Talk:Kitchener, Ontario

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Media

Waterloo article has a media section, why not us? John wesley 17:10, 23 May 2006 (UTC)

stuff

"many of its municipal buildings would not look out of place in Bavaria."

Does anyone have examples of this? I've lived here for five years and never seen any 'Bavarian' buildings municipal or otherwise. DJ Clayworth 16:16, 13 Jan 2004 (UTC)

I can't think of too many, no; 20-year resident myself. Even "It has long been an important beer brewing area" is somewhat inaccurate; the only breweries that I can recall in the area are in Waterloo and Guelph.Radagast 01:09, Jan 14, 2004 (UTC)

That might be an erroneous reference to the the great many tudor-style buildings in the city, though I thought tudor architecture was a british thing. -- Silvercloud 09:31, 21 Apr 2005 (UTC)

climate

I find ist hard to believe that Kitchener is supposed to have only 140 frost-free days a year. That would mean 216 days of winter. --174.119.145.37 (talk) 14:43, 26 November 2011 (UTC)

140 frost free days --- consecutive days without frost. Kitchener has much for than 140 frost free days, but in between lower lows and record lows marginalize that number. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Jeffster1970 (talk • contribs) 02:49, 4 June 2012 (UTC)

"Kitchener's downtown core was once an area of considerable urban decay"

Was? Was? It is, it is, though I suppose it's POV to rail on how shitty the core is. -- Silvercloud 09:34, 21 Apr 2005 (UTC)

I agree, although things have gotten better. I changed the wording of that introductory sentence to "Kitchener's downtown core, though somewhat improved in recent years, has experienced considerable urban decay, thanks largely to the decline of industrial jobs in the city and the growth of its suburbs." Is that better? --timc | Talk 14:42, 21 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Definitely better, I like. Silvercloud 22:37, 25 Jun 2005 (UTC)

It certainly remains a debatable point, but IMO it is indeed improving. If UW and Laurier bring their satellites in, the western core at least will see some strong renewal. The east end, particularly Cedar Hill, are the biggest concern. Radagast 14:46, Apr 21, 2005 (UTC)

Cedar Hill is definetly crumbling into a low-income ghetto. Then again, which city dosent have one? Look at Toronto's Regant Park neighbourhood, or even Stratfords east end.

I think what is meant by "Kitchener's downtown core was once an area of considerable urban decay" refers to the time before civic square was built. ie pre-1980. Anyone who remembers downtown during the 70's knows that downtown has definatly improved. However, it is still a work in progress. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 99.237.39.213 (talk) 20:02, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

the inspired major

I fixed the misplaced apostrophe in "The current mayor of Kitchener is Carl Zehr who is inspired by the what he see's in the youth of Kitchener", but I'm not too sure if that information is relevant and worth including. Personally I'm tempted to remove it, but I'm looking for others' comments before doing so. --qviri 00:32, 12 July 2005 (UTC)

Come now, be bold! If you don't like it, take it out. If someone disagrees, there will be discussion then.

I don't like it either, so out it goes. Radagast 03:45, July 12, 2005 (UTC)

I shall be from now on. Thanks. --qviri 05:22, 12 July 2005 (UTC)

picture of downtown in Economy

OK, so Image:Kitchener_Downtown.jpg lacks a copyright tag. Having said that, Image:Kitchenerskyline.jpg just isn't a good picture. It contains trees, roofs, a utility pole, a billboard (!?!?) and then, far in the background, a couple of buildings downtown.

I've removed the picture altogether now to avoid a revert war. Hopefully Image:Kitchener_Downtown.jpg can be provided with a copyright tag and reinserted. --qviri 18:38, 2 October 2005 (UTC)

If not, I may just head up there with a camera someday and duplicate it (it's taken from the 10th-floor public cafeteria at City Hall). Radagast 11:57, 3 October 2005 (UTC)

The photo was taken by a friend of mine and he 'dosent give a shit', whatever that translates to in legal terms. I say leave it up for now, as a skyline shot of downtown is tricky, at least one showing its true density like that one does.

