The Waterloo-Wellington Bloggers Association

Time For Transit Service To Breslau?

2010-03-09T19:54:23Z

The good folks at TriTAG bring to my attention this letter to the Waterloo Region Record where reader Cheri-ann Chowan expresses frustration at the lack of adequate transit service to Breslau, not to mention the lack of sidewalks along Victoria that could get a resident of Breslau to transit:

I am not the only parent in this predicament in Breslau. I know of one family that bought a house in Breslau and less than a year later sold their house because of the lack of transit for their teens. What happens to families in Breslau that cannot afford a vehicle? How would they potentially get to a job, doctors, and other very vital everyday life events?

(link)

When public transit was moved from the local level to the regional council back in 2000 and Grand River Transit was created, one of the benefits cited was the possibility that the satellite towns and villages might finally get a public transit connection with the main cities. Since then, the GRT has established a successful route to St. Jacobs and Elmira, and is considering services to Baden, New Hamburg and Ayr. It seems strange to me that Breslau, which is just across the Grand River from Kitchener, along one of the busier corridors leading out of the city, should not receive attention. The Route 15 comes so close, with morning rush and late evening service extended out to Centennial Road, right on the banks of the Grand.

Also, looking at the map, a service proposal presents itself that not only gives Breslau residents access to the downtown, but serves other areas in eastern Kitchener that are currently some distance from transit service. If Grand River Transit were to set up a route operating from the Downtown Terminal to King and Victoria and from there to Breslau via Victoria, Lancaster, Wellington, Shirley, Bingeman’s Centre Drive and Victoria again, the new industries setting up shop on Shirley and Bingeman Centre would finally see transit service. And that’s just filling in the gaps. Grand River Transit could conceivably simplify the layout of current services by running a bus along Victoria from King to Breslau, running a bus along Wellington and Bingemans Centre to loop in the Victoria/Lackner area, and a bus up Queen North and Lancaster to loop in Bridgeport, potentially giving passengers at the far end of routes 6 and 15 a faster ride to Kitchener’s downtown.

It may be that Grand River Transit hasn’t implemented the service because nobody has suggested it. Well, consider the suggestion made. The success of the Elmira route shows that demand exists outside of Kitchener, Waterloo and Cambridge for transit service, and the GRT need only continue the bus down Woolwich and Fountain Streets to give the residents of the Region of Waterloo public transit access to the regional airport.

The Carnival of Waterloo-Wellington Blogs, March 2010

2010-03-05T15:12:20Z

Brian at At Home at Hespelar reminisces about the last time the Canadian national anthem was changed, notes how some things shift organically, and wonders what all the fuss is about.
Like many other bloggers, Far and Wide sees the Conservatives’ proposed change to the anthem as a diversionary tactic.
Yikes! Urbanity posts a Google Map showing marijuana grow-ops in London. No similar map exists for Waterloo Region, yet. Locally, he has better news about a digital hub being set up in the old Tannery in downtown Kitchener.
Planet June has yarn salamanders climbing the walls.
Wonderful Waterloo launches a debate on which university library has the clearer windows. What, and let all the light shine in on our… (gasp!)… books?!
Still with the universities, Psystenance criticizes how the University of Waterloo serves its pedestrians.
Take the Lane wonders what the best bike route is to get from Mill and Queen to Riverbend and Lancaster. His readers offer suggestions.
Be sure to check out the many fascinating late winter pictures over at Blog Guelph.
And, finally, remember that Doctor Who returns to Canadian screens on April 17!

Waterloo Public Library Board attendance record

2010-02-22T20:21:28Z

The WPL board writes that it is committed to delivering the best possible library service to this community and uses that as the gauge for all decisions.

When you examine the attendance for WPL Board meetings in 2009, there was a lot of absenteeism. There were 9 meetings during the year and one member missed 5. Another missed 4 and 4 others missed 3 meetings. At one meeting, 4 Board members were absent while 2 others were present by teleconference. And 2008 wasn’t much better. There were 10 meetings that year. Ian MacLean the Councillor missed 6 meetings (3 in a row) and another missed 4. Two missed 3 apiece and 4 others missed 2. Most Board Chairs and CEOs I know would be more than a little upset with this kind of track record.

Quite a track record for a board committed to delivering the best possible library service to the community and looking out for the best library interests of the citizens of Waterloo. This is a board struggling for months “with the direction that the library is currently undertaking and the plan it is currently undertaking”? It seems to me that only those that attend regularly actually want to continue that plan and that Ms Matyas was fired for not enthusiastically implementing the hidden agenda of the active board members.

