King-Victoria Transit Hub

[mastermind]

I'm of the opinion that the "plaza" here is a wasted space. Not necessarily any plaza, but THIS particular plaza. It's the kind of thing architects draw on paper and will look cool from a drone, but has no real function. I think all pedestrian traffic will be between the building and the LRT stop, and then maybe from the LRT stop to the corner of King/Victoria. Who needs to walk out into that vast expanse of nothingness, and for what purpose?

I think they should block out that portion of land and put it up for sale, let a private developer put a mixed use tower up there.

[plam]

I'm of the opinion that the "plaza" here is a wasted space.  Not necessarily any plaza, but THIS particular plaza.  It's the kind of thing architects draw on paper and will look cool from a drone, but has no real function.  I think all pedestrian traffic will be between the building and the LRT stop, and then maybe from the LRT stop to the corner of King/Victoria.  Who needs to walk out into that vast expanse of nothingness, and for what purpose?

I think they should block out that portion of land and put it up for sale, let a private developer put a mixed use tower up there.

Plazas can be useful or they can be useless. The Uptown Town Square did hire a programmer a few years ago to have events at that space. I don't know about this one yet. I guess it depends on the amenities in part.

[jamincan]

King & Victoria would be a miserable intersection if they just a highrise right on the intersection. Eventually there will be some sort of development in the parking lot of the station, Station Park will be developed, the parking behind the Pharmacy building will be developed. Inevitably the U-haul will go one of these days. Peering into that future, I think we'll be grateful to have the plaza here.

[Rainrider22]

I totally agree. Dare I say, I plaza with some green space too

[tomh009]

And we just spent a lot of money redesigning and rebuilding Vogelsang Green. That was a good idea -- so why would this plaza be a bad one?

[panamaniac]

I totally agree. Dare I say, I plaza with some green space too

How about a "compromise" - a plaza at King/Victoria and green space in an expanded Francis Green? 

[dtkvictim]

As much as I dislike the shown plaza, I'm surprised all the focus is on the plaza itself. To me the much bigger issue is Victoria St itself; it's hard for me to imagine up any desirable and inviting space in the presence of that road.

[danbrotherston]

As much as I dislike the shown plaza, I'm surprised all the focus is on the plaza itself. To me the much bigger issue is Victoria St itself; it's hard for me to imagine up any desirable and inviting space in the presence of that road.

Do you mean because of the existing uses (empty factory building, blank condo wall, university entrance, and retail on one corner), or the planned uses (plaza and parking lot/bus loop), or the nature of it being a noisy four lane traffic sewer?

I can see both sides, I'm not an urban planner though, so I cannot evaluate well which aspects would have to change for it to be successful.

[dtkvictim]

or the nature of it being a noisy four lane traffic sewer?

This one. The presence of heavy motor traffic is antithetical to creating a place I would want to spend any time in.

[danbrotherston]

or the nature of it being a noisy four lane traffic sewer?

This one. The presence of heavy motor traffic is antithetical to creating a place I would want to spend any time in.

Yeah, I mean, I'm certainly not going to disagree with that one.

[tomh009]

or the nature of it being a noisy four lane traffic sewer?

This one. The presence of heavy motor traffic is antithetical to creating a place I would want to spend any time in.

Many people happily sit on the patio at Smile Tiger. It's not much further away from Victoria St -- and certainly the traffic noise will not be appreciably different.

So, maybe different people have different levels of tolerance to traffic noise.

[danbrotherston]

This one. The presence of heavy motor traffic is antithetical to creating a place I would want to spend any time in.

Many people happily sit on the patio at Smile Tiger. It's not much further away from Victoria St -- and certainly the traffic noise will not be appreciably different.

So, maybe different people have different levels of tolerance to traffic noise.

I mean, the patio at Smile Tiger is about as far from Victoria as the plaza would be in size...so most of the plaza would be closer to the road than Smile Tiger.  Their patio is also partially behind another building, so it doesn't really face onto Victoria.

That being said, their patio faces onto a parking lot, it doesn't really look that pleasant to me, but given that it's attached to a restaurant there's a captive audience...something that doesn't exist in the plaza....that would be one of the ways that you could overcome the traffic noise, would be having destinations to attract people.

[Acitta]

You are invited to a Zoom webinar.
When: Dec 3, 2020 06:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Topic: King Victoria Transit Hub - Virtual Public Meeting

https://www.engagewr.ca/king-victoria-transit-hub

[Rainrider22]

You are invited to a Zoom webinar.
When: Dec 3, 2020 06:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Topic: King Victoria Transit Hub - Virtual Public Meeting

https://www.engagewr.ca/king-victoria-transit-hub

Thank you !

[Acitta]

A new multi-million-dollar transit hub planned for downtown Kitchener is expected to transform how we get around Waterloo Region, and now residents can see what it will look like.

Engage Waterloo Region released a virtual tour that allows viewers to explore the hub that will be located at King and Victoria Streets.

Virtual tour of Waterloo Region's multi-million-dollar transit hub