General Urban Kitchener Updates and Rumours

[tomh009]

I'm afraid that even then it won't be enough, judging from other urban examples. We are going from 0 buildings to 1 (Kaufman) to 3 (Kaufman+One Victoria+City Centre) so while the increase sounds like a lot, density is still extremely low in that area as far as downtown urban districts are concerned. We will need the other City Centre tower as well as the two towers in One Hundred Victoria before we start seeing critical mass. The transit hub will help a lot as the fact that a trip to downtown will be a breeze away when the LRT is in place. Then we'll see a clear pickup.

I don't know whether this quoted by accident or intentionally, but it is from seven years ago. Coincidentally, just about the same time that we moved to DTK. That started me thinking, what has changed since then?

• Three new towers at 100 Victoria/Garment St, plus the Glove Box
  
• Two towers at Station Park, and two at City Centre
  
• One Victoria, Charlie West, DTK Condos, Barra Condos, Otis
  
• Market Flats, The Bow, Ophelia, 66 Civic, The Scott, 169 Borden Ave
  
• Mayfair Hotel rebuild, 323 King St W, 50Q renovation, Google phase 3, LCBO building
  
• Old regional courthouse renovation, provincial courthouse renovation (that one still in progress)
  

And also ...

• LRT started operation
  
• Zehr Square redesign
  
• Bicycling grid well under way
  
• Iron Horse Trail widened and (well!) lit
  
• Delta St turned into a trail
  
• Gaukel St turned pedestrian only
  
• Shoemaker Creek renaturalized
  

And then ...

• Conestoga College brought hundreds of students to downtown
  
• More than a dozen pot shops opened, outnumbered only by coffee/espresso shops
  
• Two new non-AYCE sushi restaurants, three legit Indian restaurants
  
• Marche Leo's brought an urban grocery (if not a cheap one) to the core, and a plant-based urban supermarket is about to open 
  
• Innovative/niche retail (such as Rose Cafe and Goldie's Convenience) have opened
  
• GO frequencies have improved (after a dip during the pandemic)
  
• Urban speed limits have been reduced to 40 km/h
  

But also ...

• The pandemic hit
  
• GRT hub closed, reopened for COVID testing, and then closed again
  
• Many companies staying either fully or partly remote, reducing daytime population downtown
  
• Housing prices rose rapidly, and fell back only slightly
  
• The homeless are at least more visible and possibly much greater in number, with two encampments in the downtown core
  
• A Better Tent City opened -- and moved twice
  
• Tiny House Kitchen offering high-quality "pay what you can" meals
  
• Multiple housing options have opened to help the homeless -- but much more affordable housing is needed
  
• A safe injection site opened on Duke St, reducing harm but making addicted people more visible
  

Overall, it's a lot of changes. And mostly for the better, I think. Hopefully we can continue to build on all that's good, while addressing the issues we have this city will be a very good place to live. At least for us, personally -- everyone else's mileage will vary, of course, depending on your personal priorities.