The Waterloo Chronicle reports Jackson said “we do not believe we would have been able to execute the plan that we collectively have decided is the future of the community.” Community is not qualified by the word “library”. Interesting words coming from the man who wants to amalgamate Waterloo with Kitchener. I don’t believe WPLB should be deciding the future of Waterloo on its own; it should stick to planning for the library needs of Waterloo with full input from the citizens of Waterloo. Is Jackson’s plan really in the best interests of Waterloo Public Library users and Waterloo taxpayers?

Hespeler Minor Hockey Valentine Dance Phenomenon!

2010-02-20T04:42:51Z

I have volunteered on and off at Hespeler Minor Hockey Association for the last 15 years. I had heard about how fantastic the Valentine Dance the Hespeler Hockey Moms put on and about four years ago my wife and I started to experience the phenomenon…..

Every year the dance is sold out and simply a fantastic party time. The Beehive Room at the arena is a large sterile room but during the Valentine Dance it becomes a place to have fun and loose your mind. The age of the people attending range from in their mid 20s to mid 50s.

It starts at 8pm but nobody really comes to 9:30pm and then the insanity starts. Everyone and I mean all 450 people that come through the door are there for one reason only……. to have a good time. The DJ is incredible and the dance floor is jammed all night. It is almost like its the only night out all year for the attendees and they intend to have a no holds barred endless party.

There are also tons of door prizes and silent auction gifts, but by wife Debra and I are having so much fun I forget to bid on stuff and forget where my tickets are for the door prizes. Interestingly I do not forget where the liquor tickets are.

I do know one person to thank for putting on the dance for at least the last few years. Her name is Sony Cress and she does an amazing job of organizing the dance along with the other Hockey Moms.

My wife and I were among the first to leave. We left through the side door at about half past midnight. We had danced almost all night and were exhausted.

There was about 5 people outside the door having a cigarette. The people were friendly and smiled. As I walked by I heard one person say, “They can’t be the from Hespeler if they are leaving this early.” My wife and I laughed and went home thankful we are again part of the yearly phenomenon known as the Hespeler Minor Hockey Valentine Dance.

My Opinion on the firing of WPL Chief Librarian Cathy Matyas

2010-02-17T16:04:43Z

I would like to add my voice to those questioning the dismissal of the Waterloo Public Library’s Chief Librarian, Cathy Matyas. I’ve been watching/reading all the news I can get on the issue. I can’t think, in all my over 40-year involvement with Ontario public libraries, 22 years employed by the provincial ministry administering the Public Libraries Act, of a similar “firing without cause.”

Mayor Halloran has confirmed the over-125-year principle in Ontario that public library boards, though municipal bodies, are separate and arm’s-length from the municipal council, when questioned on the firing. However just recently Mayor Halloran said cash to cover a hiring consultant and perhaps some of the compensation in lieu of notice will come from a city reserve fund. This is enabling the library board in its decision.

I am puzzled by Jackson summarily firing Matyas after having served as chair for seven years and having had no problems with her, apparently, in all those years. Why fire the chief librarian just before he himself goes? The firing and its substantial cost becomes his legacy to the library. Could it be a personal issue over the powers of the chair versus the powers of the chief librarian? The Public Libraries Act states that the chief librarian has general supervision over and direction of the operations of the library and its staff, not the chair.

The firing isn’t illegal, but in my opinion not to provide, at the very least, Cathy herself, with a reason, is morally wrong. No matter what an employee does, you don’t fire them without warning or giving them a chance to improve or come around. After seven very successful years, Cathy Matyas deserves a good reason if the board is going to fire her. The library board also needs to show staff and Waterloo taxpayers how this firing and new direction is in their best interests

I agree with Kim Jernigan: I too am “hoping it is not too late for the library board to revisit this ill-considered decision” and reinstate Cathy Matyas. Mayor Halloran also has some reconsidering to do. Undertaking to fund the search for a new chief librarian and pay what is likely to be substantial compensation in lieu of notice from municipal reserve funds implies tacit approval of and support for the library board’s decision.

