Kitchener, Ontario
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Image:Bell tower.jpg The City of Kitchener, in southwestern Ontario, Canada, has a population of 190,399 (2001 census). The metropolitan area, which includes the two neighbouring cities of Waterloo and Cambridge, has 414,284 people, making it the eleventh largest in Canada by population. [1] It is the seat of the Waterloo Regional Municipality, and is adjacent to the smaller cities of Cambridge to the south, and Waterloo to the north. Kitchener and Waterloo are often referred to jointly as "the twin cities" or "K-W" (Kitchener-Waterloo), although they have separate municipal governments.
The City of Kitchener covers an area of 136.86 square kilometres
In 2004, Kitchener celebrated its 150th anniversary.
The name Kitchener is pronounced as three syllables [ˈkɪ.tʃə.nɝ].
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History
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. 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 afterward, a group of Mennonites pooled resources to purchase all of the unsold land from Beasley, forming the German Company Tract and dividing the lands into 128 farms of 181 hectares and 32 farms of 1.2 hectares 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 general Horatio Herbert Kitchener, who won fame 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 Two. 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.
Today, with a population nearing 200,000, Kitchener is a vibrant, confident and cosmopolitan community that continues to maintain a strong industrial and business base. It is a City firmly rooted in its German heritage but also keenly aware of the many streams of culture and country that blend together to produce the multicultural community it is today.
On September 17, 1981, the first ever "blue box" recycling program was launched in Kitchener. Today, more than 90% of Ontario households have access to recycling programs and annually they divert more than 650,000 tonnes of secondary resource materials. The blue box program has expanded in various forms throughout Canada and to countries around the world such as the United States, United Kingdom, France and Australia, serving more than 40 million households in countries around the world.
Demographics
According to the mid-2001 census, the population estimates there were 414,284 people residing in metro Kitchener, located in the province of Ontario, of whom 49.2 % were male and 50.8 % were female. Children under five accounted for approximately 6.3 % of the resident population of Kitchener. This compares with 5.8 % in Ontario, and almost 5.6 % for Canada overall.
In mid-2001, 11.2 % of the resident population in Kitchener were of retirement age (65 and over for males and females) compared with 13.2 % in Canada, therefore, the average age is 35.3 years of age comparing to 37.6 years of age for all of Canada.
In the five years between 1996 and 2001, the population of Kitchener grew by 8.2 % compared with an increase of 6.1 % for Ontario as a whole. Population density of Kitchener averaged 501.0 people per square kilometre, compared with an average of 12.6, for Ontario altogether.
At the time of the census in May 2001, the resident population of the Kitchener city authority had 190,399 people, but had 414,284 when encompassing the Greater Kitchener Area (Kitchener-Waterloo) compared with a resident population in the province of Ontario of 11,410,050 people.
Racial groups
- White: 362,030 or 90.0%
- Asian: 10,850 or 2.7%
- Black: 6,150 or 1.5%
- Chinese: 5,500 or 1.3%
- mixed: 4,150 or 1.1%
- (based on single responses)
The five largest reported ancestries in the metropolitan area of Kitchener-Waterloo are: English (24.8%), German (22.8%), Scottish (17.1%), Irish (16.1%), and French (8.9%).
Religious groups
- Protestant: 41.3%
- Roman Catholic: 32.4%
- other Christian: 5.0%
- Muslim: 2.2%
- none, other: 19.3%
Economy
Image:Kitchenerskyline.jpg Whereas Waterloo has benefitted from the presence of two universities and a number of high tech companies, Kitchener has been a more blue-collar town. The auto-parts manufacturer Budd Canada continues to employ over 1500 workers. The Huron Business Park is also the site of a number of industries, from seat manufacturers to furniture components. A number of the old industrial companies of Kitchener have fallen on harder times: the Kaufmann shoe manufacturer has closed its factory, Schneider Foods (a meat producer) has been bought out and operations scaled back, and companies like Electrohome have ceased local production in favour of licensing or supply agreements with overseas makers. Still, occupations unique to manufacturing, processing and utilities cover as much as 15% of the local workforce [2].
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. Things worsened when urban renewal plans in the 1960s cost the city its neo-classical city hall and did not achieve its goals of redevelopment. When an arsonist began destroying abandoned and underused buildings in Kitchener's downtown, the issue of downtown renewal and cleanup of the adjoining Victoria Park neighbourhood came to the fore in municipal elections and has been the focus of city council for the past ten years. Achievements during this period include selling off a dying mall and converting it to office space for a major insurance firm, relocating a theatre downtown, and converting vacant industrial space into residential units.
The city now boasts a new city hall, and a new farmer's market opened in 2004. Two university branch campuses in the downtown area are in the planning stages. Other projects include an assortment of lofts, utilizing old factories. Plans are in place for a new central library that will be considerably larger than the existing facility. Various plans for 20 floor condo units have been put in place. And although Waterloo is home to many insurance companies, two universities, and high-tech industries, Kitchener is hoping to increase demand for office space by building office towers and inviting companies from around the golden triangle to move in.
