It took me years to find Kaufman Flats. It’s not on any maps, at least not any Google maps. It’s one of those local places that if you have a dog, kayak or canoe, you hear about from time to time but never can find without the help of a local – someone who has been here longer than you.

I’ve been in Waterloo Region now for almost exactly twelve years. We arrived in early June 2000, fresh off the plane from Taiwan. I still recall my first impressions of Kitchener Waterloo and wondering what there was to do in this town, wondering if there were any Mongolian bar-b-que. restaurants, Chinese bubble tea shops or local and ongoing things to do.

At least there was a Starbucks!

After living the previous ten years in a city with a population well over five million, how could I, how could anyone be happy living in a place of less half a million and spread over such a large area?

This was going to be challenging.

I remember we rented a car in Toronto and drove down the 401 to Kitchener Waterloo. Like many people arriving for the first time, we drove straight up King Street. From the 401, I noticed the green rolling hills of Ontario. I noticed the Schneider’s sign (the wiener beacon) off the 401 and that Ontario drivers drive well over the speed limit. I reasoned that we must not have speeding cameras like we had on the highway in Taiwan.

One year in Taiwan, I got eight speeding tickets. They came in the mail at regular intervals with a fine, a big red chop mark and a photograph. The photographs always showed me, wearing some striped night market shirt, happily breaking the law. I’d open the mail, look at the date and the shirt I was wearing and I’d send off my $15 fine.

The first year living here was challenging. The second was too. But slowly we found favorite restaurants and things to do. New restaurants opened and new things to do sprung up. In truth, Kitchener Waterloo has changed a lot  in the past twelve years and often when I hear people complaining about nothing to do I’m tempted to pontificate and sometimes I do.

So where is Kaufman Flats? In fact it’s nothing special and it’s easy to miss but if you’re looking for something and you can’t find it, it makes you want to find it all the more (like a TV remote), I found it by trail and error, happenstance, persistence and by chance. I asked Bob, who’s lived here all his life. It is here.

Filed under: Around Kitchener Waterloo, relocating by Keith Marshall
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There is always so much happening around Kitchener Waterloo. Its all interrelated at least to our taxes, neighborhoods and lifestyle.

With the LRT given the green light to spend, the council awarded its first contract last week. The international engineering firm Parsons Brinckerhoff Halsall Inc. will help regional government prepare design criteria for a different private partner who will be chosen by council in 2014 to design, build and operate trains for up to 30 years. Parsons Brinckerhoff Halal’s website shows they consult on an array of projects from resort hotels to power plants.

Many residents of Waterloo Region are wary of the LRT in light of the RIM park mess. The good news is that the Rim Park financing fiasco is finally over. Legal action pursuing former city treasurer and the employees of the firm that financed RIM Park came to a close. The bad news is the lawsuits put taxpayers another $2.6M in the hole.

It costs a lot to live in Waterloo. Of the three cities in the Region, Waterloo’s taxes are the highest. They may get higher still. We may have an $11 million hit in the form of a subsidy to improve a neighborhood in decline and prevent a complete Waterloo student ghetto in Northdale. The subsidies would go to developers and owners to encourage them to build better, higher buildings. Development was frozen about a month ago while the area undergoes more studies. The current plan led to too many owners and developers building boxy structures filled with student bedrooms.

More good news for KW, at least if you’re a homeowner. The real estate market is showing no signs of fatigue. The average sale price in Kitchener Waterloo increased 1.9% in April to $316,023 on a year-over-year basis. The average price in Cambridge rose 2.4% to $294,668. Kitchener Waterloo Realtors sold 672 homes last month, an increase of 8.9% from the 617 homes that changed hands in the same month a year ago.

Filed under: Around Kitchener Waterloo, home owners, this week in real estate by Keith Marshall
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Grand River Hospital

In 1973 Waterloo Region had about 268,000 people. Today we have 535,000. Our population has about doubled in forty years. In about another twenty years we are predicted to be at about 735,000. That’s good news. Good news for out local economy, housing market and lifestyle; if you’re like me and you like the vibrancy and opportunities of living in a city.

It was reported last week from information obtained from the 2011 census that Kitchener Waterloo are on track to reach our intensification targets. We are doing well at slowing the pace of urban sprawl and intensifying land use. Currently, about 55% of all new residential development occurs within existing neighbourhoods.

The province’s Places to Grow Act has set a clear target for both Kitchener and Waterloo — 200 people or jobs per hectare in their downtowns by 2031. At that level, urban planners say, light rail transit and rapid transit can be supported.

Kitchener Waterloo are doing a good job at refurbishing old manufacturing plants, turning them into housing and with connecting the new neighbourhoods to regional public transit.

The City of Kitchener was the Town of Berlin from 1854 until 1912 and the City of Berlin from 1912 until 1916. Waterloo was incorporated as a village in 1857 and became the Town of Waterloo in 1876 and the City of Waterloo in 1948. Cambridge became a city in 1973, when the City of Galt, Towns of Preston and Hespeler, and the hamlet of Blair were amalgamated.

