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(05-24-2023, 02:49 PM)SF22 Wrote: (05-24-2023, 01:46 PM)Chris Wrote: I know I'm living in a dream world here but if the city and region want more parkland, tear down the old transit terminal and sod it over. Use some of the space for a community centre or similar. Gain some more park space as you keep adding thousands of condo residents to the core.
I'd pitched this idea to my ward councillor and also on a couple of the Engage Kitchener surveys, but we need to scrap the surface parking lot at Ahrens beside the KPL. There's a whole underground parking garage now, and that whole area could get reutilized into expanding the Civic Centre Park with a basketball court and/or a mini splashpad to service the NE end of downtown (to balance the splashpad in Victoria Park, which is often very busy in the summers). You could double the size of the existing park and make it a larger draw for downtown residents, especially those who will move into 20 Queen, 10 Duke, Civic 66 and The Scott. The city already owns the land, it just needs to happen!
I thought that site was earmarked for a cultural facility of some sort. That would probably be years off, however, so an expanded park would seem a good idea, at least in the interim.
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05-26-2023, 08:57 AM
(This post was last modified: 05-26-2023, 08:57 AM by SF22.)
(05-25-2023, 04:48 PM)Lens Wrote: (05-24-2023, 02:49 PM)SF22 Wrote: I'd pitched this idea to my ward councillor and also on a couple of the Engage Kitchener surveys, but we need to scrap the surface parking lot at Ahrens beside the KPL. There's a whole underground parking garage now, and that whole area could get reutilized into expanding the Civic Centre Park with a basketball court and/or a mini splashpad to service the NE end of downtown (to balance the splashpad in Victoria Park, which is often very busy in the summers). You could double the size of the existing park and make it a larger draw for downtown residents, especially those who will move into 20 Queen, 10 Duke, Civic 66 and The Scott. The city already owns the land, it just needs to happen!
The city/region already had done 3ish different designs for a park on this patch 6-7 years ago. No idea why they're clinging to 30 parking spaces vs an excellent urban park
YES I knew I'd seen plans for that before! I stumbled across the drawings once and have never managed to find them again. But honestly, I figured once they put the underground garage in, that surface lot would be short-lived. Shows what I know.
It feels like such a logical location for more greenspace - it's already near other major public draws (the KPL and CITS), and instead of starting a new park from scratch, they could expand an existing one to create a much larger space. It's a block or two away from the heart of downtown, much like Victoria Park. It should be such a gimme, and it's such a shame they're just sitting on it.
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Something is brewing at 93 Benton, dots on the dev map indicate a zone change is coming. Was this JD developments land they purchased for big money a few years ago?
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(05-31-2023, 09:58 AM)Lebronj23 Wrote: Something is brewing at 93 Benton, dots on the dev map indicate a zone change is coming. Was this JD developments land they purchased for big money a few years ago?
93 Benton is owned by Vive last time I checked. The property that JD Developments purchased is the corner of Benton and Church so this might be another Vive Project.
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Yeah I think that's a Vive property. I thought they only recently renovated those rowhouses though? Unless they only painted them.
I'm mostly okay with Vive (though many here seem to hate them) just because they are putting so many new units on the market. But they own sooooo much property and have like 10+ projects either proposed or approved but only a few have started.
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(05-31-2023, 09:58 AM)Lebronj23 Wrote: Something is brewing at 93 Benton, dots on the dev map indicate a zone change is coming. Was this JD developments land they purchased for big money a few years ago?
I think that place has been renovated twice since I lived in Kitchener. I looked at an apartment there years ago when I was apartment hunting, and it had just been renovated, and it seems to have been renovated again just a few years ago.
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The latest exterior renovation has them looking better than they ever have, istm. Bit of a shame if we're going to lose them.
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This change will be for the older house (split into units) on the property, not the rowhouses
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(05-31-2023, 10:56 AM)ac3r Wrote: Yeah I think that's a Vive property. I thought they only recently renovated those rowhouses though? Unless they only painted them.
IIRC the tenants were renovicted (but I can't remember where I heard that, so...), so it must have been more than just paint.
I think it would be a shame for this perfectly fine building to be redeveloped when there is a burnt down building on one side and empty lots on the other side. I get it's more complicated than that, but it seems like there are incentive issues.
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(05-31-2023, 08:27 PM)Lens Wrote: This change will be for the older house (split into units) on the property, not the rowhouses
Good!
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If we start seeing more density on the other side of Borden, it really does have the potential to be a massive transformation if the regional could go with the likes of Dan B's proposal to add cycling facilities, expand sidewalks and do some street greening. Its such a huge right of way and could be a whole different paradigm connecting that denser area to downtown and the LRT.
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(06-01-2023, 08:56 PM)cherrypark Wrote: If we start seeing more density on the other side of Borden, it really does have the potential to be a massive transformation if the regional could go with the likes of Dan B's proposal to add cycling facilities, expand sidewalks and do some street greening. Its such a huge right of way and could be a whole different paradigm connecting that denser area to downtown and the LRT.
You would hope, but that might bring out the people complaining that the street needs to remain wide in order to the accommodate traffic from denser developments. At least right now it's so incredibly obvious what a waste of space the street is, that I'm sure hardly anyone would be bothered to oppose Dan's proposal.
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Committee of Adjustment Meeting - Tuesday, June 20, 2023
The committee will be dealing with applications for Minor Variance and/or Consent.
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06-02-2023, 12:34 PM
(This post was last modified: 06-02-2023, 01:36 PM by SF22.)
(06-01-2023, 08:56 PM)cherrypark Wrote: If we start seeing more density on the other side of Borden, it really does have the potential to be a massive transformation if the regional could go with the likes of Dan B's proposal to add cycling facilities, expand sidewalks and do some street greening. Its such a huge right of way and could be a whole different paradigm connecting that denser area to downtown and the LRT.
I know that the region is supposed to be looking at Frederick between Lancaster/Duke starting sometime this year re: a road diet and separated bike lanes. I have my fingers crossed that the rest of Benton/Frederick will follow shortly afterward. There is a huge opportunity for great active transit infrastructure and lots of trees to help with the city's push for a denser tree canopy. It would look and feel absolutely amazing.
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