Kitchener, Ontario

Kitchener, Ontario
Official logo of Kitchener, Ontario
Motto:  Ex industria prosperitas (Latin: "Prosperity through industry")
Location of Kitchener in the Waterloo Region
Country	Canada
Province	Ontario
Founded	1833
Incorporated	1853
Incorporated as City	1912
Government
• Mayor	Carl Zehr
Area
• City	136.89 km2 (52.85 sq mi)
• Land	136.89 km2 (52.85 sq mi)
Population  (2006)
• City	204,668 (Ranked 21st)
• Metro	451,235
	source: Statistics Canada
Time zone	UTC-5 (EST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC-4 (EDT)
Website	http://www.kitchener.ca/

The City of Kitchener (Template:PronEng) is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada. It was the Town of Berlin from 1854 until 1912 and the City of Berlin from 1912 until 1916. The current population is 204,668. The metropolitan area, which includes the neighbouring cities of Waterloo and Cambridge, has 451,235 people, making it the eleventh largest Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) in Canada and the fifth largest CMA in Ontario.[1] It is the seat of the Waterloo Regional Municipality, and is adjacent to the smaller cities of Cambridge to the south, and Waterloo to the north. Kitchener and Waterloo are often referred to jointly as "Kitchener-Waterloo" (K-W), although they have separate municipal governments. Including Cambridge, the three cities are known as "the tri-cities".

The City of Kitchener covers an area of 136.86 square kilometres. In 2004, the city celebrated its 150th anniversary.

Geography

Kitchener is located in Southwestern Ontario, in the Saint Lawrence Lowlands. [2] This geological and climatic region has wet-climate soils and deciduous forests.

Within this part of Ontario, Kitchener is the largest city situated within the Grand River watershed. Just to the west of the city is Baden Hill, in Wilmot Township. This glacial kame remnant formation is the highest elevation for many many miles around. The other dominant glacial feature is the Waterloo Moraine, which snakes its way through the region and holds a significant quantity of artesian wells, from which the city derives most of its drinking water. The settlement's first name, Sandhills, is an accurate description of the higher points of the moraine.

History

In 1784, the land that Kitchener was built upon was an area given to the Six Nations by the British as a gift for their allegiance during the American Revolution; 240,000 hectares of land to be exact. From 1796 and 1798, the Six Nations sold 38,000 hectares of this land to a Loyalist by the name of Colonel Richard Beasley. The portion of land that Beasley had purchased was remote but it was of great interest to German Mennonite farming families from Pennsylvania. They wanted to live in an area that would allow them to practice their beliefs without persecution. Eventually, the Mennonites purchased all of Beasley’s unsold land creating 160 farm tracts. By 1800, the first buildings were built [3], and over the next decade several families made the difficult trip north to what was then known as the Sand Hills. One of these Mennonite families, arriving in 1807, was the Schneiders, whose restored 1816 home (the oldest building in the city) is now a museum located in the heart of Kitchener [4]. Other families whose names can still be found in local place names were the Bechtels, the Ebys, the Erbs, the Weavers (better known today as the Webers) the Cressmans and the Brubachers. In 1816 the Government of Upper Canada designated the settlement the Township of Waterloo.

Much of the land, made up of moraines and swampland interspersed with rivers and streams, was converted to farmland and roads. Wild pigeons, which once swarmed by the tens of thousands, were driven from the area. Apple trees were introduced to the region by John Eby in the 1830s, and several grist- and sawmills (most notably Joseph Schneider's 1816 sawmill, John and Abraham Erb's grist- and sawmills and Eby's cider mill) were erected throughout the area. Schneider built the town's first road, from his home to the corner of King Street and Queen Street (then known as Walper corner). $1000 was raised by the settlers to extend the road from Walper corner to Huether corner, where the Huether Brewery was built and the Huether Hotel now stands; a petition to the government for $100 to assist in completing the project was denied.

Immigration to the town increased considerably from 1816 until the 1870s, many of the newcomers being of German (particularly Mennonite) extraction. In 1833 the town was renamed Berlin, and in 1853 Berlin became the County Seat of the newly created County of Waterloo, elevating it to the status of Village. The extension of the Grand Trunk Railway from Sarnia to Toronto (and hence through Berlin) in July 1856 was a major boon to the community, helping to improve industrialization in the area. On June 9, 1912, Berlin was officially designated a city[5].

The originally large German population was the reason for the settlement being named Berlin. However, when the First World War began it became important for the citizens to separate themselves from Canada’s opponents. In 1916, Berlin changed its name to Kitchener; named after Boer War hero Field Marshal Horatio Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener [6].

