General Urban Kitchener Updates and Rumours

[dtkvictim]

Definitely not my experience regarding food hours, but looking through Google maps it seems you're more right than I thought. I guess I just don't patronize the places you're describing. Yet downtown seems to be much busier doing workdays, and honestly is a bit of a ghost town at night considering the number of people who live here. This weekend I was looking for some late night food with friends and the options felt limited, and they commented on how depressing and dead downtown was. I don't go uptown terribly often, so my view isn't as nuanced I'm sure, but every time I'm there I'm shocked at the number of people out and about. It feels like on any given evening there are 10x as many people on the uptown streets vs downtown (20x if you discount the homeless), and the overall vibe is so much more positive and lively.

There are many more people in DTK in the evenings now (not late-late, we definitely don't have a nightlife kind of downtown) since COVID, the new buildings and the DTK patio program. More restaurants (and bars) are opening, and still more people are moving downtown, so I don't know that it'll be dead, at least not at 7 or 8 PM. If the target time is midnight, though, this is not your town.

As for Waterloo, I was chatting with a Waterloo resident at the Waterloo Jazz festival a few weeks back, and he was insistent that there is a much better selection of restaurants in downtown Kitchener (barring "fine dining", as he said) than in Waterloo. The grass is greener on the other side of the fence?

Definitely, more people moving downtown will result in more people outside, but

1. I don't think it has recovered to pre-pandemic levels, despite quite a few people moving in during that time. Other North American downtowns also haven't recovered, and I'm talking about ones with significantly more draw than DTK
   
2. Regardless of any growth in activity, in absolute terms I still think street activity is very low for the population of the city, and the population of downtown (with certain exceptions like Victoria Park, or during events with a suburban draw).
   

My comparison to Waterloo wasn't about food quality, but about the number of people out on the streets (voluntarily) and the overall atmosphere. By sunset it often feels like the people you see downtown are only on the street because it's the route to their destination, yet uptown seems to have way more people on the street just chatting, eating, dancing/skating in the public square, etc. I'm not really remotely interested in nightlife, I just prefer to be in a place where people are outside enjoying themselves and the atmosphere is positive.

Though to comment on the food, I get their point even though I disagree. I eat out downtown a fair bit, but if I'm eating out I prefer the international and student focused food you find in Waterloo since I can't make most of it myself. But if you don't like that, downtown definitely has the best options (beating out the suburbs by quite a bit).

[nms]

I was in Uptown Waterloo post Jazz Festival on the Saturday evening and anecdotally, King St south of Erb was fairly quiet (despite the Festival just wrapping up), while King St north of Erb was positively hopping. That being said, some establishments north of Erb had line-ups around the block, while others were busy but had no line-ups, and some were closed. Cruising up and down King, either on foot or by car, was also alive and well as a 100+ year tradition. In the 10-15 minutes that I happened to be watching the world go by, I watched several of the same groups or cars head north and then return south.

[tomh009]

We almost always eat Asian or Caribbean food when eating at restaurants (even though we cook a lot of that at home, too) and we're pretty happy with the restaurant selection downtown, especially with the Indian options that have opened up more recently. I don't feel that central Waterloo has an edge in that area (even if Thai Sun is nice) but I'm also not including the university area student eateries--we wouldn't be venturing out that far if we lived in Waterloo, either. Am also happy with the impending arrival of Casa Toro. I won't say DTK is "better" but it does work for us.

But to each his/her/their own, everyone will have different priorities ...

[dtkvictim]

We almost always eat Asian or Caribbean food when eating at restaurants (even though we cook a lot of that at home, too) and we're pretty happy with the restaurant selection downtown, especially with the Indian options that have opened up more recently. I don't feel that central Waterloo has an edge in that area (even if Thai Sun is nice) but I'm also not including the university area student eateries--we wouldn't be venturing out that far if we lived in Waterloo, either. Am also happy with the impending arrival of Casa Toro. I won't say DTK is "better" but it does work for us.

But to each his/her/their own, everyone will have different priorities ...

Yeah, to clarify, I don't think you can go wrong either way. Both (plus the university, which I was sort of counting) have a solid selection of food. And I do eat downtown more often, since it's where I live.

[SF22]

Do any of you register to see floorplans for new builds, if they don't post them directly on the website? And if so, how do you keep them from absolutely spamming you about the site? (I'm thinking a separate email). I have zero interest in actually buying a condo, but I am always so curious to see what floorplans they've put together.