Waterloo Region which includes Waterloo, Kitchener and Cambridge, and the townships of Wellesley, Woolwich, Wilmot, and North Dumfries is the tenth largest Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) in Canada and the fourth largest CMA in Ontario.

As we continue to grow, we have the advantage of learning from the mistakes some of Canada’s biggest cities made. It’s hard to imagine what it was like to live here in the 1970′s. But it’s becoming clear to see what it’ll be like in the 2030′s.

Photo credit

Filed under: Around Kitchener Waterloo, editorial, general news by Keith Marshall
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The Waterloo Region School rankings for 2011 were released earlier this week and as always I was keenly interested in my kids school as well as other schools around the region. There are too many to keep track of in my head, but at open houses and with people moving into Waterloo Region the questions often come up “How’s the local school?”, “Is it a good school?”, “Where is the best school in Waterloo Region?”.

There have been many changes again this year compared to 2010, and 2009 although some schools moved up and some moved down the list, to a large degree top schools remain at the top and not so good schools still languish near the bottom.

Elementary Schools in Waterloo

In the City of Waterloo the top five Elementary Schools are: Mary Johnson, St Agnes, Laurelwood, Mere Elisabeth Bruyere and Lexington. All of these schools are up from their position ranking last year. At the top of the top five, Mary Johnson is ranked 9, up from 8.2 last year. At the bottom of the top five, Lexington is ranked 8, up from 7.6 last year.

In Waterloo at the bottom of the list we find Empire, Sir Edgar Bauer, Westvale, Sundown and Lincoln heights. All have fallen in the rankings. Their rankings range from 6.8 to 5.2.

Elementary Schools in Kitchener

In Kitchener the top five Elementary Schools are: Smithson, Cardinal Leger, Lackner Woods, St Anne and Blessed Sacrament. Like the top schools in Waterloo, they are all up in rankings from last year. Smithson is at 8.2, up from 6.7 last year.

At the bottom of the Kitchener list we find: Alpine, King Edward, Rockway, Queen Elizabeth and Pioneer Park. Their rankings range from 4 to 2.6

Elementary Schools in Cambridge

In Cambridge the top five Elementary Schools are: St Elizabeth, Woodland Park, Hillcrest, Mother Theresa, and Blair Road. They rank 8.1 to 6.7.

At the bottom of the list are: St Margaret, Central, Stewart Avenue, St Michael, and St Peter, ranging from 3.7 to 1.3.

Secondary Schools in Waterloo Region

In the Waterloo District School Board’s Secondary Schools, we find a wide range with Sir John A Macdonald in Waterloo ranked at the top again this year at 7.9 and Jacob Hespeler at the bottom with 4.9. The top five high schools in Waterloo Region are: Sir John A Macdonald, Elmira, Waterloo, Bluevale, and Preston.

In the Catholic Board, there are only five Secondary Schools. They are ranked: Resurrection, St David, St Mary’s, St Benedict, and Monsignor Doyle.

The Frazier Institute 

Every year, the Fraser Institute reports on Schools and Hospitals across Canada. For a complete list of schools and where they rank please vista their website. The Fraser Institute’s motto is “If it matters…measure it.”

Many people, including myself, believe that a good education is important for the future of our children. If your children are of school age and you’re moving into Waterloo Region, or if you already live in the region, choose a home near a good school. It’s worth it.

Filed under: Around Kitchener Waterloo, general news, neighborhood update by Keith Marshall
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Rain Barrel Distribution

Rain Barrel Distribution 2012 will be happening again in Waterloo Region. Every year for the past ten years Waterloo Region has been sponsoring a one day only subsidized rain barrel distribution event. For the past few years they have been saying that “this will be the final year”. I believe them. I always do.

The FINAL rain barrel distribution event will be held on Saturday, April 28, 2012, beginning at 7:30 a.m. It’s best to get there about 7:00 or earlier if you can. The line is quite long and one year they ran out before I got my rain barrel. There are a couple of transport trailers full of rain barrels at all three locations. The line moves pretty fast. They have a lot of hands on deck. The locations are Cambridge Centre (Bay parking lot) in Cambridge, Fairview Park Mall (Bay parking lot) in Kitchener and Conestoga Mall (Zellers parking lot) in Waterloo.

The barrels are sold for $40 each (tax included, cash only). You must be a resident of Waterloo Region and present proof of address on a driver’s license, tax bill, etc. There is a limit of one barrel per person, per household.

The 2012 distribution is the last time the Region will be holding a single-day, subsidized rain barrel sale. So don’t miss this opportunity!

Rainwater collection using barrels and harvesting tanks is a great way to save water.Check with your city public works department to see if you qualify for a storm sewer surcharge credit if you are currently using rain barrels. Save water. Save money.

Where: Conestoga Mall, Fairview Park Mall, Cambridge Centre

When: April 28, 2012

Time: 7:30am

Cost: $40

For more information and to register please visit website

Last year: 2011

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Filed under: 365 things to do in Kitchener Waterloo, Around Kitchener Waterloo, general news by Keith Marshall
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