On September 17, 1981, the first ever "blue box" recycling program was launched in Kitchener. Today, more than 90% of Ontario households have access to recycling programs and annually they divert more than 650,000 tonnes of secondary resource materials. The blue box program has expanded in various forms throughout Canada and to countries around the world such as the United States, United Kingdom, France and Australia, serving more than 40 million households around the world.

Economy

Downtown Kitchener

While Waterloo has benefited from the presence of two universities and a number of high tech companies, Kitchener has been a more blue-collar town. The auto-parts manufacturer Budd Canada, now known as Kitchener Frame, continues to employ over 1500 workers. The Huron Business Park is also the site of a number of industries, from seat manufacturers to furniture components. A number of the old industrial companies of Kitchener have fallen on harder times: the Kaufmann shoe manufacturer has closed its factory, Schneider Foods (a meat producer) has been bought out and operations scaled back, and companies like Electrohome have ceased local production in favour of licensing or supply agreements with overseas makers. Still, occupations unique to manufacturing, processing and utilities cover as much as 15% of the local workforce.

Kitchener's downtown core, though improved in recent years, has experienced urban decay, thanks largely to the decline of industrial jobs in the city and the growth of its suburbs. Things worsened when urban renewal plans in the 1960s cost the city its neo-classical city hall and did not achieve its goals of redevelopment. In the late 1990s, an arsonist began destroying abandoned and underused buildings in Kitchener's downtown, the issue of downtown renewal and cleanup of the adjoining Victoria Park neighbourhood came to the fore in municipal elections and has been the focus of city council for the past ten years. Achievements during this period include selling off a dying mall and converting it to office space for Manulife Financial, a major insurance firm, relocating a theatre downtown, converting the old Goudies department store to a Children's Museum, and converting vacant industrial space into residential units.

The city now boasts a new city hall, and a new farmer's market opened in 2004. Other projects include an assortment of lofts, utilizing old factories. Various plans for 20 floor condo units have been put in place. And although Waterloo is home to many insurance companies, two universities, and high-tech industries, Kitchener is hoping to increase demand for office space by building office towers and inviting companies from around the golden triangle to move in.

The groundbreaking ceremony for the University of Waterloo school of pharmacy and downtown health sciences campus was officially held on March 15, 2006. The building will be located on King Street near Victoria Street, across the street from the former Kaufmann shoe factory (now being converted to lofts).

Economic and social impacts from the new health sciences campus that are expected to be felt locally include: the potential for more family doctors and other health professionals practicing in the city and region; significant economic benefits associated with an injection of as many as 1,200 students, faculty and staff to the downtown core each day and spin off business and industry that will diversify the economy and bring additional jobs to the area.

The redevelopment of the centre block in downtown Kitchener has its vision set and is planned to start sometime in 2008. It will include a 12 story and an 18 story condominium, more retail spaces, the redevelopment of the Mayfair Hotel and a central courtyard.

Demographics

Ethnic origin	Population	Percent
Canadian	55,465	29.48%
German	47,380	25.18%
English	43,030	22.87%
Irish	29,520	15.69%
Scottish	29,320	15.58%
French	17,620	9.36%
Polish	10,515	5.59%
Dutch	7,240	3.85%
Portuguese	5,350	2.84%
Italian	4,670	2.48%
source (includes multiple responses)

At the time of the Canada 2006 Census, the population of Kitchener was 204,668. From the 2001 census figures, 49.2% of the population was male and 50.8% was female. Children under five accounted for approximately 6.3% of the resident population of Kitchener, compared to 5.8% in Ontario, and 5.6% for Canada overall. Some 11.2% of the resident population in Kitchener was of retirement age, compared with 13.2% in Canada. The average age was 35.3 years, compared to the 37.6-year national average. In the five years between 1996 and 2001, the population of Kitchener grew by 8.2% compared with an increase of 6.1% for Ontario as a whole. Population density of Kitchener averaged 501.0 people per square kilometre. Approximately 10 percent of the population claimed to be members of a visible minority, and are primarily people of Asian (mostly Vietnamese and Lao: 2.73%),, Black Caribbean: 1.79%, including mixed race, Chinese, Arab and others.

Christianity continues to have the greatest number of adherents. From the 2001 census, 78.85% of the population adhered to various Christian denominations. Due to the higher concentrations of German Canadians, Protestantism has a greater percentage (41.32%), followed by Roman Catholic (32.44%), while the remaining 5.07% follow other Christian groups such as Eastern Orthodox, LDS, Jehovah's Witness etc.[7] Minor religions include Islam: 2.24%, Hindu: 1.00%, and other including Judaism, Sikh, and Buddhism.

