offended if you label them as being from Kitchener or falsely stating they live in Waterloo when in fact they live in Kitchener etc.

I never understood that, in terms of high-end streets or neighbourhoods Kitchener blows Waterloo out of the water - Hidden Valley, Deer Ridge, most of Westmount (the really nice streets anyways)

Is it because of the 2 Universities? I don't get it

[ac3r]

The smart thing to do would be to amalgamate and operate this place like one big city, because it is one big city. The vague borders you can't see and out of touch ideas of identity/place is absolutely meaningless and obsolete. It's why nothing gets done and you can't treat this place like a serious urban Canadian settlement.

And some new media would help too. This region has, what, 700'000 people now? A lot of them are young and/or people who have lived all over the world. Why is it that the main newspaper is still some worthless rag that mostly seems to print weekly articles getting grandma and grandpas hot takes on rapid transit and dense housing development? A couple zoomers with an iPhone can do better journalism than the nonsense The Record of 570 News offers.

[KevinL]

I never understood that, in terms of high-end streets or neighbourhoods Kitchener blows Waterloo out of the water - Hidden Valley, Deer Ridge, most of Westmount (the really nice streets anyways)

Is it because of the 2 Universities? I don't get it

It goes back to before the current era, when Kitchener was decidedly blue-collar (rubber and leather industries) and Waterloo white-collar (universities and insurance cos). It's left a cultural stain that's hard to wash off.

[panamaniac]

Might as well be the Rio Grande according to many Waterloo residents. Incomparable standards, entirely different words.

Hahah this is very true - I have so many examples of Waterloo people getting offended if you label them as being from Kitchener or falsely stating they live in Waterloo when in fact they live in Kitchener etc.

I never understood that, in terms of high-end streets or neighbourhoods Kitchener blows Waterloo out of the water - Hidden Valley, Deer Ridge, most of Westmount (the really nice streets anyways)

Is it because of the 2 Universities? I don't get it

I find those attitudes to be more prevalent among folks who aren't born and raised in K-W.

[panamaniac]

I never understood that, in terms of high-end streets or neighbourhoods Kitchener blows Waterloo out of the water - Hidden Valley, Deer Ridge, most of Westmount (the really nice streets anyways)

Is it because of the 2 Universities? I don't get it

It goes back to before the current era, when Kitchener was decidedly blue-collar (rubber and leather industries) and Waterloo white-collar (universities and insurance cos). It's left a cultural stain that's hard to wash off.

Must have snuck in after the brewery and distillery closed down in Waterloo.  The smell kept people grounded, I guess.

[nms]

The smart thing to do would be to amalgamate and operate this place like one big city, because it is one big city. The vague borders you can't see and out of touch ideas of identity/place is absolutely meaningless and obsolete. It's why nothing gets done and you can't treat this place like a serious urban Canadian settlement.

And some new media would help too. This region has, what, 700'000 people now? A lot of them are young and/or people who have lived all over the world. Why is it that the main newspaper is still some worthless rag that mostly seems to print weekly articles getting grandma and grandpas hot takes on rapid transit and dense housing development? A couple zoomers with an iPhone can do better journalism than the nonsense The Record of 570 News offers.

There are at least ten different media outlets that serve Waterloo Region in a local capacity. The local market for subscription print media is largely spent on publications based outside of Waterloo Region (Globe and Mail & Toronto Star) or even out of the country (New York Times, and pretty much every other news outlet that operates on a subscription model). That being said, some of those local outlets are mere shells of what they used to be and owned or controlled by companies outside of the Region (looking at you CTV née CKCO, or The Record)

If you think that it's easy enough to start another news outlet in this market, go for it. The Record is the final print survivor of a handful of publications that started over a century ago when each community had its own newspaper, financed by local businesses and subscribers who paid for either subscriptions or advertising.

[MidTowner]

Hahah this is very true - I have so many examples of Waterloo people getting offended if you label them as being from Kitchener or falsely stating they live in Waterloo when in fact they live in Kitchener etc.

I never understood that, in terms of high-end streets or neighbourhoods Kitchener blows Waterloo out of the water - Hidden Valley, Deer Ridge, most of Westmount (the really nice streets anyways)

Is it because of the 2 Universities? I don't get it

I find those attitudes to be more prevalent among folks who aren't born and raised in K-W.

This has been my experience to a great extent, too. I live within a couple of blocks of the municipal boundary, it's meaningless to most of my neighbours. It's only recent arrivals who think it matters that their address is Waterloo, or who bang on about being able to have fire pits or whatever. Longtime residents have no sense of it in their day-to-day.

I do think it's lunacy to keep these two cities politically divided when they are so completely integrated in every other day.

[Rainrider22]

Merge Kitchener and Waterloo, name it Kitchener. The region remains Waterloo Region. You have name brand for the whole region, and name brand for Kitchener. Universities are advertised as Waterloo Region giving strength to the whole region as a place to come to....