Your Midtown KW Neighbourhood

It would be hard to deny that the Midtown Mount Hope neighbourhood is changing. It feels like it’s happening in the blink of an eye, but much of it has been in the planning process for years.

Every neighbourhood evolves over time, but the changes in and around our Mount Hope neighbourhood are particularly pronounced over the last few years due to Weber Street widening, LRT construction, plans for the multi-modal transit hub on Victoria Street at the bottom of the ‘hood, the closing of Waterloo Street between Breithaupt & Victoria, arrival of Google in the neighbourhood, in-fill housing projects, increased movement in real estate sales and real estate prices and more.

Each of these are planned processes (not the real estate prices!) and there is always an opportunity for you to participate and be heard on how projects are shaped as they affect our neighbourhood.

Here are 3 important initiatives that affect our neighbourhood, in progress right now….. and there are opportunities for you to be involved.

1. Planning Around Rapid Transit Stations (PARTS)

• the Ion LRT stop at Grand River Hospital on King Street is in our neighbourhood. PARTS is initiated by the Planning Department of the City of Kitchener and will guide future development and investment in the area around the rapid transit stop. The study encompasses an area within a 10 minutes walk of the transit stop. PARTS addresses issues such as land use planning, streetscapes and infrastructure requirements and plans to address pedestrian, bicycle, transit and road issues
• PARTS is intended to to engage the community broadly including internal staff, property owners, residents, external agencies, and development interests
• Kitchener staff and a 3rd party consultant, Urban Strategies, are hosting consultations in a variety of formats

PARTS Public Information Centre & Workshop – Thursday September 29, 2016

• Location: Kitchener City Hall, 200 King St. W, Conestoga Room
  Doors open at 6:30 p.m., presentation at 6:45 p.m., group workshop at 7:15 p.m
• The purpose of this meeting will be to review the scenarios and hear from you what you like, don’t like or think is missing from the design scenarios, as well as how you feel they should be evaluated
• Building on the feedback we received to date the team has developed several possible scenarios for the two station areas. These scenarios illustrate a range of different approaches for each station area including potential new streets and blocks, land uses, parks open spaces and connections.
  

PARTS Survey #2 – to be released Thursday October 6, 2016

• Visit the Midtown Study Area webpage to view and respond to the survey

More Information

• PARTS – general information
• PARTS FAQ
• PARTS Midtown– Background, additional documents and maps

 2. Residential Intensification in Established Neighbourhood Study (RIENS) 

• RIENS recognizes that the city is growing quickly; the Region of Waterloo is building smart growth strategies in place to direct development and preserve green space and agricultural land and some of the growth will take place in already established neighbourhoods like ours
• RIENS will undertake a review of its planning approval process for new development projects in established residential neighbourhoods to determine if changes are necessary. The purpose of the Residential Intensification in Established Neighbourhoods Study (RIENS) is to develop a clear and fair process for approving redevelopment projects in these neighbourhoods

RIENS Public Information Session #2

• Coming this fall; to be notified about upcoming meetings and workshops, contact Janine Oosterveld

More Information

• RIENS – general information
• Summary of the first Public Information Session – June 2016
• Background Report – May 2016

3. Community Engagement Workshop

• our City makes decisions every day on our behalf – how do you want to be engaged in the decisions that matter to you? These could be decisions such as new park projects, by-laws or city policies….. hint, hint….  RIENS, PARTS… see above!
• give your input on how the city can improve communication and promotion of engagement activities; how to close the feedback loop and keep people informed of final outcomes; and how to  better reach citizens who are not typically involved

Community Engagement Workshop – Tuesday October 4, 2016

• Location: Kitchener Memorial Auditorium, Subscribers Lounge, 400 East Ave
• 6:30 – 8:30pm
• Register here to attend