Government

Kitchener City Hall

Kitchener is governed by a council of six councillors, representing wards (or districts), and a mayor. Kitchener residents also elect four councillors at large to sit with the mayor on the council of the Regional Municipality of Waterloo. The current mayor of Kitchener is Carl Zehr, who was re-elected to his fourth term in November 2006, after first being elected in 1997 and then re-elected in 2000 and 2003. Before that, he sat as a municipal councillor from 1985-1994.

In 1976, residents of Kitchener voted almost 2:1 in favour of a ward system. The first municipal election held under the ward system occurred in 1978.

The city councillors, plus the mayor, make up the entire City of Kitchener Council. Council is responsible for policy and decision making, monitoring the operation and performance of the city, analyzing and approving budgets and determining spending priorities. The residents of each ward vote for one person to be their City Councillor; their voice and representative on City Council.

The current Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) for Kitchener Centre is John Milloy. Other MPPs include Leeanna Pendergast (Kitchener-Conestoga) and Elizabeth Witmer (Kitchener-Waterloo) who both represent small portions of the city in addition to adjacent areas. The federal and provincial electoral boundaries are now aligned and the federal Members of Parliament (MPs) as follows: Karen Redman (Kitchener Centre), Harold Albrecht (Kitchener-Conestoga) and Andrew Telegdi (Kitchener-Waterloo).

Education

Kitchener has several public high schools, with Kitchener Collegiate Institute being the oldest, founded in 1855. In the 1950s and 1960s several new schools were constructed including Cameron Heights Collegiate Institute in the Downtown core in 1967, Eastwood Collegiate Institute in the southern part of the city in 1956, Grand River Collegiate Institute in the southern Chicopee Area in 1966, and Forest Heights Collegiate Institute in the western part of the city in 1964. In 2006, Huron Heights Secondary School opened in southwest Kitchener, which opened with a limited enrollment which included only 9th and 10th grade students, with plans to expand the enrollment into higher grades with each successive year.

Conestoga College

The Doon neighbourhood, formerly a separate village but now part of Kitchener, is home to the primary campus of Conestoga College, one of the foremost non-university educational institutions in the province.

For nine consecutive years, Conestoga has earned top overall ranking among Ontario colleges on the Key Performance Indicator (KPI) surveys, which measure graduate employment rates and satisfaction levels, and employer and student satisfaction.

The former St. Jerome's High School in downtown Kitchener currently houses the Faculty of Social Work from Wilfrid Laurier University.

The University of Waterloo is proceeding with opening a School of Pharmacy in the downtown area. The City of Kitchener has contributed $30 million from its $110 million Economic Development Investment Fund, established in 2004, to the establishment of the UW Downtown Kitchener School of Pharmacy. Construction began in 2006.

The school is expected to graduate about 120 pharmacists annually and will become the home of the Centre for Family Medicine, where new family physicians will be trained, as well as an optometry clinic and the International Pharmacy Graduate Program. Construction on the $147 million facility - expected to create an influx of 1,200 staff and faculty into the city's core - is slated to be complete as early as the summer of 2007.

The provincial government has also announced that the University of Waterloo's (UW) Downtown Kitchener Campus will be the site of a new satellite campus of McMaster University's School of Medicine. This is expected to train 12 doctors a year, primarily through distance learning.

The training of medical professionals in downtown Kitchener include developments such as:

• In 2007, the UW School of Pharmacy about to begin admitting 120 pharmaceutical students each year.
• Eventually, the UW School of Pharmacy campus will evolve to become the UW Health Sciences Campus, offering more programs and with a daily population of more than 1,200 students, faculty and staff.
• There are plans for an Integrated Primary Health Care Centre on the UW site that will provide as many as 12 more family physicians locally, as well as training for many more medical doctors.
• The Centre for Family Medicine, which is already up and running in the former Victoria School Centre in downtown Kitchener, is slated to move to the UW campus sometime after it opens. Currently, there are six practicing family physicians in the centre and plans are to boost that number to as many as 14 family physicians.
• New physicians trained either at the new Integrated Primary Health Care Centre or the Centre for Family Medicine will learn in and create holistic health care models of the future.
• In September 2006, the Wilfrid Laurier Faculty of Social Work opened in the former St. Jerome's High School building on Duke Street adding yet another dimension to the "health care" theme in downtown Kitchener.

