WATERLOO REGION | Construction and Development Thread

[JuelzJones]

The construction boom is pretty insane in the city at the moment. Over the next few years Kitchener will have a pretty decent skyline going on. I'm in the construction de-watering business and 2 years ago 70% of our jobs were in Toronto...with the rest being in Mississauga, Oshawa, Vaughan, KW, London etc...

Now, over the past year Kitchener-Waterloo has overtaken Toronto as far as our company goes which has never happened before. DTK condos is under construction in the downtown core and will be 419 feet, the tallest in the city. Looking forward to seeing what the skyline will look like in 2023.

[GreatTallNorth2]

Originally Posted by JuelzJones

The construction boom is pretty insane in the city at the moment. Over the next few years Kitchener will have a pretty decent skyline going on. I'm in the construction de-watering business and 2 years ago 70% of our jobs were in Toronto...with the rest being in Mississauga, Oshawa, Vaughan, KW, London etc...

Now, over the past year Kitchener-Waterloo has overtaken Toronto as far as our company goes which has never happened before. DTK condos is under construction in the downtown core and will be 419 feet, the tallest in the city. Looking forward to seeing what the skyline will look like in 2023.

Never heard of the place.

[ericmacm]

I think it probably is time. Ironically enough, I can't really say I know much about what's going on in KW at all because there really isn't a dedicated forum section for it. Clearly we are missing out and will continue to miss out.

The same goes for Windsor. There are some related threads, but things are really starting to pick up now, much moreso than ever before. We just had 2 pretty significant redevelopment projects surface in the last couple of weeks, along with a whole slew of new dense residential and infrastructure construction happening, including the Gordie Howe Bridge. I'd like to see a Windsor subsection as sort of a catch-all for Windsor, Essex County, Chatham, and Sarnia. These areas really don't get much in the way of representation on any forum.

[koops65]

I would like to see the return of the KW section...

[kwoldtimer]

If it happens, it should include Cambridge. So, “K-C-W” or Region of Waterloo.

[Pinus]

This should be in the Ontario forum as it is not of national significance.

[JuelzJones]

Originally Posted by kwoldtimer

If it happens, it should include Cambridge. So, “K-C-W” or Region of Waterloo.

Well i wouldn’t agree with that. Cambridge has absolutely nothing to show for a skyline. Plus, there is absolutely nothing to do in Cambridge either, what a boring city...just sayin’.

[JuelzJones]

Z

[TownGuy]

Cambridge might as well be Shelbyville, eh?

[WhipperSnapper]

It doesn't need its own sub forum. Start a development thread in the Ontario section if you want. WaterlooRegionConnected.com covers everything a local sub forum would. There are few exceptions when an SSP forum competes with an offsite dedicated forum.

[DavefromSt.Vital]

I agree that KWC should have its own subforum. THe CMA is now bigger than London's CMA and London has its own subforum.

I also agree that there are a ton of projects going on in the area.

[Djeffery]

Originally Posted by WhipperSnapper

It doesn't need its own sub forum. Start a development thread in the Ontario section if you want. WaterlooRegionConnected.com covers everything a local sub forum would. There are few exceptions when an SSP forum competes with an offsite dedicated forum.

Might as well get rid of the Toronto sub forum then. Hardly any discussion happens there at all. Even the views suck. Right now there are 10 looking at London, 44 looking at Hamilton, 85 at Ottawa (whose forum should only be called Ottawa, not Ottawa-Gatineau, this is an Ontario forum after all, but I digress) and 3 looking at Toronto.

[Mr.bond]

Originally Posted by Pinus

This should be in the Ontario forum as it is not of national significance.

I am sorry but how does London have any significant "national importance" technically the Hamilton isn't anymore significant than K-W other than the fact they happen to have a CFL team. The region has technically already surpassed both those cities in terms of populations.

I think after Toronto and Ottawa, Kitchener-Waterloo has the most developments going on in Ontario. They may not be to the same scale as the suburbs of Toronto, but there is a lot going on there at the moment.

I disagree with whippersnapper, just because the people of K-W are passionate enough about development that they started their own forum doesn't mean the rest of Canada wouldn't like to see what is happening in the region. If anything it proves that K-W-C deserves their own sub-forum.

[DavefromSt.Vital]

Rode ION for the first time a few weeks ago. All generally went well going from Fairway to Conestoga and back.

One question though. Fairway has two platforms with one payment machine on each. The one on the in-use north side would not take credit cards temporarily so you either had to hop over to the other side or pay cash. A line formed as it was slow going with people purchasing fares. Why not put in a second machine given that it is (and will be for at least a number of years) a terminal station with a major parking area?

[Lugnut]

I would absolutely like to see more payment machines. GRT could easily look at the numbers and see what stations have the highest traffic and install them there.

[Dengler Avenue]

I’m still salty that the negotiation to implement Presto card failed completely... It could have been so much more convenient.

I invested in a bus pass in August, and it wasn’t worthwhile for me.

[DavefromSt.Vital]

Given that GO Transit serves Kitchener I thought that Presto would have been a no-brainer. Why was it not adopted?

Also, apart from having to line up for the payment machine on the platform, we also noticed that there was no option to pay onboard. Transit inspectors boarded the train part way along the journey and walked several people who had not paid to the payment machine at Conestoga.

[koops65]

Photos of the progress of both DTK and Charlie are more than welcome...

[Dengler Avenue]

Originally Posted by DavefromSt.Vital

Given that GO Transit serves Kitchener I thought that Presto would have been a no-brainer. Why was it not adopted?

Also, apart from having to line up for the payment machine on the platform, we also noticed that there was no option to pay onboard. Transit inspectors boarded the train part way along the journey and walked several people who had not paid to the payment machine at Conestoga.

I would have never seen myself this antagonistic to changes.

What ticks me off the most is that the city just converted a lot of right turn lanes into bike lanes around the university area, where right-turning vehicles can really jam the traffic. I might end up avoiding the area altogether as a result (though I live right in it lol). Right now I’m already avoiding King Street below Columbia Street.

To me, I’m more like, “Don’t convert car lanes to bike lanes when transit is still crap. You don’t force people to ditch cars this way. You just encourage more aggressive (or even egregious) driving behaviour.” Maybe I’m salty only because I can’t bike.

Also IMO something is wrong with transit if you can’t maintain 15 minutes frequency on University Avenue from Weber Street to Westmount Road.

That is not to say all is crap though. At least, besides the obvious ION, which makes service to Cambridge frequent even on Sundays too, we have seen improvement like maintaining 15-minute headway for UW routes during rush hour even in summer.

[memph]

I don't live in Waterloo anymore but I used to a few years ago and still visit semi-regularly. The amount of development around the universities is pretty wild. We're seeing an entire suburban SFH neighbourhood get redeveloped into midrise and highrise apartments. How often do you see suburban side-splits at the end of a cul de sac get torn down for a midrise apartment building?