Quote:
Originally Posted by MolsonExport
without a huge world-beating firm like RIM, KW looks an awful lot like London (without a significant downtown, that is): Heathcare, Education, some manufacturing, farming-related industries. Plus some commuter living, which we don't have here on account of our distance from the centre of the universe.
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As a born-and-raised Londoner who was displaced to KW (only place I could find a job), I have to disagree with this entirely.
KW’s tech sector is thriving, even with RIM’s decline. There are a number of medium-sized older players (like Open Text, Christie, those types) that employ hundreds, and a huge number of new entries.
The idea that KW does not have a significant downtown is incorrect: it has two that are individually thriving more than London’s. Ion (the LRT) will connect them both with the universities in a little over three years. Kitchener’s downtown in particular has turned a corner and has attracted a lot of new jobs and residents- and great new developments- in the last five years and longer.
Unfortunately, London is not going to catch back up with KW in terms of population. The metaphor of London’s economy chugging along like a Corolla may actually be slightly optimistic…
Oh, and as for Ikea: I’ve heard that Woodstock area has been planned in the past (somewhere near 401/403) to serve London,KW, and Brantford. Neither London nor KW have sufficient population on their own, but apparently a store located between the two can make sense (I’ll try to find a link).