Health care in Kitchener

Kitchener-Waterloo is served by three hospitals, Grand River Hospital (which is a system of two hospitals), St. Mary's General Hospital, and Cambridge Memorial. Grand River treats patients with a wide range of problems and houses the psychiatric unit, trauma centre, women's and children's services, and the Regional Cancer Care Centre. St Mary's houses the Regional Cardiac Care Centre, serving a population of nearly one million from Waterloo Region, east to Guelph, north to Owen Sound/Tobermory, south to Lake Erie, and west to Ingersoll. It also houses a respiratory centre. Both hospitals have emergency departments and intensive care units. Cambridge Memorial is a general hospital, treating primarily patients from Cambridge and south Kitchener.

Long term rehabilitation and physiotherapy is addressed at the Freeport Health Centre, at the south of the city. Built originally as a tuberculosis sanatorium and home for the terminally ill, its last link with that past is the palliative care unit. It nestles along the banks of the Grand River, and is part of Grand River Hospital.

Family doctors are in short supply in K-W, and a source of great concern among residents. The Chamber of Commerce runs a waiting list for people looking for a doctor, but as of 2006 the wait is over two years. Two urgent care centres cater for much of the routine services for thousands of people without a family doctor, from routine immunisations and health screening, to repeat prescriptions and referral on to specialist services. A third urgent care centre is being added to a renovated supermarket development in the desirable Forest Heights area of the city.

Announced January 2006 was the inauguration of a new School of Medicine attached to the University of Waterloo. From 2007, 15 new family doctors will be trained each year in new premises being constructed in the downtown core on rehabilitated industrial lands along the railway.

In 2009, the mental health unit is slated for relocation from the downtown core to an unused floor at the Freeport site. By this, patients needing mental health care shall gain options for local long term care and monitoring. The current site for the unit is in the basement of the downtown hospital in an area in dire need of renovations and the absence of options for local long-term mental care forces the transfer of such patients to neighbouring London, Ontario.

After renovations, the Child and Adolescent Inpatient Program will be moved from a small 9-bed wing to the downstairs in place of the current adult mental health unit. Once moved in 2009, upwards of 26 beds shall be available to this program.

Culture

Kitchener's cultural highlights include CAFKA, The Open Ears Festival, Multicultural Festival, and Blues, Brews & Barbecues, all of which are free to the public. Kitchener is also home to venues such as Homer Watson House & Gallery, Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery, The Centre in the Square, and Theatre & Company. Live music by popular artists can be heard at venues such as the Centre in the Square and The Aud. The Kitchener Public Library is another community stalwart.

Oktoberfest

Main article: Kitchener-Waterloo Oktoberfest

Kitchener is home to the largest Oktoberfest celebration outside of Germany.

Kitchener's Oktoberfest celebration is an annual nine-day event. Based on the original German Oktoberfest, it is billed as Canada's Great Bavarian Festival. It is held every October, starting on the Friday before Canadian Thanksgiving and running until the Saturday after.

While its best-known draws are the beer-based celebrations, other cultural and entertainment attractions also fill the week. The best-known is the parade held on Thanksgiving Day; as the only major parade on Canadian Thanksgiving, it is televised nationally.

Another icon of the festival is Miss Oktoberfest. This position was formerly selected in a televised beauty pageant, the applicant coming from across North America. The position is now selected by a closed committee of judges from a panel of local applicants; community involvement and personal character form the main criteria under the new system. A ribald spin-off of the Miss Oktoberfest pageant is celebrated in some local high schools, in which all participants are male, but dressed as women.

CAFKA

File:Cafka anti-cool.jpg

Performance Artist Anti-cool at Kitchener City Hall during CAFKA.05: X Industria

Main article: Cafka

The Contemporary Art Forum Kitchener and Area (CAFKA) is a non-profit organization that holds a biennial international arts festival in downtown Kitchener. It brings cutting-edge works out of art galleries, studios and artist-run centres and places them in public spaces. Art installations have traditionally been located in and around Kitchener City Hall. CAFKA events are always free of charge to the public.

City parks and trails

Kitchener's oldest and most important outdoor park is Victoria Park, in the heart of downtown Kitchener. Numerous events and festivities are held in this park.

A cast-bronze statue of Queen Victoria is located in Victoria Park, along with a cannon. The statue was unveiled in May 1911, on Victoria Day (the Queen's birthday) in the tenth year after her death. The Princess of Wales Chapter of the IODE raised the $6,000 needed for the monument.

