General Urban Kitchener Updates and Rumours

[the_conestoga_guy]

Or the Region too. The proposed update to University makes it clear they are fine with the status quo. I just hope that Kitchener can take a lesson, though the area around Conestoga College doesn't seem much better.

Contrary to the claims here, I feel the new housing is significantly better than earlier housing. And the city has spent a significant amount of effort to improve the urban design of the area.

The region is definitely status-quoing it...(although I'll give them a little credit for protected bike lanes).

For Kitchener, yes, exactly the same thing is happening, multiple housing proposals in the area have been killed, meaning students are again going to be forced into living in converted houses.

The housing situation is actually quite dire. Many of the townhomes in the area have instituted rules than ban students. The neighbours have fought new housing developments if they’re intended for students (the retirement home barely scraped through the approval process). Plus, the city has started cracking down on the rooming houses. 

At some point, the city will need to recognize that the college is one of its greatest assets, and that it needs to approve some housing projects to support it, regardless of what neighbours say.