[486sx33]

Some nice nostalgia for me

-In high school we walked to that exact KFC for lunch and would discuss the previous nights antics playing StarCraft broodwar.

-I used to fix computers (professionally) at a store on the same street as that gas station as an after high school job

-In Dec/jan 2010 I worked 18 hours a day laying floors in the new RIM buildings at Philip/Colombia. A friend’s dad did a lot of the furniture moving. Both of us made over $4000 a week in our early 20s

-Now out of those 4 buildings I think black berry only has two floors of one building

-Waterloo has seen serious decline since the death of RIM

-Not sure it will ever come back, most people including myself left years ago.

-there has been a serious condo tower boom, but that sucks for “walkability” and it’s radically changed the area

-if you attended university in Waterloo in the 2000s and lived off campus, wherever you lived is likely gone and there is a condo tower there now.

[kspacewalk2]

>-Waterloo has seen serious decline since the death of RIM

>-Not sure it will ever come back, most people including myself left years ago.

I think you overestimate Waterloo's decline just a tad, perhaps your perception being coloured by leaving it. I assure you, it's thriving and in many ways better than the early 2000s when I went to UW. Including the condo boom you mention, though I'm puzzled why you think this somehow hurts walkability.

But yes, Lester street is unrecognizable and every single house I lived in between 2002 and 2007 is gone.

[wizee]

Agreed 100%. Waterloo has grown substantially over the last 15 years, and is generally thriving. The condo boom and general increase in density has only increased walkability. Most of these condos have ground level retail too. The light rail is also a nice addition.

As RIM/Blackberry declined, a whole ecosystem of startups emerged started or staffed by ex-RIM folks. The universities have also grown substantially.

[morkalork]

The wild thing about the condo boom in Waterloo is 77% of units are owned by investors. It truly exemplifies the mess that is the housing market. Rentors can't break into it and homeowners are doubling, tripling up on properties.

[Miraste]

The Canadian housing market is apocalyptic. It's hard to think of a greater regulatory failure.

[apercu]

That's a lot of SW Ontario now. I've moved back to the US due to the high costs of the GTA, but a lot of my friends in Toronto own multiple condos.

[cloudedcordial]

I was in the area around 2010 working for someone else. Adding to your bullet points:

- The pool business near the single-digit RIM buildings had more business than they could do. Many folks wanted swimming pools at their homes.

- Various eateries such as the sandwich shop mentioned in the article made decent money during the height of Blackberry.

- People skipped starter homes and bought single houses as their first homes. Some real estate agents waited outside of some buildings during bonus was announced.

[marssaxman]

> People skipped starter homes and bought single houses as their first homes.

This is a terminological distinction I am not familiar with; what is a "single house", and what is the difference between a starter home and a first home?

[creaturemachine]

Maybe they consider a townhome or apartment condo as a starter home, which is true in the current market, but 25 years ago it wasn't uncommon to buy a detached as your first home.

[tempest_]

They mean a single family home which might be described as a "detached house"

In the GTHA (including Waterloo) there is no such thing as a starter home any more, which in the past meant "small detached house, probably needs some work". The only thing they build now is very small 500 sqft condos and very large 3000+ sqft houses.

[dmuth]

Your username is nice nostalgia for me. :-)

[nazcan]

Density has hurt walkability?

[dddddaviddddd]

I have no specific experience with Waterloo, but sometimes towers follow a Corbusian ideal of a tower surrounded by nothing; or worse, a tower surrounded by high-speed roads/highway — essentially a stacked bedroom community with no walkable amenities.

[cldellow]

FWIW, I live in the region and disagree with OP's characterization of "serious decline" and "most people have left".

I went to school here from 2003-2008, moved away and moved back in 2011.

The area's population has increased by ~20% since 2012 (~the death of RIM, according to its stock price). In 2011, it got regional train service to Toronto. In 2019, it got a local light rail train.

The university area that the OP seems to be referring to is, IMO, more walkable and bikeable now than before. Some of the towers are mixed use, with ground floor retail.

The city is definitely quite different from the early 2000s, though.

[toast0]

A dense housing boom could hurt walkability if it replaced mixed low density retail and housing and if there was no compensating retail boom near housing.

First floor mixed use retail can address this, but sometimes those spots sit vacant because of cost or other issues with rhe space.

[486sx33]

I guess my definition of walk ability includes seeing interesting things and being able to walk towards them. The condo towers block the sun and you can’t see beyond them walking down the road.

My post was a bit too negative I suppose, some people probably like the tall buildings surrounding you when you’re walking, I mean it works for New York City right.

[StrictDabbler]

I'm glad to see WCRI is still there, though it's hard to claim it's fully "off-campus".

[Waterluvian]

Did you go to WCI too? This is all so nostalgic for me.

Though I grew up in Waterloo and lived at home, yeah, the city sure has grown a ton. I moved away to raise a family.

[cloudedcordial]

Username checks out haha!

[486sx33]

Yes. Grade 9 in 99 :)

[Waterluvian]

Cool. One year behind you. So we went at the same time.

I want to say small world but after enough time it’s bound to happen, eh?