Victoria Park

The city has announced the construction of a new Gaukel Street entrance to Victoria Park. Gaukel Street is to be used as a corridor linking Victoria Park to City Hall. The new entrance will include a complete streetscape upgrade on Gaukel Street with new lighting, stamped concrete, and other features. The new entrance to the park itself will include stone masonry gates, walkways, new lighting, flower gardens, a pond complete with waterfalls, and a sculpture created by artist Ernest Daetwyler.

Another significant beauty spot in the city is Rockway Gardens. Adjacent to the Rockway golf course, the gardens occupy a long narrow strip of land alongside King Street as it rushes down to meet the Conestoga Parkway and become Highway 8. Here there are many fountains and rock grottoes. It is a popular site for wedding photos in the summer months.

Kitchener has an extensive and safe community trail system. The trails, which are controlled and run by the city, are hundreds of kilometres in length. Due to Kitchener's close proximity to the Grand River, several community trails and paths border the river's shores. This convenient access to the Grand River has drawn nature-seeking tourists to the city.

However, Kitchener's trails and especially natural areas remain underfunded by city council and as a result, many are not adequately maintained.

Transport

Highways and expressways

Highway 8 as seen from Franklin Street bridge.

Kitchener was very proactive and visionary about its transportation network in the 1960s, with the province undertaking at that time construction of the Conestoga Parkway from the western boundary (just past Homer Watson Boulevard) across the south side of the city and looping north along the Grand River to Northfield Drive in Waterloo. Subsequent upgrades took the Conestoga west beyond Trussler Road and north towards St Jacobs, with eight lanes through its middle stretch, and it is busy at all hours.

The Conestoga Parkway bears the provincial highway designations of Highways 7 and 8. King Street becomes Hwy 8 where it meets the Conestoga in the south and leads down to the 401, but Old King Street survives as the street-route through Freeport to the Preston area of Cambridge. Up until construction of the Conestoga, Highland Road through Baden had been the primary highway to Stratford. Victoria Street was then and remains the primary highway to Guelph but this is slated to be bypassed with an entirely new highway beginning at the Wellington Street exit and running roughly north of and parallel to the old route.

There are two interchanges with Highway 401 on Kitchener's southern border. In addition to the primary link where Hwy 8 merges into the Hwy 401, there is another interchange on the west side with Homer Watson Boulevard.

In order to reduce the congestion on Highway 8, a new interchange has been proposed on Highway 401 at Trussler Road, which would serve the rapidly growing west side of Kitchener. Although this proposal is supported by the Region of Waterloo, the MTO has no plans to date to proceed with an interchange at Trussler Road.

City streets

Unlike many southern Ontario cities whose streets follow a strict British grid survey pattern, Kitchener's streets are laid out in a complex radial pattern on the Continental models most familiar to the German settlers.

There is good historical reason for this. Kitchener was one of the few places in Ontario where the settlers arrived in advance of government surveyors. The Mennonites who had banded together as the German Company to purchase the township from Richard Beasley simply divided their vast parcel of land by the number of shareholder households and then drew random lots to confer title on individual farms. There was no grid survey done -- no lines, no concessions, no right-of-way corridors for roads. When it came time to punch roads through the wilderness, the farmers modelled the road network on what was familiar to them, which was the pattern of villages in Switzerland and southern Germany.

This is a Continental Radial pattern and the result was major streets extended through diagonals cutting across the grid of smaller streets and converging at multiple-point intersections which, as the communities became more prosperous and if the automobile had not displaced the horse, might someday have become roundabouts decorated with circular gardens, fountains or statuary in the style of European cities. Five-point intersections created by converging diagonals are legion in the older areas:

• Victoria, Lancaster and Queen (however this instance could be disputed as there is a small distance between Queen Street and Victoria Street due to a slight bend in Queen Street right before its end, making it roughly parallel to Victoria Street, large enough that Queen Street (which ends at this point) is not included in the traffic light patterns of Victoria/Lancaster (Through Streets), but rather has a simple stop sign where it ends at Lancaster Street)
• Frederick, Lancaster and Ellen (Ellen begins at this intersection, and as a one-way street travelling away from the intersection)
• Weber, Lancaster, Krug and Cedar (Forming a shape roughly similar to that of the Yen (¥) Symbol, with Weber Street being the two cross-strokes, Cedar Street being the stem of the Y (below the cross strokes (Weber)), Lancaster Street being the branch of the Y extending to the upper left (signage has Lancaster ending not at Weber, but at Krug), and Krug Street being the branch of the Y extending to the upper right, as well as the stem of the Y between Weber and Lancaster. Interestingly, although signage and address numbers show Krug ending at Weber and Lancaster ending at Krug, Krug has a stop sign where it meets with Lancaster, and Lancaster does not. This is because this intersection is not a perfect ¥ shape; Lancaster has a clearer view of the intersection where as Krug Street has quite a severe turn to reach Weber Street (sometimes hard to navigate for the GRT #1 Stanley Park route, which turns from Weber to Krug). For safety reasons, even though Krug's namesake continues for those last few feet, traffic needs to be halted so that clear sight lines can be preserved.)
• Weber, Ottawa and East (As a traffic calming measure, due to East Avenue being a secondary road, all traffic on East Av approaching the intersection is forced to turn right on Weber Street, avoiding the intersection by means of a forced yield lane.)
• Victoria, Ahrens and Water (As a traffic calming measure, for the final few feet before the intersection Ahrens is converted to a one-way towards the intersection.)
• Glasgow, Park and Strange (Strange is a one-way street heading away from the intersection)
• Highland, Spadina and Glen (incorporated into Spadina is a large number of medians and boulevards to safely direct traffic.)
• King, Breithaupt and Moore (Breithaupt used to have a large center median forcing approaching traffic away from the intersection and onto Moore, but this has since been eliminated due to the sharp turns it imposed - a difficult course for 18-Wheelers coming out of a nearby factory.)

Other notably odd street arrangements include:

• Krug and River (Two main streets intersect while River Rd is in the middle of an elongated s-curve, giving an odd shape to the intersection. Drivers on Krug encounter a sharp 90-degree turn immediately before the intersection, forcing there to be reflective signs indicating the sharp turn. There is also a large yield lane and center island due to the odd shape. One final quirk is that formerly, Krug went a few houses further before turning to meet River. This created a VERY sharp turn which was difficult to navigate for longer vehicles, including city buses. The curve was later backed up and smoothed out, however to provide continued access to the houses who's driveways met the old, severed part of Krug, the old part was simply separated from the new Krug Street by a curb and small grassy median, and it still connects to River Road as an unsigned portion of Krug. This created one other interesting feature: due to the smooth curve in River Rd at that location, two houses sitting beside each other, seemingly on the same street are in fact on two different streets, creating a gap in their addresses by more than 100!)
• King and Queen (In the heart of downtown Kitchener, Queen Street has an awkward jog where it meets King Street. This is due to the fact that the site that the Walper Terrace Hotel - which sits on one corner, was too small for the owner's liking. Queen was subsequently re-aligned, however a building had already been constructed on the opposite corner, necessitating a jog in the street.)

A notable quirk of the Kitchener-Waterloo region involves King Street and Weber Street, two main north-south arteries which intersect at three points, despite running essentially parallel north-south. King Street runs roughly straight, aside from a large bend at William Street in Waterloo. Weber Street runs in the shape of an "S". Both ends of Weber Street are at King Street. Furthermore, addresses along King Street in Waterloo are designated as being either North or South, while addresses along King Street in Kitchener are designated as being either East or West, but on the map it is all one long road. This was done actually to reduce confusion in addresses between the cities.

Historically, attempts to simplify the street system have met limited success. With the influx of soldiers returning from service in World War II, the region was threatened with a housing crisis; seeing this as an opportunity to improve road layouts, the city constructed new neighborhoods in a grid pattern. The project was largely unsuccessful, however, and with the exception of a few isolated areas, road layouts remain complex to this day.

Another major road is Fairway Road, which begins at the three-point intersection of Courtland Avenue and Manitou Drive and goes to the Grand River, which it may someday bridge to reach the airport.[8] Kitchener's oldest large shopping centre, Fairview Mall, is located on Fairway Road. Prior to its construction in the mid-1960s, Fairway Road was known as Sims Road and the secluded Sims Estate along the Grand River is one of the few surviving reminders of that time.

The plan to extend River Road through an area known as Hidden Valley has been sharply controversial for forty years, [9] but the pressure of traffic and the absence of any other full east-west arterials between Fairway Road and the Highway 401 is forcing this development ahead.

In 2004, roundabouts were introduced to the Region of Waterloo.[10] Besides improving traffic flow, it will help the region lower pollution from emissions. In 2006, two were installed along Ira Needles Boulevard in Kitchener. As of May 2007 another two will also be placed on that street, and three more are planned through 2007 into 2008 on Fischer Hallman Road. Roundabouts are ideal for intersections in this area because of the aforementioned historical growth along Continental radial patterns versus the British grid systems.