Tyrone t review

2010-02-07T16:18:30Z

Tyrone t (56 King St. N. Waterloo) is one fine restaurant. I have been there for lunch and dinner. The decor is chic, modern and roomy. A stage or DJ station splits the bar/lounge area from the dining area; the music being played at both visits was not too loud and was very pleasant. One of the owners is the former franchise holder of Kitchener's Rude Native restaurant; the food at Tyrone t is better than at Rude Native. I think Tyrone t is as good as King Street Trio on University. Friday, February 5th dinner we started with T's signature salad - maple/sesame Dijon vinaigrette on tossed mixed greens topped with blue cheese & toasted pecans - the greens fresh and the flavour combination appealing; the pecans added a crisp note. A very pleasant beginning to the meal. My wife had a 6 oz Angus tenderloin grilled exactly the way she requested, served with a Shiraz dark jus sauce and very good (though not as good as New York fries) thin cut fries. I had the schnitzel stack - herbed breaded stack of pork cutlets layered with melted Oka, served over purple braised preserved cabbage and spatzli. Tyrone t's schnitzel has my vote for the best in the Region. We finished with a chai-flavoured creme brule (the chef creates a daily special creme brule). It was very good, though not as good as the creme brule at the Oban Inn in Niagara-on-the-Lake. The way the wine list was laid out, grouping the lighter and heavier wines, helped in making a choice. The selection of wines was good, but a wider choice of light beers would have been appreciated. The service was friendly and efficient. The bill, not including tip but including a Waterloo Dark and a 9-oz Mount Oakden Shiraz, was just a few cents over $75.00. Very reasonable.

Alien on the Mill Pond - Reflections 2 Years later

2010-02-07T01:52:59Z

It happened on September 8 2007. It was a beautiful fall day. Anyone that knows me, knows I love to go for bike rides especially in Puslinch Township. So it was that Saturday in September I went for my 30km ride. I missed an event that still makes me wonder what the heck happened.

When I returned home a friend of mine, who came to visit while I was away on my ride, was real excited about what he videotaped on the other side of the Mill Pond in the Hespeler part of Cambridge Ontario. He and two young girls claimed they saw an alien. You see the park where he filmed the video is out back of our house.

Now I thought this was pretty funny, so I watched the short video clip on his camera and had to admit something was up. It was loaded on You Tube and the Hespeler News website and 2 years later over 54,000 people have viewed it and 172 people have commented on the video.

I really don’t know what to think about the whole issue as my friend has moved away and will not talk about that day. What I can say is I absolutely love the comments people have made about the video. I have burst out laughing reading them. Enjoy the video and comments it certainly makes for interesting conversation.

The Carnival of Waterloo-Wellington Blogs, February 2010

2010-02-01T21:19:58Z

Here is the first edition of the Carnival of Waterloo-Wellington Blogs, a (I hope) monthly event where we trawl some interesting links from interesting bloggers blogging about or from inside the region. Without further ado, here is what we’re talking about:

Regional Councillor Jane Mitchell loves the new Waterloo museum. I agree that the building is striking, and I would like to pay it a visit.
Urbanity is talking about Kitchener-Waterloo amalgamation.
At Home on Hespeler remembers the freedom of music and the vinyl LP.
Right of Centre Ice considers the supreme court ruling on the constitutional rights of Omar Khadr.
Record blogger Take the Lane considers the rash of pedestrian deaths in Toronto and how to stand out while crossing the street.
The blog 59 Carden Street looks into the funding dispute between the City of Guelph and Wellington County.
More great photography from an Insider’s Guide to Waterloo Region.

As always, to hear the latest from our local bloggers, consult this web page. If you have a local blog and would like to be added to the list, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

The Amalgamation Question

2010-01-25T14:50:18Z

When Ellen and I went to Waterloo city council to talk about the whole ghetto thing, we were suprised to find ourselves in the middle of a two-hour debate on amalgamation.

Amalgamation debates are something you get used to in this town. Frankly, I’m amazed we managed to avoid the amalgamation fever of the 90s. Everybody knows about the Toronto megacity, but the fever also led to such strange political entities as The “City” of Kawartha Lakes.

Tim Jackson of Tech Capital Partners and Iain Klugman of Communitech went to city council to propose, not the amalgamation of the whole Region of Waterloo this time, but the amalgamation of the cities of Kitchener and Waterloo.

Except what they proposed wasn’t actually amalgamation, but a plebiscite on the next municipal ballot asking voters whether they were in favour of the two cities talking about amalgamation.

And here’s where it gets a little dicey. Who has a problem with the cities talking about amalgamation?

I remember, however, a referendum in Québec a few years ago, where the question wasn’t “Should Québec be a sovereign nation independent of Canada?” The question was “Do you agree that Québec should become sovereign after having made a formal offer to Canada for a new economic and political partnership?” Which is why we have the Clarity Act.

I missed Tim Jackson’s presentation, but when pressed, Iain Klugman made it clear that he felt that a “Yes” vote on this plebiscite was mandate to amalgamate the cities and no follow-up referendum was needed after the cities were finished “talking”.

