Comments on: Canada's Waterloo Region Plans for Light Rail by 2014

By: Andrew Dawson

Andrew Dawson — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 07:28:43 +0000

Why not just revive the Grand River Railway?

By: j

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 03:47:30 +0000

Yes, Andrew. In fact, a number of high-profile residential projects have just been completed in downtown Kitchener and Uptown Waterloo, much of them being converted warehouses or factory buildings.

In addition, a factor in the region’s growth has been the high-tech sector. Waterloo is home to RIM, maker of the BlackBerry, and numerous smaller companies feeding off the expertise at the University of Waterloo. Add to that very little congestion, and relatively undervalued real estate, and you have a recipe for growth and intensification.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 16:37:16 +0000

Do people move to places like Kitchener-Waterloo-Cambridge to live in dense urban settings? I’m skeptical.

By: mdruker

mdruker — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 17:45:16 +0000

Downtown Kitchener and Uptown Waterloo are decently healthy and growing — particularly Uptown. LRT will certainly make both stronger.

By: jon

jon — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 06:27:08 +0000

whats the health of the downtown? assuming they have a “downtown”

i always think this is a critical component of transit success

By: Alon Levy

Alon Levy — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 17:36:27 +0000

The Japanese definition of a suburb is a city with at least 1.5% of its over-15 population commuting to the central city or cities. The Western world draws its metro area boundaries somewhat more tightly, though. My guess is that if Canada had US-style combined statistical areas then Waterloo would probably be joined with Toronto (and Hamilton, and Barrie, and Oshawa, and Guelph). But I’m not sure.

By: smably

smably — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 17:27:11 +0000

Yes, the malls are enclosed, and they are already major transit destinations.

I don’t think our growth has anything to do with Toronto. The Waterloo Region is definitely not a bedroom community of Toronto, and we have little in common with Barrie, Oshawa, or Milton. According to the 2006 census, we had only 10,665 GTA commuters in a population of almost 500,000.

By: Alon Levy

Alon Levy — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 17:08:58 +0000

I believe the malls in Canada are typically enclosed, like Penn Station’s retail or the ubiquitous malls of downtown Toronto; these are easier to serve by transit than open-air strip malls. I don’t know if the malls on this planned LRT are enclosed, though.

The Waterloo region’s fast growth suggests to me that it’s becoming an exurb of Greater Toronto. This is the pattern in other fast-growing cities in Ontario, such as Barrie and Oshawa. If so, then light rail is a good way to ensure this exurbanization is transit-oriented.

By: Jarrett at HumanTransit.org

Jarrett at HumanTransit.org — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 14:03:28 +0000

Cameron: Not at all. In the short run you have to work with the existing trip generators, and malls are important ones. Then, over time, you redevelop the malls into more urban town centers, with street networks etc.

By: Cameron Monagle

Cameron Monagle — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 13:55:47 +0000

Not familiar with the area–but for an area so focused on reducing sprawl, doesn’t it seem counterproductive to build a line with malls as both terminuses (termini?).