I just stripped out the one I found there; it's of Waterloo, not Kitchener... Radagast 00:17, 19 January 2006 (UTC)

Okay, that one's better. Radagast 00:20, 19 January 2006 (UTC)

The photo now is pretty poor, no better than the one with the billboard and powerlines. If somebody is up to it, you can get a really good shot from Highland Road East at that park with the waterslide (near that gas station/KFC/old factory they demolished). You'd need to climb onto the roof of this little building (I think which is on Woodside Avenue, also beside the park), however, the angle is excellent. I would gladly go take the photo however I have no working digital camera anymore. It shows every single highrise building downtown, in a nice dense view.

I think I know the spot; I'll keep it in mind for snapping this spring/summer. Radagast 00:39, 11 April 2006 (UTC)

You can also get a good shot of the skyline from the home hardware on park st. Kitchenerite 10:16, 10 July 2007 (UTC)

I think the best shot would be from the top of Mount Trashmore. Not only would you get the skyline but most of the outlying portions of the city too. There's more to Kitchener than downtown. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Imperialconqueror (talk • contribs) 07:39, 11 September 2007 (UTC)

If all else fails, the view from the southwest end, (on bleams heading towards meinheim, or on the hill beside the sunrise center), does catch all of the downtown core and a bit of the surrounding areas. Also keep in mind that the north-east side of chicopee ski hill offers a great view as well. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 99.233.86.102 (talk) 03:36, 11 November 2008 (UTC)

More info and photos

I've added some more info on the city aswell as a photo of the parkway and a war time house. 216.59.248.76 21:49, 18 January 2006 (UTC)

Sorry, that was me. Guava 22:15, 18 January 2006 (UTC)

Thanks so much, because the majority of the existing photographs are really problematic (some of them are of unknown copyright status, and another one is untrue). JYolkowski // talk 23:28, 18 January 2006 (UTC)

Fairview Park Photo

It shows the parking lot and the low-rent urban eyesore slums-in-waiting across the road known as the Gresham buildings. It doesn't actually show even one square metre of real honest-to-G-d shopping mall.

Indeed. No reason to show decayed ghetto apartment buildings.

Inflated Population Figure

The population figure for Kitchener is highly inflated.The claim of 500,000 is laughable because it then shows a stats Can source that says 414,000.I know it's common to see inflated or "pumped" up figures for other cities, however they are usally more prominate cities and not some "Dime Bag" backwater town that in reality is more of a suburb of Toronto

The 500,000 number is clearly listed as the CMA population, which includes Cambridge and Waterloo. This 'pumping up' comes directly from Statistics Canada, as a projection based on the 414,000 of the previous census. As for other descriptions, thank you for keeping your POV to the talk page and off the article. Radagast 01:52, 9 April 2006 (UTC)

Ummm...500,000 figure is not "clearly" listed as a CMA.I understand Radagast is a native of Kitchener, so I can understand that he may want to Lie,and thus pump up his town.

Isn't there some Wikipedia policy against making discussions personal? I can understand a discussion of whether Kitchener is 500 000 or not, but it's not a personal issue. (I haven't checked, but I believe the figure includes all of Waterloo region as a part of the metropolitain area, not just Waterloo and Cambridge. The Waterloo Region signs near Elmira say 450 000.) As for Kitchener being "in reality more a suburb of Toronto," I don't think there's any evidence for that. I grew up in Waterloo region, and I didn't visit Toronto until I was 17. The city was as foreign to me as Buffalo or Detroit. This is probably slightly unusual, but every Toronto suburbanite I know identifies him/herself as a Torontonian; I don't know a single person from Kitchener who would do this, and I don't think so many people from Kitchener commute to Toronto for work, etc. --69.158.17.224 00:25, 8 May 2006 (UTC)

Indeed, the population of Kitchener is not 500'000. It is 209'000. When you include the metro - Cambridge and Waterloo, aswell as the smaller townships - then the population is indeed over 500'000 (upward of 600'000 I believe). —Preceding unsigned comment added by 216.59.254.40 (talk • contribs)