Public transport

GRT bus

Since 2000, public transport throughout the Region of Waterloo has been provided by Grand River Transit, which was created by a merger of the former Cambridge Transit and Kitchener Transit. GRT operate a number of bus routes in Kitchener, with many running into Waterloo and two connecting to Cambridge. In September 2005, GRT added an express bus route called iXpress from downtown Cambridge through Kitchener to north Waterloo. [11]

Recently, proposals have been put forth regarding a rapid transit system serving the downtown cores of all three cities. An Environmental Assessment is being conducted by the Region. The current phase (2) of the EA is looking at options for technology, route, and station locations for the Region. Numerous Public Consultation Centres have been held where the public is encouraged to give feedback on the Rapid Transit Initiative.

Railways

Passenger rail service has long been a point of frustration for residents of Kitchener and its neighbouring cities. The problem appears to stem from the way in which rail links were laid out in this part of Ontario and how use of these links is rationed. Two main lines come westward out of Toronto and then meet up again in London. The northern line passes through Guelph, Kitchener and Stratford to London before continuing to the US border at Sarnia. The southern line goes along the heavily-populated lakeshore to Oakville, then Brantford, then Woodstock, then through London on a more southerly route to the US border at Windsor. This southern line is designated the primary passenger corridor, while the northern line through Kitchener is designated the primary freight corridor. Consequently, Kitchener, with a regional population base equal to London and situated much closer to metropolitan Toronto, gets less than one third the frequency of passenger rail service.

Passenger service is provided by VIA Rail. Three trains in each direction travelling between Sarnia and Toronto stop at the Kitchener railway station daily. The station is slightly to the northeast of the city's downtown on Weber Street near its intersection with Victoria Street.

GO Transit does not serve Kitchener; the nearest Go Train station to Kitchener is Milton station. City councillors and public petitions have called for the extension of GO Train service to the Region of Waterloo, but at present GO is studying if it will go beyond already-announced bus links.

Freight trains in Kitchener are operated by the Goderich-Exeter Railway and the Canadian Pacific Railway. These railways serve several customers (including ThyssenKrupp Budd), many of which are located in industrial parks in southern Kitchener.

Air

The closest airport to Kitchener is the Region of Waterloo International Airport in nearby Breslau, but while it is a thriving general-aviation field, it is not heavily-served by scheduled airlines. Most air travellers use either Toronto's Lester B. Pearson International Airport or Hamilton's John C. Munro International Airport. Although there are no permanent public transport links from Kitchener to any of these airports, Northwest Airlines has three flights daily to Detroit's Wayne County Metropolitan Airport and Westjet to Calgary respectively. Mesaba Airlines, using Saab 340 twin prop aircraft, is the regional carrier affiliated with Northwest and operates under the name Northwest Airlink. Westjet uses their 737-700 aircraft from their Calgary hub. They started service out of Waterloo International Airport on May 14 2007 for the summer season and then decided they will fly year-round due to strong passenger demand. Bearskin Airlines started offering service in the fall of 2007 with three flights daily between Kitchener and Ottawa using a Fairchild Turboprop aircraft. Strong demand has resulted in Bearskin Airlines adding a fourth flight on Fridays. During the winter vacation period Dec. 2005 to March 2006, Sunquest Vacations and Signature Vacations started flights to Mexico and the Dominican Republic, using Airbus A320 Aircraft. Both Signature and Sunquest have returned for the 06-07 and 07-08 winter seasons. Recent upgrades to the runways and terminal building are permitting larger aircraft to use this airport. Air Canada has been in talks with the Region with an eye on starting flights to Montreal.

Media

Main article: Media in Waterloo Region

Neighbourhoods

Forest Heights and the downtown core are considered neighbourhoods, but officially, only eight main wards are recognized. At he next City council elections, (2010) there will be ten wards, as recently voted at council, in order to better represent the residents of Kitchener. Boundaries are yet to be finalized.

Each of the larger main neighbourhoods has its own mall named after the area. Two notable examples are Stanley Park Mall, and Fairview Park Mall, the latter of which has just begun a $33,500,000 upgrade. New features will include 3-5 additional stores, a larger food court, improved washrooms, new lighting,security cameras, ceilings and an upgraded dock/receiving area.

Real estate

Kitchener-Waterloo has an exceptionally strong real estate market. Housing prices have been rising steadily, and a report released by Re/Max in 2006 predicts that 2007 will see a modest 5% gain in home prices for the Kitchener-Waterloo area. It is expected that Kitchener-Waterloo will lead the country in sales growth for 2008 at 7% [12][13], while also seeing the average house increase in value by 5-13% in 2008. [14][15] Real estate in the Hidden Valley area is the most expensive in Kitchener.

