11-27-2020, 07:47 PM
(11-27-2020, 05:52 PM)ac3r Wrote: We said that exact same thing 5 years ago though, lol. Eaton's Lofts was going revitalize everything, then Kaufman Lofts, then the UW Pharmacy campus, then the Arrow Lofts, then City Centre, then Google etc etc etc. Besides some condos that maybe 0.5% of the population could ever dream of affording, an LRT that barely manages to carry 25'000 people a day and some bike lanes and shiny bollards...downtown Kitchener hasn't changed one bit (nor uptown for that matter).As a "planner" in the community what have your contributions been in the last 10 years?
It has nothing to do with how many people live downtown, it has everything to do with what there is to do downtown - especially after 5PM. There's a couple dive bars and hipster bars, I guess, but not much else. Where are the music venues? Art galleries? Truly unique restaurants? Movie theatres (preferably at least one that doesn't show Hollywood or film festival garbage)? Theatres for plays? Performance art venues? Comedy venues? Is there anything in the parks besides goose shit and discarded syringes? Are there things to draw people of all classes - not just yuppies who can afford 40 dollar steaks, cocktails and thousands of dollars in living expenses per month - downtown? Not really. Considering how much I am involved in the community as an architect and planner, the general consensus I hear about downtown/uptown is that...yeah things have changed, but not in any really meaningful way.