The Barrel Yards | 25 fl | U/C

[tomh009]

Barrelyards was designed as a luxury suburban community which happens to be in high rise buildings in the middle of the city. This is the problem when one developer buys a huge piece of land and develops it all by themselves, instead of severing and selling smaller pieces for smaller individual buildings that become part of the urban fabric. Keep in mind that what we see being built at the Barrelyards now is the product of a planning vision from 15 to 20 years ago when the city was trying to get someone to develop the land. Another problem with huge master planned developments - that the planning and construction world take so long that when the projects are finished they reflect a different era of design and urbanism.

Yes, I think that's pretty much it and why it has come to pass.  My fear is that the Schneider lands redevelopment may be a comparable missed opportunity for similar reasons.

Schneiders will have a far broader mix of developments, and include significant retail space. One key difference is that the City of Kitchener has been providing direction on what they want to see. My impression is that Waterloo was not pushing very hard for mixed development, or a mix of housing price ranges at Barrel Yards.