Furthermore, the province gets to dictate the question after the city votes to have one on the ballot. Waterloo doesn’t get to make its own Clarity Act. And, except for the general distaste for the idea in the Region, there’s nothing stopping the province from forcing amalgamation at any time. Although I fear I might be drifting into conspiracy theories, a “yes” vote on a wishy-washy “talk about amalgamation” vote might be all the political clout they’d need to just amalgamate, regardless of what comes out of talking.

And finally, as far as I can tell (and I could be wrong here—like I said, I missed Tim Jackson’s presentation), the only reason TCP and Communitech are pushing for amalgamation is they think it makes their job marketing the region to the world a bit easier.

I don’t think I need to say I have some problems with this proposal. There was significant resistance from people at the meeting. And an unfortunately anonymous and confusingly named group called One Waterloo has popped up online to oppose it.

On idea of amalgamating cities, I’m a bit more on the fence. Kitchener and Waterloo are one community in a sense that, say, Kitchener and Cambridge aren’t. But the history of amalgamation in this province has created more losers than winners, and I think in general, smaller, decentralized organizations are easier to manage and therefore more efficient than bigger ones.

I don’t see a problem with the current set-up, except that it would make sense to upload more services (like fire or water) to the Region. I don’t think democracy or neighbourhood concerns would be better served by a huge municipal council in downtown Kitchener. I don’t think Communitech’s marketing problems are a good enough reason to tear down and rebuild a system that seems to be working. And most of all, I would like to see amalgamation come about because it’s clearly what citizens want, and not because some group managed to hoodwink them into giving the province an excuse to go ahead and make it happen.

And I hate that I probably come off as crazy by writing that, but that’s the only way I could interpret Mr Klugman’s statements to council a couple weeks ago.

Waterloo city council will debate and put the ballot question to a vote tonight.

Day of Action Against Prorogation. Local Blog Response

2010-01-23T20:00:46Z

Kitchener-Waterloo

Bow, James Bow: Make Perogies, Not Prorogation
Right of Center Ice: “A crowd of 350+ citizens (the majority of whom were over the age of 30) gathered at Waterloo Town Square to celebrate democracy and protest the proroguing of our 40th parliament of Canada.”
Mr. Sinister: “Everyone was in a great mood and the weather was perfect”
Canadian Cynic: “And Now its Huether Time”.
A contrary view from Christian Conservative
More Pictures….

Guelph

Far and Wide: Off to the Rally (reported a turnout of around 300).

More responses? Please let us know in the comments.

Democratic Exercise - Rally Against Proroguation this Saturday at 11 a.m. at Waterloo Public Square

2010-01-20T19:53:34Z

(Crossposted to Bow. James Bow)

As impressive as it is for a Facebook group to gather over 200,000 Canadians united in opposition to Stephen Harper’s decision to prorogue parliament (especially compared to the 127,000 Canadians who joined the Facebook group against last year’s coalition proposal), a question has to be asked: where do we go from here? Because, as impressive as that number is, it doesn’t take much effort to express one’s opinions on Facebook. Although you have heard some people signing up to Facebook specifically to join this group, for most participants the task was as simple as clicking a link. Democracy requires more than just that.

Which is why some people are paying attention to the rallies planned across Canada this Saturday (the Saturday before parliamentarians would have returned to work, if Stephen Harper hadn’t intervened). A grassroots effort has sprung up and a lot of people have worked very hard to get venues scheduled in dozens of cities across Canada, but how many bodies will show up? Blogger Shireen of Talk Talk Talk worries that there won’t be as many as organizers would like. Previous Facebook activism hasn’t been so successful in generating a large response in the physical world.

If the people who joined the Canadians Against Proroguing Parliament Facebook group want to keep the momentum of their efforts going, they need to make the effort. They have to show up on Saturday. If they don’t, and this protest fizzles, they will only have themselves to blame. There is little I can do about this, except to make the effort myself.

So, I have promised myself that I will be attending Waterloo Region’s rally this Saturday (at Waterloo Public Square at the corner of King Street and Willis Way at 11 a.m.), and not just because I care strongly about the issue of prorogation. I think it’s time that I stand up and march alongside my fellow Canadians because Canadians everywhere need to be reminded that this is how democracy is done. It isn’t enough to sit behind your desk and click on Facebook links. If you want change, you have to make change yourself, through campaigning, through writing letters to your MP, through voting the bastards out when feasible, and even getting up and marching along our public streets and making our voice heard.

There will be people out there, including Conservative supporters and government MPs, who will dismiss our activities as frippery, and our activists as frivolous, but they forget that this is how we’ve won most of our hard fought-for rights in this country, even the right to speak. As valuable as the right to speak is, simply speaking behind the walls of your home isn’t enough. Sometimes, to be heard, we have to speak loud, and in public.

