General Urban Kitchener Updates and Rumours

[tomh009]

I'm a bit surprised but there are actually at least six cranes visible from DTK at the moment.

• 3x Metz
  
• 1x Eureka
  
• 1x Knossos
  
• 1x Courtland/Benton
  

Maybe there are some more that I have missed?

[ZEBuilder]

I'm a bit surprised but there are actually at least six cranes visible from DTK at the moment.

• 3x Metz
  
• 1x Eureka
  
• 1x Knossos
  
• 1x Courtland/Benton
  

Maybe there are some more that I have missed?

There's also the 63 Charles project, there will be Vive's CTV site as well in a few months.

[Momo26]

If every city in Canada and the US have the exact same financial story as us, it’s a bit bigger than just ”mismanagement”.

The fundamentals have been broken for a long time and bills from all those liabilities are finally coming due, right in time for the younger generations to shoulder the burden and get nothing for it.

It is mismanagement in a sense… but our politicians are just doing what the average voter likes: kicking the can down the road.

It's also NZ. "Rates" (municipal taxes) have been going up in the past few years and some people are mad about that, but it's also that the water infrastructure is falling apart. Also the NZ central government cancelled a thing that would have let cities borrow at better rates (because there would be co-governance with Maori under that plan) and so the rates are going to go up even more.

And yet, Wellington this coming summer is not panicking about potentially running out of water, because the pipes have been fixed to some extent, unlike in the past few years. (Oh, and the mayor was not an old white man, coincidentally.)

What's the connection to his race and age exactly? You're mentioning because he is old (and anglo) but still able to see past his own lifetime?


Whether technically "subsidized" or not, there can be improvements. (Just the concept of taxation on ownership of property itself is ridiculous but im not here to get philosophical... (we pay tax on labour after all so there's  a lot to discuss)).

In any event, look at cities like Oakville, Richmond Hill...clean, prestine, with amazing community centre's, public spaces, more trails. I've experienced it. And their property taxes are much lower than ours as  % of house values. 

I haven't been subsidized ... I've been subsidizing many others though.

[Kodra24]

It's also NZ. "Rates" (municipal taxes) have been going up in the past few years and some people are mad about that, but it's also that the water infrastructure is falling apart. Also the NZ central government cancelled a thing that would have let cities borrow at better rates (because there would be co-governance with Maori under that plan) and so the rates are going to go up even more.

And yet, Wellington this coming summer is not panicking about potentially running out of water, because the pipes have been fixed to some extent, unlike in the past few years. (Oh, and the mayor was not an old white man, coincidentally.)

What's the connection to his race and age exactly? You're mentioning because he is old (and anglo) but still able to see past his own lifetime?


Whether technically "subsidized" or not, there can be improvements. (Just the concept of taxation on ownership of property itself is ridiculous but im not here to get philosophical... (we pay tax on labour after all so there's  a lot to discuss)).

In any event, look at cities like Oakville, Richmond Hill...clean, prestine, with amazing community centre's, public spaces, more trails. I've experienced it. And their property taxes are much lower than ours as  % of house values. 

I haven't been subsidized ... I've been subsidizing many others though.

Be careful, this kind of talk might get you banned around here, please pay your fair share

[danbrotherston]

What's the connection to his race and age exactly? You're mentioning because he is old (and anglo) but still able to see past his own lifetime?


Whether technically "subsidized" or not, there can be improvements. (Just the concept of taxation on ownership of property itself is ridiculous but im not here to get philosophical... (we pay tax on labour after all so there's  a lot to discuss)).

In any event, look at cities like Oakville, Richmond Hill...clean, prestine, with amazing community centre's, public spaces, more trails. I've experienced it. And their property taxes are much lower than ours as  % of house values. 

I haven't been subsidized ... I've been subsidizing many others though.

Be careful, this kind of talk might get you banned around here, please pay your fair share

Literally nobody has been banned here, even for dehumanising people in our community by calling them vermin.

But feel free to keep crying about imaginary things.

[ac3r]

Be careful, this kind of talk might get you banned around here, please pay your fair share

Literally nobody has been banned here, even for dehumanising people in our community by calling them vermin.

