TheHonestMaple said:
Personally I just find walking around downtown Kitchener or downtown Waterloo, you don't really feel like you're in a big city. You feel like you're in a small city, that happened to recently have a bunch of condos going up - spaced quite far apart. Walking around in downtown Hamilton, you really feel like you're in a bustling big city. Bigger than the population would suggest. It's an old downtown, not a new one like KW.
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There's nothing wrong with being a small city but the urbanization and condos close to each other is coming it just takes time, Hamilton has always had a larger downtown then KW but KW also has two downtowns/uptowns for a urban area of similar population, if there was only 1 downtown it would feel a lot larger. Even so downtown Kitchener 10 years ago is a vastly different place than it is today and it will certainly be significantly different in 10 more years. Just look at the King/Victoria intersection from 2014 vs now, in 2014 the only large building within 500m was the UW Pharmacy building. Now you have the entire Google complex, Station Park A and B, 1 Victoria, 100 Victoria Tower 1&2, Glove Box, Garment St Condos all complete and then TEK Tower and Station Park C under construction. In another 10 years 417 King, Station Park D and E, Vic/Park Tower 1, 2 and 3, 142 Victoria, and the transit hub should all be under construction in some form.

The King/Victoria corner isn't the only corner seeing major changes though, take the block bound by Frederick/Benton, Weber, Ontario and Joseph, in that block in 2014 the tallest building was The Regency, now you have Duke Tower, in another 10 years there will also be 10 Duke St W, Q Condos, 88 Queen St S, and 149 Ontario St N which are all 25+ floors. The city has also installed separated bike lanes along Ontario and Joseph which would have been insane to think of doing 10 years ago.

Now lets go to the "east end" of downtown around Borden Station, 10 years ago it was very much industrial, now the signs of change are starting with demolition and site clearing occurring at various locations, in 10 years East Gate, 1253 King St E, 1001 King St E, 926 King St E, 787 King St E Tower 1&2, 50 Borden Ave S Tower 1&2, should all be complete or under construction.

Sure it may not feel like you're in a big city yet but it certainly feels a lot larger than it did in 2014 and it will certainly feel even bigger in 10 years.
 
Oh KW is definitely growing, and i'm excited to see it happening. It's a fantastic city, and there is much for Hamilton to envy. You guys have a clean downtown, with a modern transit system, tech companies and good jobs, etc. I'm just saying Hamilton has the urban bones that not a lot of cities in Canada have. Arguably I would say really only Toronto and Montreal are the other two cities that have a real urban core like Hamilton.
 
Plus KW is building 50+ storey towers, while Hamilton isn't building anything near that tall.
 
Towered said:
Plus KW is building 50+ storey towers, while Hamilton isn't building anything near that tall.
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With the new zoning rules set to come into place early next year 25% of the downtown core (GRH to Mill MTSAs) will be zoned for unlimited height so the 50+ storey buildings will keep on coming, much to the demise of the NIMBYs.
 
Towered said:
Plus KW is building 50+ storey towers, while Hamilton isn't building anything near that tall.
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Given the choice between say five 50 storey towers, or between eight 30 storey towers or ten 25 storey for a smaller urban area I'll choose the eight to ten buildings constructed downtown option.

Many American cities have trophy towers with quiet downtowns. I'd rather have more buildings with less floors, personally.
 
Wigs said:
Given the choice between say five 50 storey towers, or between eight 30 storey towers or ten 25 storey for a smaller urban area I'll choose the eight to ten buildings constructed downtown option.

Many American cities have trophy towers with quiet downtowns. I'd rather have more buildings with less floors, personally.
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That was part of the point of the height limit from what I've been told. Hamilton had a limited amount of demand, and to fill more of the urban space with density spread out a bit more, the height limit helps with that.
 
innsertnamehere said:
Meanwhile Hamilton voted a few weeks ago to extend the 30 storey height limit downtown out to the entire city.
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To be fair, I think this is more about telling of where Ford should stuff it on the new zoning laws as oppose to real NIMBY'ism here. Can't say I am unsympathetic to that feeling...even if the decision itself is problematic. /sigh
 
Towered said:
Which of the 2 cities is building more condo towers in their downtowns?
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I have no idea about Hamilton but Kitchener has the following approved, proposed and under construction over 25 storeys just in the downtown core. There are 4 over 50, 8 over 40, 13 over 30 and another 8 over 25. Of those 3 are well under construction and another 2 are in sales. A few of the rental projects are also close to starting.
 
ZEBuilder said:
I have no idea about Hamilton but Kitchener has the following approved, proposed and under construction over 25 storeys just in the downtown core. There are 4 over 50, 8 over 40, 13 over 30 and another 8 over 25. Of those 3 are well under construction and another 2 are in sales. A few of the rental projects are also close to starting.
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If that is the case, then Hamilton wins by quite a wide margin. @insertnamehere may be able to comment.
 
TheHonestMaple said:
Probably pretty even right now actually. Although KW has quite the lead, Hamilton has caught up.
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Hamilton is on fire with twins and triplets to catch up

Cobalt is 525? units, McMaster Grad residence tower another "644 beds".

75 James is 616? units.
Television City should be another 618? units. There's others I'm forgetting.

These projects alone should add around 3,300-3,500 or more residents to downtown Hamilton.
 
Wigs said:
Hamilton is on fire with twins and triplets to catch up

Cobalt is 525 units, McMaster Grad residence tower another 644 "beds".

75 James is 616 units.
Television City should be another 618? units. There's others I'm forgetting.

These projects alone should add around 3,300-3,500 or more residents to downtown Hamilton.
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design district, the reecca, corktown, 3 on king west. theres a bunch.
 
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