[danbrotherston]

Do any of you register to see floorplans for new builds, if they don't post them directly on the website? And if so, how do you keep them from absolutely spamming you about the site? (I'm thinking a separate email). I have zero interest in actually buying a condo, but I am always so curious to see what floorplans they've put together.

You can always use a fake email...as long as the site only wants to collect email addresses. If they actually want to email them to you can use a temporary or throw away email address, there are many providers: https://www.ecosia.org/search?q=temp%20t...hod=topbar

[SF22]

Do any of you register to see floorplans for new builds, if they don't post them directly on the website? And if so, how do you keep them from absolutely spamming you about the site? (I'm thinking a separate email). I have zero interest in actually buying a condo, but I am always so curious to see what floorplans they've put together.

You can always use a fake email...as long as the site only wants to collect email addresses. If they actually want to email them to you can use a temporary or throw away email address, there are many providers: https://www.ecosia.org/search?q=temp%20t...hod=topbar

Thanks!

[ac3r]

Do any of you register to see floorplans for new builds, if they don't post them directly on the website? And if so, how do you keep them from absolutely spamming you about the site? (I'm thinking a separate email). I have zero interest in actually buying a condo, but I am always so curious to see what floorplans they've put together.

Sometimes, if I can't get them through colleagues in the industry or at the cities/region or if I can't run some shell commands on their server and just pull them that way. Usually when they email you plans they will have a link to unsubscribe, so I wouldn't really worry about getting spammed. Most developers aren't going to not let you unsubscribe from their listings.

[Bytor]

Do any of you register to see floorplans for new builds, if they don't post them directly on the website? And if so, how do you keep them from absolutely spamming you about the site? (I'm thinking a separate email). I have zero interest in actually buying a condo, but I am always so curious to see what floorplans they've put together.

You can always use a fake email...as long as the site only wants to collect email addresses. If they actually want to email them to you can use a temporary or throw away email address, there are many providers: https://www.ecosia.org/search?q=temp%20t...hod=topbar

Just use the +tag functionality of SMTP email.

If you are person@example.com, just sign up with person+condo1@example.com. Once you've gotten what you want, just set up a filter to automatically move them to spam.

[danbrotherston]

You can always use a fake email...as long as the site only wants to collect email addresses. If they actually want to email them to you can use a temporary or throw away email address, there are many providers: https://www.ecosia.org/search?q=temp%20t...hod=topbar

Just use the +tag functionality of SMTP email.

If you are person@example.com, just sign up with person+condo1@example.com. Once you've gotten what you want, just set up a filter to automatically move them to spam.

I don't think this is an SMTP feature...this is a Gmail feature. It is useful, but only open to Gmail users. Also, I don't use it for temp emails, it's way too much work for that, I only use it when I want to filter emails to ensure that some org that I semi-trust doesn't start spamming or selling my email.

[SF22]

Just use the +tag functionality of SMTP email.

If you are person@example.com, just sign up with person+condo1@example.com. Once you've gotten what you want, just set up a filter to automatically move them to spam.

I don't think this is an SMTP feature...this is a Gmail feature. It is useful, but only open to Gmail users. Also, I don't use it for temp emails, it's way too much work for that, I only use it when I want to filter emails to ensure that some org that I semi-trust doesn't start spamming or selling my email.

Okay, I've at least got some ideas to look into, see what's available to me and what isn't overly complicated. Thanks everyone!

[ac3r]

Just unsubscribe once you've got what you need or make a throwaway Gmail account.

[Lebronj23]

This is an article on IN8’s current developments and strategy.

https://renx.ca/in8-niche-high-density-d...rea-cities


This part was interesting : In neighbouring Waterloo, IN8 is in the planning stage of developing six towers, ranging between 25 and 39 storeys, across a four-acre property.

[ac3r]

“In Kitchener, we build mid-40 storeys, but it’s more challenging in Guelph with the planning process."

Darryl Firsten needs to learn a thing or two about Waterloo before putting in the time and money to try and accomplish anything in that NIMBY dystopia.

[Bytor]

Just use the +tag functionality of SMTP email.

If you are person@example.com, just sign up with person+condo1@example.com. Once you've gotten what you want, just set up a filter to automatically move them to spam.

I don't think this is an SMTP feature...this is a Gmail feature. It is useful, but only open to Gmail users. Also, I don't use it for temp emails, it's way too much work for that, I only use it when I want to filter emails to ensure that some org that I semi-trust doesn't start spamming or selling my email.

It is more than just a GMail only. Hotmail/Outlook Live support it, MS Exchange supports it, my email domain hoster ForwardEmail.net supports it, Postfix has supported it since v2.11 in 2014, and many more.