So, I will be attending the local rally against prorogation this Saturday, and I’ll be taking Vivian with me. Will my presence there may a difference? Maybe. Maybe not. But that’s not the important reason why I’m going. I’m going because I think it’s important for Vivian to see what a peaceful demonstration looks like and what it sounds like. I’m going because I think it’s important for Vivian to learn the benefits and responsibilities of living in a democracy. I’m going because I think it’s important that she understand that she has a right to speak and, more importantly, she has a right to speak loudly, and sometimes that right is an obligation if she wants to make change.

I think it’s important to remember that all democracy is exercise, and without exercise, our democracy, like our muscles, will atrophy.

Time to shape up.

The Return of the Budd Rail Diesel Car (RDC) to the North Main Line

2010-01-18T13:03:13Z

The rumours started back around 2001 when a senior VIA Rail manager attended a public meeting in Guelph Ontario. The meeting was to protest the elimination of the new Flexliner train. It was extremely rare for VIA Rail to even agree to show up at a public meeting. The senior manager mentioned his dream that Budd Rail Diesel Cars (RDCs) would run up and down this line like they used to.

The senior manager disappeared back into the VIA Rail dark hole and his dream of RDCs running from London, Stratford, Kitchener, Guelph into Toronto went with him. Periodically over the last eight years various passenger rail fantatics, and VIA Rail insiders say it is going to happen. Just maybe this time it will happen.

What is a RDC? The Budd Company in Philadelphia, PA designed and built RDCs starting in 1949. This light-weight, air-conditioned, stainless-steel, twin engined (280 h.p) car. The four standard models available were: RDC-1 - 90 passengers, 2 toilets, RDC-2 - 71 passengers,1 toilet, 17ft. baggage section, RDC-3 - 49 passengers, 1 toilet,15ft. mail section, 17ft. baggage section, RDC-4 - 30ft. mail section and a 31ft. baggage section. They were built to an 85 ft. coupled length.

Operating costs (compared to conventional trains) are reduced due to inherent design features and use of a two man crew for single car operation.

The RDCs began service in 1953 in Canada and were built in Montreal starting in 1957. They used to run on the Canadian National North Main Line from 1953 til the federal government cuts in 1990. As well RDCs ran on the Canadian Pacific rail line from the 1950s til the 1970s through what is now Cambridge. The CP RDCs were called “Dayliners”. I have loaded a short video clip showing the Dayliner RDCs passing by the Galt CPR Station in 1956 to give you and example of what they look like. This is a three car consist, but they could run individually or linked to up to 10 other RDCs.

A Moncton NB rail firm Industrial Rail Services Inc. , which currently does work for VIA Rail, owns a larg number of RDCs and the above picture is an example of an RDC they have completely refurbished after stripping it down to the stainless steel shell. Passenger rail fans say a contract is pending with Industrial Rail to refurbish the RDCS for the NML and the Niagara Falls VIA service.

Why has it taken so long for the RDCs to return? There are the usual excuses. VIA Rail is running on tracks owned by a freight rail operator whose main business is not to promote the pasenger rail service on the line. In this case Goderich-Exeter Railway is a short line that leases tracks from CN. It is unclear why after two years, no agreement as been reached between the two parties. The federal government has made available for improvements along the line.

VIA Rails adds to the problem with no clear vision for passenger rail plan for the future. VIA keeps their plans secretive for reasons unknown. (Compare this to Amtrak in the USA, where Amtraks plans for the future and expansion are publicized and aggressively promoted).

Another excuse given for the delays is that Canadian National has found that the RDCs do not trip the signal switches along the line. This is interesting point since they ran in Ontario for decades and also still run on remote Northern Ontario lines flawlessly.

Will the RDCs be popular if they run on the line? Frequent passenger rail service to and from London into Toronto on the NML will be hughly successful if VIA Rail can solve two fundamental problems they have. 1. The cost to take a VIA Rail train is prohibitive to the average Canadian. and 2. VIA Rail historically does not know how to promote increases in rail service. They typically have an opening day ceremony and then leave it up luck for the public to find out about the new service.

The ultimate solution for the problem is for the government to buy the NML line like GO Transit did on the Toronto-Barrie rail line recently. Consider this fact. If VIA Rail and Go Transit follow through with suggested schedule improvments for the NML there will be a total of approximately 20 passenger trains going to and from Kitchener to Toronto and only 8 freight trains. The primary user, the passenger trains should own the line.

I am hopeful the problems will be solved and I will be among the first on board the RDC at the station.

Pizza Hut Retrenches

2010-01-11T19:31:58Z

Image courtesy ArcX.