Source http://www.kitchener.ca/pdf/profile(1).pdf - I found the value the unsigned user mentions above. It's on a local site, specifying population from a 2006 estimate. The signs on the highway leading in still say 190,000.--WPaulB 15:21, 6 May 2007 (UTC)

To clear up any misconceptions, Kitchener is not a suburb of Toronto, my father is an urban planner and has shown me statistics that show that the number of people who commute from Kitchener to Toronto is not large enough for Kitchener to be considered a suburb under any widley used definition of the word. Although, there are certain parts of Cambridge, such as Hespeler, that would be considered suburbs of Toronto if taken on their own. Kitchenerite 10:25, 10 July 2007 (UTC)

WP:V... "The threshold for inclusion in Wikipedia is verifiability, not truth." Paul Cyr 15:54, 10 July 2007 (UTC)

I am always surprised by people who think that anything relatively near Toronto must be a suburb and their confusion about the fact that it is not. A suburb is part of the city (the urban part of sub-urban) or obviously attached to nearer suburbs. As in, there is no vast acreage of undeveloped lands between a suburb and the urban center. Commuter towns (even if Kitchener was proven to be one) are not necesarily suburbs of the commutee city, and before we could be considered a Toronto suburb, I assume that the cities between Kitchener/Waterloo/Cambridge and Toronto, like Guelph, would have to be considered a suburb of Toronto first. Who gets confused about it anyway? --WPaulB 17:15, 10 July 2007 (UTC)

To clarify, the Kitchener CMA is made up of the cities of Kitchener, Waterloo, and Cambridge as well as the townships of Woolwich and North Dumfries. The Region of Waterloo is made up of the aforementioned plus two additional townships: Wellesley and Wilmot. The Region of Waterloo does annual population estimates by city and township that can be found here: http://www.region.waterloo.on.ca/web/region.nsf/c56e308f49bfeb7885256abc0071ec9a/988f85bdc3f386b585256afe005f6afe!OpenDocument These estimates are going to be slightly higher than census counts because the census does not capture foreign/temporary residents. The Region has not officially released the 2007 year-end estimate for Kitchener, but it is 213,990 last time I checked. That is why Kitchener has started updating the population signs on streets and highways to read 214,000. The entire region now exceeds 500,000.Kitchener-Researcher (talk) 20:28, 3 April 2008 (UTC)

A few points: first, the census under-reports the figures, as you stated, and is typically short by 1-2%. The 2006 census reports a population of 451,235, so 460,000 is a good rough estimate of the lower bound for the population (this is roughyl a 2% increase). Second, Waterloo Region's population estimates are based on the 2001 census, not 2006, and further they over-report population by including transient population groups (particularly students). The reported 2006 year-end population is 506,800, and seems to over-report by about 28,000 (students in the area not living at home), so a good upper bound for the population is 480,000. Yes, this is original research, but the most accurate value will be between 460,000 and 480,000. Mindmatrix 20:23, 4 April 2008 (UTC)

Yup, you are absolutely right, the difference is primarily because of student counts, so it really depends on user needs what number you want to use. For comparison to other communities, I would always use census counts, but if you are trying to assess the size of the population for services, commercial activity, transportation needs etc. the higher number can be more useful. Just to add, the Kitchener CMA was 451,235 as you indicated, and the Waterloo Region was 478,121 as of the 2006 Census. So I would guess that you can go a wee bit higher than 480,000 for year-end 2006 for a census equivalent population estimate. The Region does do population estimates that are 'census equivalents' but don't publish them on their website. I don't have these numbers for the Region, just Kitchener, but this does illustrate the difference between the three numbers: 2006 Census Kitchener City - 204,668, Region's 'Census Equivalent' estimate for 2006 Kitchener City - 209,010, Region's estimate for year-end 2006 inc temporary residents Kitchener City - 213,990. The 'Census Equivalent' number is still higher because ultimately, the census does still come in a bit low as you indicated.Kitchener-Researcher (talk) 18:53, 7 April 2008 (UTC)

