General Urban Kitchener Updates and Rumours

[GtwoK]

The 9-5 hours are a real head-scratcher for me. Isn't that one of the problems with downtown Kitchener, that everyone rolls up the carpet and heads home at 5 o'clock? I like the idea in general, but unless it's for dinner hours or weekends, I'm never going to make use of it.

What it's missing is street cafe's.   Creating a patio and adding some artwork is going to fall flat - contrast this with European cities like Rome or Vienna where every little side alley has unique cafe's and restaurants to discover.  I was recently in Jakarta, and they had created a 'simulated' lane out of a long concrete walkway/hallway that entered a parking garage  - they had added everything from cobblestone to building facades - but then look up and you see the concrete beams and ceilings of a parking garage - in the simulated lane and inside the restaurants/cafes themselves.  It was amazing - we spent an entire evening at a table on the 'street' drinking wine (and it kept striking me that I was drinking in a parking garage ... but it worked!)     How do we get the adjacent owners to create retail (cafe/restaurant) space for lease - that is what will really bring the lane(s) to life.

But Smile Tiger is right there! Sure, it might not face the patio, but I doubt you're going to get TWO cafes to open up in an small alleyway that's less than 100 meters long...