Sports teams and leagues

• Kitchener Rangers of the Ontario Hockey League who play at the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium Complex
• Kitchener Panthers of the Intercounty Baseball League who play at Jack Couch Park
• Kitchener Dutchmen of the Ontario Hockey Association who play at the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium Complex
• KW Braves Jr. A Lacrosse of the Ontario Lacrosse Association who play at the Waterloo Rec Centre.
• Kitchener Fastball League contains 12 teams and plays at Budd Park
• Kitchener Minor Hockey Association (KMHA) which helps thousands of children play recreational and house league hockey
• Dutch Boy Drum and Bugle Corps division III Drum and Bugle Corps
• Tri-City Titans of the NAFL who play at the Centennial Stadium, which is also part of the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium Complex

Notable Kitchener Natives and Residents

• Raffi Armenian, conductor, Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony
• Don Awrey, Team Canada 1972 player
• Brian Barlow, Comedian
• Don Beaupre, retired NHL ice hockey player
• Todd Bertuzzi, NHL ice hockey player, though a native of Sudbury, Ontario, lives in Kitchener
• Louis Orville Breithaupt, 18th Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario (1952–1957)
• Mel Brown, blues musician
• Christopher Chalmers, freestyle swimmer
• John Robert Colombo, writer
• Gary Cowan, golfer
• Woodrow Wilson Clarence "Woody" Dumart, played forward for the Boston Bruins. Born in Kitchener. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1992. (1946-2001)
• David Edgar (footballer), Newcastle United FC, Soccer. Canadian Under-19 international who currently plays in the FA Premier League
• Wayne Erdman, judoka
• Grandmaster Pan, famous kung-fu master
• Helix, a popular heavy metal band
• Jill Hennessy, actress, Law & Order (1993-1996), Crossing Jordan
• J Hunsberger, Techno dj/producer
• Dj Jace, Techno dj/producer
• Merrick Jarrett, folk singer, (Mariposa Folk Festival)
• William Lyon Mackenzie King, Canada's tenth, and longest serving, prime minister
• Lennox Lewis, retired boxer, grew up in Kitchener and owns a house in the city.
• Shannon Lyon, musician
• Michael Kraus, minister and entrepreneur
• Ross Macdonald, pseudonym for Kenneth Millar, author, mystery writer, creator of Lew Archer
• Peter Mackie, former professional soccer player
• Paul MacLeod, singer/songwriter
• Scott Manning, stunt pilot and former professional Canadian football player
• Lois Maxwell, actress, born in Kitchener in 1927. She played "Miss Moneypenny" in 14 James Bond films. She died on September 29, 2007.
• Messenjah, reggae band
• Danny Michel, musician
• James G. Mitchell, computer scientist
• Margaret Millar, author, mystery writer, wife of Ross Macdonald
• David Morrell, award winning author, creator of Rambo
• Moe Norman, golfer
• Carl Arthur Pollock, industrialist, Electrohome Ltd
• Jeremy Ratchford, actor, Cold Case
• Karen Redman, Liberal member of the Canadian House of Commons (represents Kitchener Centre)
• Paul Reinhart, retired NHL ice hockey player
• Jason Reso, professional wrestler (competes in TNA under the name "Christian Cage")
• Frank J. Selke, NHL manager
• Milt Schmidt, NHL ice hockey player, who with Woody Dumart and Bobby Bauer comprised the Boston Bruins Kraut line
• Mike Shannon, Techno dj/producer
• Dave Sim, creator of the comic book Cerebus the Aardvark
• Darryl Sittler, retired NHL ice hockey player
• Edna Staebler, author, Order of Canada
• Scott Stevens, retired NHL ice hockey player
• Fitzroy Vanderpool, former WBC & WBA boxing champion
• Judy Wasylycia-Leis, NDP member of the Canadian House of Commons (represents Winnipeg North)
• Homer Watson, landscape artist
• Mike West, backstroke swimmer
• Dawud Wharnsby Ali, singer-songwriter, poet, performer and television personality
• Walter P. Zeller, the founder of Canada's largest discount department store chain, Zellers, was born near the city
• A. David Hamill, Mayor of Ranson, West Virginia, Hamill, grew up in the city
• Dennis Wideman, NHL Defenseman

See also

• Berlin to Kitchener name change
• Kitchener City Hall
• CKCO-TV

External links

• City of Kitchener
• Kitchener Community Profile
• The Record Newspaper (Serving Waterloo Region)
• Grand River Transit (serving Waterloo, Kitchener and Cambridge)
• Kitchener-Waterloo Oktoberfest
• Centre in the Square
• Kitchener News / Weather
• Satellite image courtesy of Google Maps