In my experience in architecture, it's getting approval to do anything that really slow things down. You've got to put up with the City of Waterloo and their hyper-conservative vision of the city, then if you're lucky enough to get approval for a project, you then need to deal with NIMBYs that come out in force to stop any change. When I was working for Teeple Architects we ran into a lot of walls while doing the Stephen Hawking Centre at the Perimeter Institute and that was not exactly a controversial project in any way. Boomers just can't get over the this belief that uptown Waterloo is and always shall be this quaint, tiny urban area with a small town feel.
In contrast, Kitchener is doing all they can to encourage new development and they are not afraid to push the boundaries of what has traditionally been built downtown, from pedestrian street zones, a massive new train station, cultural venues to 40-50 floor skyscrapers. Kitchener knows it is becoming a large and significant Canadian city that needs to evolve and we aren't afraid of embracing that.
In contrast, Kitchener is doing all they can to encourage new development and they are not afraid to push the boundaries of what has traditionally been built downtown, from pedestrian street zones, a massive new train station, cultural venues to 40-50 floor skyscrapers. Kitchener knows it is becoming a large and significant Canadian city that needs to evolve and we aren't afraid of embracing that.