A quick note today, but before I post, I’d like to mention that we’ve been having problems with commenting here on the Waterloo Wellington Bloggers Association blog. This has been mostly due to the changeover of the backend software to Movable Type 5.0, and issues with handling legacy blogging code. I have to say that I’ve found trying to update the templates here, especially those that I’ve custom-made, to be a bit of a fraught process. The problems with the comments here at the WWBA was just one symptom, but hopefully now it’s one less.

In other news, I have to report on the loss of a neighbourhood chain restaurant. The Pizza Hut sit down restaurant at the corner of Victoria and Westmount has closed down. The windows are dark, the signs are gone, and the place is up for lease. I hadn’t been in the restaurant for a little while (which is probably one reason why it’s now gone), but I had made use of it earlier in 2009 for my family pizza cravings. It was the one pizza joint within walking distance of my home. Now, if we need a quick bite to eat, the corner can only boast a Taco Bell and a Wendy’s.

I’ve always found the Victoria/Westmount intersection to be a rather odd duck. It’s not quite commercial, and it’s not quite residential. On one corner, you have a gas station and a convenience store. Behind it are a series of high rise apartments that, theoretically should provide some much needed foot traffic for the intersection — although in my experience, they’re more aligned away from that intersection and towards the Victoria Hills neighbourhood, which has its own little mall.

Stand on the corner of the gas station, facing the intersection and look to the corner on your right and you will see the beginnings of a shopping plaza, with a much needed urgent care clinic and associated pharmacy, the previously mentioned Taco Bell and shuttered Pizza Hut and an assortment of small scale commercial establishments, including a laundromat. Kitty-corner from the gas station is a Jewish cemetary, and on the corner to your left, you have a too-big parking lot and the aforementioned Wendy’s. This corner used to boast a gas station of its own, but this was demolished and, for the longest while, a sign promised the construction of a new William’s Coffee Pub — something we eagerly anticipated as a nearby place to retire to and write, and which we were bitterly disappointed about when it didn’t materialize.

This corner is struggling to define itself as a commercial draw for the residents around it. One block to the south, along Highland Road, there are many places to eat and shop. All of the big fast food joints, Tim Hortons, Swiss Chalet, East Side Marios and Angels Diner draw people in. People from around the Victoria/Westmount intersection can easily walk there and more easily drive there, and I think do so. I can’t help but wonder if the corner of Victoria and Westmount is caught in a catch-22: it doesn’t have the critical mass required to draw enough business in from the surrounding neighbourhood, and when a place like Pizza Hut shutters, and William’s never materializes, the chances of reaching that critical mass dim.

I don’t know what to suggest for the corner in order to turn things around, but I’m saddened here that there is potential for the corner to be a resource for the community around it, and that potential remains unrealized for the foreseeable future. Maybe if a business or a service could be encouraged to take up the empty space by the Wendy’s, things will improve, but I don’t know what we could do to encourage this, or even what business or service would be of best use to the surrounding community.

Those wanting Pizza Hut pizza still have sit-down locations at University and Weber in Waterloo, at Fairway and Manitou in Kitchener and (I believe) on Hespelar Road and Bishop in Cambridge. There are also take-out-only locations, such as the one I used last night at Fischer-Hallman and Ottawa.

HUG Waterloo

2010-01-09T13:23:02Z

The ghetto people are back! Articles popped up in the Record and Chronicle again this week about those horrible students and how nothing’s being done.

Old news, and I think I adequately covered my distaste for the local media being irresponsible and deliberately misleading in order to sell newspapers by validating readers’ fears and offering lurid visions young couples having sex on local sidewalks when I first wrote about this stuff a year ago. Ellen, who lives in the area, has written her response to the “ghetto” thing. Hint: the picture on the right featured in this week’s Record article is of a house recently bought by a young, professional couple who actually wants to live there.

(Full disclosure: you could probably call Ellen my “significant other”).

What’s changed this time is there’s been a plan put forward by a few Northdale residents called “Help Urbanize the Ghetto” or HUG Waterloo.

We missed November’s neighbourhood meeting where this was all presented, but I’ve been meaning to write about it for a while now. HUG Waterloo irritates me for reasons it’s taken a while for me to figure out how to articulate without flying into a vitriolic rant.

The whole HUG Waterloo plan is riding on premises that I think are demonstrably false. Namely, that Northdale is an irredeemable ghetto; that the city somehow doesn’t like high density urban neighbourhoods and isn’t doing enough to foster them; that high tech people are clamouring for more and more condos; and, most importantly, that the real estate bubble we’re sitting on right now is going to keep growing and growing forever.

That last one scares me. A lot.