POV re: Forsyth Factory

The Heritage Conservation section seems to have an inordinate focus on criticism of the city's decision to demolish the Forsyth factory. The prose isn't necessarily biased, but it seems that the section is presenting only one side of the argument. I'm not sure whether that merits rewriting, but I thought I'd point it out for consideration by more experienced Wikipedians. Smably 19:28, 10 April 2006 (UTC)

I would say that the Heritage Conservation section definately needs rewriting. The focus is entirely on the Forsyth factory, with only a passing reference to the old city hall. The amount written about the factory should be reduced, and discussion should include other examples of demolished Heritage buildings, as well as preserved Heritage buildings. Perhaps the old jail and courthouse, Joseph Schneider House, and Woodside could be discussed? I'm not an expert on Heritage buildings, but the section needs to be given a wider scope and neutral POV.--69.158.17.224 00:07, 8 May 2006 (UTC)

Much of the Forsyth discussion is now moot, as it's been torn down. Next chance I get, I'll try to work this into a decently-sized section. Radagast 03:48, 13 December 2006 (UTC)

That's the first thing that confused me about it. Is is torn down, or was just one building torn down? I agree that section needs re-writing and should reflect the general heritage of the city. Some citations would be nice too. How do I know this isn't all just made up? Bobanny 09:35, 30 December 2006 (UTC)

Transport

If I wanted to add information about construction and use of the recently new rounadabouts in the region, specifically Kitchener, should this go under City Streets, or as a new section of Transport? WPaulB 06:18, 27 August 2006 (UTC) Surely just put it under Streets as is? (LHarmey (talk) 01:16, 2 October 2009 (UTC))

Demographics

The table has data for the Kitchener CMA (that is, including Kitchener, Waterloo, Cambridge), not the city itself. I think that's misleading. --74.109.173.23 00:19, 9 February 2007 (UTC)

This should be used instead. --74.109.173.23 00:26, 9 February 2007 (UTC)

Contradiction

I don't want to sort it out/do the research (I haven't lived in Kitchener in 15 years and don't know basic things that a resident could find easily). The article says, currently, that there has been no commitment from UW to the downtown Pharmacology school, and that there was a groundbreaking in March last year. Obviously on (probably the first) needs to be taken out, and that info likely needs to be updated, since it's a year later, and no doubt some progress has been made.Thespian 12:06, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

Indeed, it is well underway: [1]. I'll attend to the article. Thanks for the tip! Radagast 21:24, 18 March 2007 (UTC)

History of Kitchener

Well, our history now officially begins with the blue box program 25 yrs ago. After being tagged for some months, the following block of text was removed for copyright violations. I was not the original plagiarist who added this material to the article and I understand fully why it needs to come out. I would even say that some of this is itself inaccurate. But this is the material or time period which needs to be covered. Will someone, anyone?, please take some time to recast these facts into new language for our city? Then strike this block from this Talk page. BeeTea 16:13, 7 July 2007 (UTC)

In 1784, the land on which the City of Kitchener would be established was part of a large tract of more than 2400 square kilometres of land, set aside by the British Crown as a grant to the Six Nations Indians for their loyalty to the Crown during the American War of Independence. Between 1796 and 1798, the Six Nations Indians led by Joseph Brant, sold off 380 km² of land to Colonel Richard Beasley, a United Empire Loyalist. While located far inland and isolated from centres of commerce, the land owned by Beasley appealed to a particular group of Pennsylvania German Mennonite farmers.

