Kitchener Citizens for Livable Development, May 11, 9am – 12pm

 

Below is an invitation from the City of Kitchener. There will be a ‘new’ group called “Kitchener Citizens for Livable Development.” This is a response to all the development in Kitchener over the past few years and it would be very worthwhile to follow it.

This group is partly an extension of the MHBPNA Development group that met for several years under the direction of Catherine Owens. There is a section of our website with Development Committee information. Although our own committee is no longer active, all residents are encouraged to become involved in understanding and promoting sustainable, and “livable” development.

Please consider signing up for this session on Saturday.

Hello neighbours in Downtown Kitchener!  For the past few years, there has been a group called the Downtown Development Committee that has brought together people living in downtown neighbourhoods (mainly from Grand River Hospital to King/Ottawa) to learn about and respond to development issues.  We recently reviewed and revised our purpose and structure and are transitioning into a new group called Kitchener Citizens for Livable Development.  We would like to invite other interested residents to attend a planning meeting on Saturday May 11th.  Here are the details.

We invite you to join us for the morning on Saturday May 11 to learn about and work with us on transitioning from the Downtown Development Group to Kitchener Citizens for Livable Development.  Please use the EventBrite link to register, so that we know how many people are coming and who to expect.  Here are the goals for this meeting:

1.    Share the new Terms of Reference

2.    Engage neighbourhoods in KCLD

3.    Appoint a Chair/Co-chair

4.    Create an Executive Team to share work, according to priorities identified at the meeting (e.g. Secretary, Website Coordinator(s), monitors of Provincial, Regional, and local planning and development issues, etc.)

5.    Set dates/meeting times for 2024

6.    Finalize Pro-forma Agenda to be used as a template at each meeting

7.    Identify first steps in creating a common website

EventBrite Link:  https://www.eventbrite.com/e/kitchener-citizens-for-livable-development-tickets-888491681537?aff=oddtdtcreator

Event:        Kitchener Citizens for Livable Development

Date:          Saturday, May 11, 9:00 am- 12 pm

Location:    Downtown Community Centre

                   35B Weber Str. W.

                   Kitchener, N2H  3Z1

Please contact info@victoriaparkna.com if you have any questions. Looking forward to seeing you.

 

Worldwide Play Music On the Porch Day!

 

 

Don’t believe it? Check out this website.

At MHBPNA we do believe in performing music. Anywhere and everywhere, particularly on your porch. So for all musicians within the boundaries of MHBPNA, if you play music on Aug 26th and invite people, MHBPNA will reimburse you up to $30 for food (muffins, coffee, pizza etc.) with receipts.

If you email us at mhbpna@gmail.com and let us know what time you are playing, then we will post it on our website. Let’s get out there and play some music.

p.s. if you do not have a porch, you may still play music on your balcony, front steps, back parking lot etc.

Schedule so far

3 pm     Ted Parkinson (463 Duke St. West). Starting with some jazz, working into covers and original songs.

 

Yard Sale in our neighbourhood: Saturday, June 24th

 Arnold, Guelph, Birch and surrounding areas

 

 

Tenant Rights Meeting, May 25, 2023

 

Jane’s Walk 2023 was another success

 

Thank you to the 30 or so folks who attended our Jane’s Walk: “Marvellous Mt. Hope – Breithaupt Park: from Industrial Past to Innovative Present”. It was a lot of fun to talk about our great neighbourhood and chat with so many of you.

Here are a few highlights. We look forward to leading another walk next year!

At the beginning of the walk everyone met the co-leaders: Ted Parkinson and Lane Burman.

 

We started the walk at the “Shoe Factory” at the corner of St. Leger and Breithaupt Street. This building has around 40 tenants in it, and has kept most of the historic look since it was the Greb shoe factory. Lane recounted many stories including one of a “ghost” that might still be there!

We talked about Krug Furniture, the Weber Street Widening, the impact of the railway being constructed in 1850 and the “industrial” roots of our neighbourhood.

Below Lane is discussing the area around the former Fire Hall at Duke and Breithaupt. Another topic of our walk was how most of the buildings in MHBP are examples of “vernacular” architecture,  this building has a fire hose tower that includes some Italianate features making it “polite”. The things you learn, right?

 

We ended the walk in the shadow of the Breithaupt Block which has been extensively renovated for Google and other tenants. One of the most exciting things about our area is how so many of the older buildings have been updated to still be used for so many “modern” commercial activities like developing software.

 

 

Railway Updates along spur line trail

 

 

 

Each year, Canadian National Railway Company (CN) identifies the level crossings across its network, which require rehabilitation (major maintenance) to maintain crossings that are adequate for the road users and for continued safe railway operations. CN is planning on undertaking ‘full depth crossing rehab’ at several different crossings that are under the jurisdiction of the City of Waterloo. CN will require a full road closure (including sidewalks) to accommodate the proposed works. They are going to restrict/close off the MUP sidewalk that is adjacent to the tracks to accommodate this work and a safe work-zone. They will not be maintaining pedestrian traffic through their work zone. 

They have provided their updated schedule as follows;

Allan St -100 Allan St E, Waterloo, ON N2J 1V9 – May 1/23, 07:00hr – May 5/23, 19:00hr

John St – 66 John St E, Waterloo, ON N2J 1G1 – May 8/23, 07:00hr – May 12/23. 19:00hr

Union St – 95 Union St E, Waterloo, ON N2J 1G1 -May 15/23, 07:00hr – May 19/23, 19:00hr

Moore St -127 Moore Ave S, Waterloo, ON N2J 1X4 -May 23/23, 07:00hr – May 26/23, 19:00hr

Roger St – 150 Roger St, Waterloo, ON N2J 1X9 – May 29/23, 07:00hr – June 2/23, 19:00hr

 

Jane’s Walk, May 6, 2023

 

After a few years hiatus, MHBPNA is sponsoring a Jane’s Walk this year. We encourage everyone to check out the Jane’s Walk Waterloo Region website to see all the walks in Cambridge, Waterloo and Kitchener. It will be an excellent weekend.

Our walk will be on Saturday, May 6 at 1 pm:

 

 

Here is a short explanation of “What is a Jane’s walk” we wrote on this Blog back in 2012:

Spring must be here because it is time for another Jane’s Walk Weekend in the Kitchener/Waterloo area. The “Jane” in the walk is Jane Jacobs who was an urban activist in the United States and Canada. She wrote books on how to build urban environments that people enjoyed living in. The photo below shows her engaged in saving Penn Station from development and in her later years she was famous for helping stop the Spadina Expressway in Toronto.

 

 

Of course there are many excellent places on the web to learn about Ms. Jacobs. The great thing about the Jane’s Walk events is that you do not need to know anything about her at all, except that she serves as an inspiration for neighbours to get together and discover the history of where they live. These walks are a great way to meet people from near and far.