]]> On Urbanization and Sustainable Development

This is the one thing the HUG Waterloo people have hit on something that’s struck a chord with a lot of people. They present a vision of “quiet, safe streets and tree lined cycle paths, bustling shopping areas with outdoor cafes” and “attractive, low-rise condos with green roof elements.”

Waterlooians.ca (the save the moraine people) love this. Michael from psystenance agrees. Great allies to have! I certainly like and respect these guys.

Waterloo loves this stuff. I love this stuff! Green roofs are awesome! I think it all sounds great!

Trouble is you can’t just will a vibrant, pedestrian-friendly urban neighbourhood into existence. All the zoning in the world won’t help you.

Waterloo region has urbanization plans. They even include Northdale! The chunk of Northdale close to the planned King & University “hub” will eventually be upzoned and redeveloped. Coincidentally, that’s one of the more run down parts of the neighbourhood.

They’ve also rezoned along King, University, Lester and Spruce for higher density, to draw out the demand for student housing from the interior neighbourhood. That seems to be working very well. The west side of Lester street has been almost completely leveled and rebuilt in only a handful of years. The south side of Columbia too. A friend at WCRI says their forecasts all show rental demand dropping (unfortunately for them). Great! The plan’s working! Accusations that the city is doing nothing to use its zoning powers to address student housing are patently, obviously false.

I kind of wish Columbia wasn’t so stark now, but I’m not sure what they could have done to prevent that.

These things take time. Decades, even. Possibly generations. If you zoned Northdale for condos now, as the HUG Waterloo plan suggest, you’ll get more student apartments, because that’s what the market in that neighbourhood wants. And I’m not sure how much more of that it actually wants.

Vibrant, urban neighbourhoods have a mix of people, uses and densities. Nothing in the HUG Waterloo plan that I’ve seen will guarantee that will happen. And by painting their own neighbourhood as a ghetto, they’re doing quite a bit to ensure that it won’t happen.

Waterloo is firmly committed to “building up, not out.” Mostly because it doesn’t have any more “out” to build on. Economic pressures may put pressure on the provincial government to change that, but I think the municipal government is committed to use what limited powers it has to prevent sprawl. I haven’t seen any evidence to the contrary.

Northdale will be built up as the market demands it. I would hate to be accused of NIMBYism because my girlfriend lives there and wants to stay. I told her when she bought the house that the future of her neighbourhood was up in the air. I don’t have a problem with development. I just want it to be smart. I think the HUG Waterloo plan has more buzzwords than smarts.

Could Northdale use some improvements to cycling and pedestrian amenities? Sure. It’s already a pedestrian and cycling neighbourhood, so you’d think the city would be all over this. Students don’t clear their sidewalks, so sidewalk clearing would help. I also think it would be nice if they talked to WCRI and the Lester Street developers to get a pathway between Phillip and Lester at Hickory, so I’m not forced to ride through a 60 zone on Columbia when I bike to Ellen’s house. Hickory would make for a great on-road cycleway connecting King & University to the Laurel trail. Please do that, City of Waterloo! I hate biking on University or Columbia.

On Condos for High Tech People

I’m guessing that people who keep pushing the idea of condos for high tech professionals haven’t met a lot of high tech professionals. I’m a high tech professional. I work with quite a few of them. I don’t think the market for condos for these people is quite as rampant as some people are speculating.

Simple reason: This is Waterloo, not Toronto. If you want to be a high tech professional living in an apartment condo in a vibrant urban neighbourhood, you are probably already living in downtown Toronto. Most of my R&T Park co-workers are living in the Laurelwood or RIM Park neighbourhoods. They seem to like suburbal sprawl, bless them. If it wasn’t so expensive (and people didn’t keep telling them it was a horrible slum full of crime and sidewalk sex), they might consider bringing their kids and/or dogs to Northdale, where they could get a bigger yard and mature trees and possibly some rental income from students.

For people who do want to live in an urban condo neighbourhood, there are tonnes of condos being built in Uptown. The plans are for 5000 people to be living in the Barrel Yards just a quick walk through Waterloo Park from UW. There are condos going up in Northdale, even! The sign for 45 Degrees has been up at Columbia and Spruce for quite a while now, close to Chapters and Starbucks. I would note that construction hasn’t started yet.

Let’s see how well these do before zoning more condos. If they’re a huge, runaway success, fantastic! Build more. But I think some caution is warranted. Over-supply puts the whole thing at risk.

On Real Estate Speculators

I firmly believe that the source of all of Northdale’s problems is not the students—it’s the real estate speculators. Students are a force of nature. If you live near a river, expect the occasional flood. If you live in a student neighbourhood, expect parties and anti-social behaviour. Northdale is now and will always be a student neighbourhood. There are ways to mitigate the problems, but the real estate speculators have been digging trenches in those levees for over a decade.