But feel free to keep crying about imaginary things.

Actually some of you guys once did accused me of being extremely homophobic for posting a meme (made by a gay architect) about NIMBYs and then begged to have me banned because you interpreted it as being hateful towards gays, which then was reluctantly given to me for a couple days to calm you down.

It's true the forum doesn't really ban for anything besides spam. But people got "banned" in different way because while there used to be a plurality of voices here from all sorts of different points of view/different sides, those who don't share the liberal progressive pro-urbanism status quo would always get told they're wrong and stopped posting. With the exception of a couple people, it's now mostly just a small group that agree with each other on everything. It's too bad because it started off great and could have grown into a really big forum with a significant presence on social media - especially now that the region has grown so much - but the vibe of the community just became a bit off putting to newbies.

[Rainrider22]

Nailed it..

[tomh009]

In any event, look at cities like Oakville, Richmond Hill...clean, prestine, with amazing community centre's, public spaces, more trails. I've experienced it. And their property taxes are much lower than ours as  % of house values. 

Percentage of assessed value is not really a fair comparison point across two very different municipalities. The two cities both need operations funding, and the primary source of that is property taxes. The rates are set so as to generate enough tax revenue for the municipality's needs. If the municipality benefits/suffers (your choice) from very high property values, the tax rates can be lower (as a percentage of assessed value) and the municipality can still have a sufficient tax base. As a result, poorer municipalities, with low property prices, will often have higher tax rates--although the amount of tax paid per taxpayer might still be less.

[ac3r]

The old unsafe injection site is finally shuttered and up for sale. It would be a great place for a 8-10 floor midrise building. Hopefully someone will try to build something new because that existing building is ugly.

[creative]

You spend a lot of time in this “shit-hole downtown” for someone who doesn’t even live here!

[ac3r]

I'm in the region maybe twice a month?

[ac3r]

I'm not 100% sure what development this is referencing, but this was buried away in a spreadsheet dated November 3rd 2025. It doesn't list the actual address and I can't figure out which project it is referring to since I don't know of any on Courtland with a 36 floor tower, but yeah...

Phase 1 of the overall development  consisting of 600 dwelling units within a 36-storey tower on a five (5) storey podium with 341 one-bedroom units and 259 two-bedroom units  with eight (8) convertible residential / commercial suites facing Courtland Avenue. Phase 1 represents the initial stage of a five-phase comprehensive mixed-use development proposed for the subject lands  as per the conceptual master plan.

[ZEBuilder]

I'm not 100% sure what development this is referencing, but this was buried away in a spreadsheet dated November 3rd 2025. It doesn't list the actual address and I can't figure out which project it is referring to since I don't know of any on Courtland with a 36 floor tower, but yeah...

Phase 1 of the overall development  consisting of 600 dwelling units within a 36-storey tower on a five (5) storey podium with 341 one-bedroom units and 259 two-bedroom units  with eight (8) convertible residential / commercial suites facing Courtland Avenue. Phase 1 represents the initial stage of a five-phase comprehensive mixed-use development proposed for the subject lands  as per the conceptual master plan.

Vive site behind Block Line station.

[Acitta]

I'm not 100% sure what development this is referencing, but this was buried away in a spreadsheet dated November 3rd 2025. It doesn't list the actual address and I can't figure out which project it is referring to since I don't know of any on Courtland with a 36 floor tower, but yeah...

Phase 1 of the overall development  consisting of 600 dwelling units within a 36-storey tower on a five (5) storey podium with 341 one-bedroom units and 259 two-bedroom units  with eight (8) convertible residential / commercial suites facing Courtland Avenue. Phase 1 represents the initial stage of a five-phase comprehensive mixed-use development proposed for the subject lands  as per the conceptual master plan.

I plugged the text into Google search and AI said "808 and 836 Courtland Avenue East"

[Acitta]

I'm not 100% sure what development this is referencing, but this was buried away in a spreadsheet dated November 3rd 2025. It doesn't list the actual address and I can't figure out which project it is referring to since I don't know of any on Courtland with a 36 floor tower, but yeah...

I plugged the text into Google search and AI said "808 and 836 Courtland Avenue East"

808 and 836 Courtland Avenue East