Fuelled by the fear that their religious freedoms and exemption from military service under British rule would not be guaranteed following the American Revolutionary War, Pennsylvania German Mennonites began to search for new areas of settlement. In the 1790s Mennonites responded to advertisements for Upper Canada promising inexpensive land and the guarantee of freedom of worship and beliefs. By the 1790s, Mennonites began clearing land on the Ontario side of the Niagara River. It is reported that a small group of Mennonites, members of the Betzner and Sherk families, learned of Richard Beasley's tract of land, and by the end of 1800 the first permanent non-native settlement was established in what is now the City of Kitchener. Soon afterwards, a group of Mennonites pooled resources to purchase all of the unsold land from Beasley, forming the German Company Tract and dividing the 60,000 acres (240 km²) into 128 farms of 448 acres and 32 farms of 83 acres each for distribution. At the time of the pioneer settlement, Kitchener was a land abundant with dense bush, swamps and sand hills. Streams found throughout the area would become very important in supplying the power for saw and grist mills, in what was still, however, a farm-based economy.

In 1816, the Government of Upper Canada elevated the German Company Tract to the Township of Waterloo. The establishment of the Township also marked the beginning of a steady migration of German-speaking Europeans to the area. The German language of the Mennonites and their tolerance for other religions and cultures attracted many German-speaking immigrants from Europe particularly from the 1820s to 1870s. Population growth and improvements made to roads helped establish the beginnings of a true urban centre that would become a hamlet named Berlin in 1833, in honour of the settlers' German heritage. In 1853 Berlin would become the County Seat of the newly created County of Waterloo and with that so came the status of Village. Three years later in 1856 the Grand Trunk Railway was extended to Berlin, opening up the area completely to Upper Canada society and to future industrialization.

The increase of German-speaking immigrants from Europe also contributed greatly to Berlin's industrialization. Their skilled trades and industrial knowledge would help lead to a period of rapid growth and prosperity. By the end of the 19th century, Berlin had established itself as a major industrial centre within the Dominion of Canada, boasting furniture factories, tanneries, a foundry and button factories.

On June 9, 1912, Berlin officially became a city and was considered to be Canada's German Capital. However, with the outbreak of the First World War in 1914 came anti-German sentiment and an internal conflict ensued as the city was forced to confront its cultural distinctiveness. There was pressure for the city to change its name from Berlin, and in 1916 following much debate and controversy, the name of the city was changed to Kitchener, after the British field marshal Lord Kitchener, who was Secretary of State for War until his death on June 9, 1916 in the mine sinking of HMS Hampshire. Ironically, Lord Kitchener was responsible for sending many civilians to concentration camps during the Boer War.

The extensive industrialization of Berlin in the 19th century had a significant impact on the urban landscape. Large factories and the homes of industrialists and labourers replaced many of the buildings from Berlin's pioneer era. Kitchener's rapid growth led to a need to plan for the orderly development of the city, and in 1925 the first City Plan was approved. The Adams-Seymour Plan was characterized by a comprehensive zoning by-law establishing distinct residential districts and locating commercial and industrial areas along primary arterial roads. It also contemplated the growth of Kitchener beyond the established 19th century form of Berlin, and significantly influenced how the City would develop in the 20th century.

While Kitchener suffered during the Great Depression, the diversification of industry enabled the city to weather the worst years of the Depression era and return to a period of growth as early as 1936. The tension that had marked the City in the First World War did not reappear during World War II. Kitchener rallied as enthusiastically as its neighbours to the Canadian cause and shared fully in the years of great economic growth in Ontario in the post war years. By 1965, Kitchener had become Canada's fastest growing city and one of the country's leading industrial, financial and distribution centres.

Streets

Can anybody cite the claims about British grid survey pattern vs continental radial patterns?

I'm guessing that this is primarily made up. The majority of the streets in Kitchener-Waterloo were constructed long after German settlers were around. Any streets dating back to the "pre-Kitchener" (Berlin) were in fact laid out in grid patterns, as seen downtown, uptown Waterloo, Cambridge, and the Pioneer Tower area. Plus, hunting around Google brings up nothing about neither said road systems. tyx 03:45, 30 July 2007 (UTC)

The person who wrote it (User_talk:67.43.130.48) seems to have done this in good faith without citing resources for many of his edits, and lives in Kitchener. The talk page mentions some of his other edits. Let's hope he comes back to cite the sources as he says he will. I don't have a grasp on Kitchener's history.--WPaulB 05:34, 2 August 2007 (UTC)