When I was a student at UW 10-15 years ago, even I could see how crazy the speculative market had gotten in that neighbourhood. Crappy little post-war bungalows were going for half a million dollars or more. Landlords were expecting they’d be able to build additions and cram those lots full of revenue-generating students. It didn’t help that changes to mortgage rules and low interest rates colluded with the double-cohort to drive investors into a frenzy. No wonder all the sensible people up and left.

The city saw what was happening and tried to cracked down on lodging houses. They’ve been having problems enforcing those rules due to a court case that gave landlords a loophole, but they’ve been working with the province to fix that. Neither the city, the universities, nor the remaining residents in Northdale who actually want to live there want to see that neighbourhood full of the sort of crappy, sub-standard lodging houses that the speculators want to build.

The city is under no obligation to validate the dreams of real estate speculators. I would personally prefer they actively fought against them. We’ve seen the damage that rampant speculation can do to communities in the United States. The Canadian real estate bubble hasn’t burst yet.

As my favourite economics professor is fond of saying: WARNING WARNING, DANGER DANGER!

Interest rates are going to go up, probably before the end of the year. You can bet I’ll be locking in my mortgage soon. The sort of speculative real estate boom we’ve been seeing for the last couple decades will come to an end when that happens. Condo developments will be put on hold. Lots will sit empty for a while.

Before committing to a grand scheme to bulldoze Northdale, I’d like to see the city do a detailed market study. And do it again for interest rates of 5%. And then do it again for 10%. I really hope it doesn’t get higher than that, but we’re in uncharted waters here. I’m not an economist, but I’ve got a bad feeling about where things might end up going.

If you’re holding onto a house you hate hoping for some future windfall, I would strongly suggest you consider selling now, or you might be stuck there for a while. Prices are still pretty good. Take the money and run. Sell to someone who wants to live there. Buy a nice Uptown condo and hunker down for a long winter.

There’s a lot of optimism in this town and I think that’s great, but there are forces at work here bigger than Waterloo. There’s a chance it’ll all turn out okay. But there’s also a chance that it won’t. I don’t want to see my city full of condemned houses and vacant lots. If we get that, we’ll discover what a ghetto is really like.

Time for Greyhound's Bus Monopoly Game to End

2010-01-01T16:21:14Z

Minister John Baird called it like it was when he branded Greyhound’s strategy of demanding money for continuing northern bus routes a “shake down and heavy handed.” Greyhound has long been known to put down any attempts by companies trying to provide competition to them.

In 2000, they went to the Ontario Highway Transport Board and won their case to have carpooling company Allo-Stop cease their services. In November 2006, Greyhound went again to the the OHTB and they ruled that Student Transportation of Canada (nicknamed Fed Bus) could not offer what they believed to be a charter service and reasonably priced fares for students.

Ironically Greyhound and other bus company’s route monopolies are supported and promoted in Ontario by the prehistoric Ontario Highway Transport Board Act and equally antiquated Public Vehicles Act.

The application process to the OHTB to obtain a route licence is clearly biased against having competition and for conserving route monopolies. It is ridiculous that only one bus company, Greyhound, is allowed exclusive access to Highway 401 westbound into Toronto to run commuter bus service into downtown Toronto. Why does the public not have a choice of what bus company they want to take on our public highways? Why are other bus companies not allowed to run competitively against each other?.

This bus monopoly transit nightmare reminds me all too much of the Bell Canada fiasco. For decades Bell controlled the phone industry in Ontario and no competition was allowed. Some journalists have suggested no regulation or deregulation of the passenger bus industry.That would be wrong and the public’s safety could be at risk. However it is long overdue to revise, update and renew the Ontario Highway Transport Board Act and Public Vehicles Act.

Immediate changes can be made to the criteria the Ontario Highway Transport Board uses to determine “public necessity and convenience” when issuing bus route licences.

A win recently happened when the Ontario Liberal provincial government changed the definition of carpooling in the Public Vehicles Act by passing Bill118. This was the result of the public lobbying to save PickUpPal, a ride sharing group. Their lobbying showed how outdated the current Public Vehicles Act is. Read Background Document. Thankfully the provincial Liberals ignored the Ontario Highway Transportation Board ruling and changed the legislation. Further substantial change is needed.

On January 17th, 2010, Greyhound will further reduce/eliminate services to small town Ontario, yet still maintain their monoply bus service on the HighWay#401. It is time for change. It is time Greyhound ask their multinational owner Scotland based FirstGroup for the money not the taxpayers of Canada.