Hopefully where I said "made up" does not sound too harsh. I've just never heard of either of said road systems, and as a resident of Kitchener can easily say the streets are as messed up as a game as snakes and ladders. Hopefully he shows up! tyx 21:00, 4 August 2007 (UTC)

I am here -- I signed up for an account the day after this. I had been editing on here for years without one and then discovered that no one takes edits seriously unless you have an ID. My family has been here since 1800. The distinctions of "British grid" versus "continental radial" were taught in high school geography classes here. I have located journal studies of our streets, but it is at a pay-per-use site and thus off-limits. If you've never been to rural France or Germany, you just won't understand. Try looking up Arc de Triomphe or Place de l'Etoile in Paris -- this is a roundabout of twelve radial roads. It is because of the dominance of the radial system that this Region now leads the hemisphere in the construction of roundabouts. There are more built or planned here than in the whole of Canada combined or than the whole of the USA combined. Have you ever looked at a land deed or survey in this area? Have you never heard of the German Company Tract? The settlers bought the township from Beasley, then divided the number of acres by the number of shareholders in the settler corporation and came up with 440 acres per share. They then divided the township into that number of lots and put the lot numbers into a hat and drew lots. There was NO survey done in advance by the government, unlike any other area in Ontario. It is utterly and absolutely unique. There is a special jargon name for this kind of survey, but I cannot pull up the terminology. Someone might know at the land registry office. Because of no survey, thus also no grid roads of the standard "lines" and "concession" type. BeeTea 20:27, 6 August 2007 (UTC)

I'm familiar with the German Company Tract. I completely forgot all about that. Thanks for the clarification!

Also, hunting around, I found this neat little map of the old tract.

tyx 19:25, 17 August 2007 (UTC)

If anyone wants an example of this drive around Kitchener and then go to Mississauga. You'll notice the difference between the road systems right away!

99.236.151.116 16:56, 1 November 2007 (UTC) On the subject of roundabouts and the extraordinary numbers (if true citation?) apparently planned, it is important to note that there are financial inducements (provincial or federal or some such to alter intersections to this type! I think is far fetched to suggest that the region, apart from being enormously car-dependant and therefore preoccupied with the importance of moving traffic, is uniquely pre-disposed to implementing traffic control devices such as these. There is some confusion between Baroque urban design in Europe(but also in England!)and some randomness or informality in the road layout here. The assessment of the assets of roundabouts is also not sufficiently comprehensive and should be removed or altered.(LHarmey (talk) 01:34, 2 October 2009 (UTC))

I sort of thought the confusing streets in K-W are a result of a "collision" between several different grids, rather than a total lack of grids. Roughly: Highway 6 in guelph seems to be aligned to lake ontario (same alignment as Peel); highway 8 from Goderich to Stratford is aligned to Lake Huron (parallel to old 86); old 24 aligns with lake erie; 8 from Hamilton area to KW seems to cut a strange diagonal all its own. KW being in the "center" of the "ontario pennisula" is a meeting point for the various grid systems. Feldercarb (talk) 02:04, 9 May 2010 (UTC).

American Whatever Conflict

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;

Why does the few words after "American" keep changing? It's been changed several times recently. If you put it in, source it, or stop changing it. The history section was removed from this page because it too closely worded the source (blatantly copied). Here it is:

In 1784, the land on which the City of Kitchener would be established was part of a large tract of more than 240,000 hectares of land, set aside by the British Crown as a grant to the Six Nations Indians for their loyalty to the Crown during the American War of Independence

The year is 1784. The American Civil War hasn't yet happened (1861-1865). According to Wikipedia: "The American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), also known as the American War of Independence." The second title is considered a British title, the first American. At this time, this part of Canada was under European control, but the US was our fledgling neighbour. Choose and source, British term or American term, but let's not be Civil.--WPaulB 03:02, 19 September 2007 (UTC)

Kitchener (Berlin) is associated with the creation of Ontario Hydro

I recently learned that Berlin is partly responsible for the creation of Ontario Hydro. It seems that those industrious Germans wanted access to Niagara-generated electricity in order to modernize Berlin factories.

http://www.hydroone.com/en/about/history/timeline/

http://www.tourniagara.com/history/hydroelectric-power/public-power-ontario-hydro/

Apparently, Berlin was one of the first communities to advocate the creation of a provincial power grid. Maybe someone could investigate this and create a paragraph or two for the front page of this article? --Neilrieck 21:27, 30 November 2007 (UTC)

History section

The statement: "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" is, honestly, one of the worst examples of history revisionism I have ever encountered in such a frequented article. There isn't even a link to the WP-article about the Berlin to Kitchener name change, which states that of the about 15.000 inhabitants less than one thousand took part in a very controversial name-changing vote in which keeping the originial name wasn't an option.

I noted that the history section has been criticized in July 2007 and yet hasn't improved too much since. Maybe we should re-install the alternate version on this talk page (a few sections above)? Malc82 (talk) 16:14, 20 January 2008 (UTC)

Rewrite for Kitchener and District Soccer League needed

Can someone who knows the topic rewrite Kitchener and District Soccer League so it matches the quality of the other articles listed in Kitchener, Ontario#Sports teams and leagues? Thanks. davidwr/(talk)/(contribs)/(e-mail) 13:53, 12 March 2008 (UTC)

City Streets

I removed a fair bit in the city streets section. While - as a resident myself - know this is all true, it's been standing as citation needed for quite a while. On top of that, the list of 5 point intersections has no direct relevance to the main Kitchener article and looks fairly messy where it is. Perhaps it could be expanded into a separate one in the future, with pictures/satellite photos? tyx (talk) 21:11, 29 March 2008 (UTC)

Is a Google map link good as a citation? --WPaulB (talk) 16:49, 4 April 2008 (UTC)

Healthcare

Why are we spreading the reach of the Regional Cardiac Care Centre so far?

I'm not changing it because I'm not sure of the logic. The original article said that the cardiac unit served as far west as Lake Huron. The next change put that at Ingersoll, Ontario. Going south, it says that Kitchener hospitals serve to Lake Erie.

Is there some proof that Woodstock General Hospital doesn't serve between Kitchener and Ingersoll, or that the hospital in Brantford isn't the next closest hospital with cardiac care south of Cambridge? It's pretty far from Brantford to Lake Erie. Lake Erie also covers a large east-west area. There is plenty of eastern sections whose people would probably go to Hamilton.

While it is original research from me, most people in Woodstock where I lived spoke mostly of being referred to London area hospitals. Downtown London is closer than downtown Kitchener from Woodstock.--WPaulB (talk) 15:06, 24 November 2008 (UTC)

Article Assessment

I am raising the article rating to "C" class. I suspect that it is rather close to a "B" rating but I have not done an assessment against the B class criteria. PKT(alk) 15:45, 3 December 2008 (UTC)

Go Transit

Could someone update the GO transit status on the page. GO bus service to Kitchener-Waterloo has been announced starting in October of this year:

http://www.gotransit.com/PUBLIC/en/publications/GONews2009/GONEWS171_en.pdf

Fenikkusuzero (talk) 07:07, 2 September 2009 (UTC)

Vacuity

Howdy folks. I added Vacuity under Music, Entertainment and the Arts. Hope this is alright. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 99.236.0.172 (talk) 01:15, 14 July 2010 (UTC)

climate

How come Kitchener has "only 140 frost free days a year"? That means 216 days of frost? Are you kidding?--174.119.145.37 (talk) 14:47, 26 November 2011 (UTC)

140 frost free days a year mean 140 days straight, not 140 days total. Generally, May 20 - October 8, are guaranteed frost free. Although there could very well be 40 days before that date and 30 or so after that date that are 'frost free' -- they just happen to have frost in between those frost free days. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Jeffster1970 (talk • contribs) 02:45, 4 June 2012 (UTC)

Demographics

It reads "Canadian" as ethnic origin. Considering that everybody came to Canada from all over the worl, this is quite misleading. I am sure this does not refer to the Indians. Norum 03:34, 8 April 2012 (UTC)

Motto

Kitchener's slogan: Ex industria prosperitas (Latin: Prosperity through industry) As much as I remember my Latin classes at school "industria" does not mean "industry" in the sense of "factories" and "industrialization", but it simply means "hard work"!--Stonepillar (talk) 17:42, 17 September 2014 (UTC)

"Industry" can also have that meaning in English, int's just a more obscure usage. Radagast (talk) 19:38, 17 September 2014 (UTC)

I agree; in this context, industry means hard work.

  2.hard work. "the kitchen became a hive of industry"; synonyms: activity, busyness, energy, vigor, productiveness; hard work, industriousness, diligence, application, dedication. 

Peter K Burian (talk) 15:09, 29 April 2017 (UTC)

Let's not start an edit war

Another editor posted this to my Talk page:

I'd like to avoid an edit war, so could you please start a discussion at Talk:Kitchener, Ontario about why it is necessary to have two images of the same statue, in this article about a city. Thanks. Magnolia677 (talk) 23:30, 26 November 2019 (UTC)

There is absolutely no reason to post scolding messages on my Talk page; you are one of the very, very few who have ever done so. Post it on the article's Talk page and ping me; I will reply.

In any event, for someone who wants to avoid an edit war, you have now deleted the photo twice.

But frankly, life is too short to get into a debate about this, Magnolia677. There will be other debates that I will get into, and have gotten into with you, but this one is less important than some others. Peter K Burian (talk) 00:07, 27 November 2019 (UTC)

Image of plaque

The input of others regarding a photo added by User:Peter K Burian would be appreciated. MOS:IMAGES states "images must be significant and relevant in the topic's context, not primarily decorative". This image of text shows nothing of Kitchener--the topic of the article--and the text on the plaque is summarized in the article. The photo is decorative and should be removed. Thank you. Magnolia677 (talk) 11:58, 27 November 2019 (UTC)

... in your opinion .... Peter K Burian (talk) 17:02, 27 November 2019 (UTC)

• I certainly don't think it's of the highest image value; there's no context to its location and it contributes little to the article on its own. I would be inclined to support its removal. Radagast (talk) 18:16, 27 November 2019 (UTC)

"Germanic" or "German"

I was reading the article and noticed the following sentence - "Berlin and Waterloo County soon became recognized throughout Canada for their Germanic heritage". The use of Germanic here is wrong, Germanic is used in many languages, including English, to represent cultures and people who have descended from the Germanic tribes. This includes modern germans, modern English & Dutch, and modern Danes, Swedes & Norwegians.

Unfortunately it can be confusing, because in modern English German is used to describe 1 modern group of Europeans, whereas Germanic describes a larger group of historical Europeans, which includes Anglo-Saxons. Whilst the word German translates into modern German, French & Italian as Deutsch/Allemande/Tedesco, Germanic translates as Germanisch/Germanique/Germanico. So Germanic and German are very different concepts.

I will look thru the article, most of the "Germanics" can probably be changed to German, sometimes it might require rewording, for example, "The two groups of Germanics" — Preceding unsigned comment added by Graemem56 (talk • contribs) 04:30, 20 February 2020 (UTC)

Please feel free to comment if anyone disagrees. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Graemem56 (talk • contribs) 04:34, 20 February 2020 (UTC)

Yeah, you are probably correct, Graemem56.

  The city of Kitchener, Ontario voted in May 1916 to change the name of the city from its original name, Berlin, primarily because of some anti-German sentiment during the First World War. Through the latter half of the 19th century and into the first decade of the 20th, the city of Berlin, Ontario , Canada, was a bustling industrial centre celebrating its German heritage. Berlin to Kitchener name change

Go ahead and make the edit. Then, we'll see if anyone strongly disagrees.

Peter K Burian (talk) 15:46, 20 February 2020 (UTC)

Pronunciation

At least mention how many syllables it has. Jidanni (talk) 00:47, 18 September 2022 (UTC)