Government
Image:Kitchener-city-hall.jpg Kitchener is governed by a council of six councillors, representing wards or districts, and a mayor. Kitchener residents also elect four councillors at large to sit with the mayor on the council of the Regional Municipality of Waterloo. The current mayor of Kitchener is Carl Zehr, who was re-elected handily to his third term in November 2003, after first being elected in 1997 and reelected in 2000. Before that, he sat as a municipal councillor from 1985-1994.
In 1976, residents of Kitchener voted almost 2-1 in favour of a Ward system. The first municipal election held under the ward system occurred in 1978.
The City Councillors, plus the Mayor, make up the entire City of Kitchener Council. Council is responsible for policy and decision making, monitoring the operation and performance of the city, analyzing and approving budgets and determining spending priorities. The residents of each ward vote for one person to be their City Councillor; their voice and representative on City Council.
Education
The Doon neighbourhood, formerly a separate village but now part of Kitchener, is home to the primary campus of Conestoga College, one of the foremost non-university educational institutions in the province.
For six consecutive years, Conestoga has earned top overall ranking among Ontario colleges on the Key Performance Indicator (KPI) surveys, which measure graduate employment rates and satisfaction levels, and employer and student satisfaction.
Renovations have begun on the former St. Jerome's High School in downtown Kitchener, in preparation for the Faculty of Social Work from Wilfrid Laurier University.
The University of Waterloo is also planning on opening a School of Pharmacy in the downtown area. The City of Kitchener has contributed $30 million from its $110 million Economic Development Investment Fund, established in 2004, to the establishment of the UW Downtown Kitchener School of Pharmacy.
The school is expected to graduate about 120 pharmacists annually and will become the home of the Centre for Family Medicine, where new family physicians will be trained, as well as an optometry clinic and the International Pharmacy Graduate Program. Construction on the $147 million facility - expected to create an influx of 1,200 staff and faculty into the city's core - is slated to be complete as early as the summer of 2007.
Oktoberfest
Image:K Oktoberfest.jpg Main article: Kitchener-Waterloo Oktoberfest
Kitchener's Oktoberfest celebration is an annual eight day event. Based on the original German Oktoberfest, it is billed as Canada's Great Bavarian Festival. It is held every October, starting on the Friday before Canadian Thanksgiving and running until the Saturday after.
While its best-known draws are the beer-based celebrations, other cultural and entertainment attractions also fill the week. The most well-known is the parade held on Thanksgiving Day; as the only major parade on Canadian Thanksgiving, it is televised nationally.
A common phrase at the celebrations is Gemütlichkeit, German for congeniality, or warm friendliness.
The festival's mascot is Onkel Hans, a rotund man in Bavarian dress with a thick moustache, lederhosen, and a traditional felt hat with tassel. His graphical image shows him holding a beer stein in one hand, and a sausage (in a roll) in the other. A lesser-known icon is his counterpart Tante Frieda, a similarly stout woman wearing a dirndl.
Another icon of the festival is Miss Oktoberfest. This position was formerly selected in a televised beauty pageant, the applicant coming from across North America. The position is now selected by a closed committee of judges from a panel of local applicants; community involvement and personal character form the main criteria under the new system.
City parks and trails
Image:Victoria-park-kitchener-lake.jpg Kitchener's largest and most famous outdoor park is Victoria park, in the heart of downtown Kitchener. Numerous events and festivities are held in this park.
Inspired by the City Beautiful movement in 1894, the Town of Berlin moved to purchase land to create what is now Kitchener’s Victoria Park. One hundred and fifty years later, the City is looking to revitalize the Gaukel Street entrance to this key core element and secure the park’s place in the growing realm of great public spaces in downtown Kitchener.
A statue of Queen Victoria is located in Victoria park. In an effort to display loyalty to the queen, the statue was placed in the park, after the city's name was changed to Kitchener.
Kitchener has an extensive community trail system. The trails, which are controlled and run by the city, are hundreds of km. in length, and are well maintained and safe.
Due to Kitchener's close proximity to the Grand River, several community trails and paths border the river's shores. The convenient access to the Grand River has drawn nature seeking tourists to the city.
Transport
Roads
There is an interchange with Highway 401 on Kitchener's southern border, and Highways 7 and 8 and the Conestoga Parkway run through the city and connect it to the 401 and to Waterloo.
Public transport
Since 2000, public transport throughout the Region of Waterloo has been provided by Grand River Transit, which was created by a merger of the former Cambridge Transit and Kitchener Transit. GRT operate a number of bus routes in Kitchener, with many running into Waterloo and two connecting to Cambridge. In September 2005, GRT added an express bus route called iXpress from downtown Cambridge through Kitchener to north Waterloo. [3]
Railways
VIA Rail trains between Sarnia and Toronto stop at the Kitchener railway station slightly to the north and east of the city's downtown at the corner of Victoria Avenue and Weber Street; one local bus route stops next to the station. Freight trains are also common in Kitchener.
The most easily-accessible GO Transit railway station is Milton station. City councillors and public petitions have called for the extension of GO trains to the Region of Waterloo, but at present GO do not plan to go beyond already-announced bus links.
Air
The closest airport to Kitchener is the Region of Waterloo International Airport in nearby Breslau, but while it is a thriving general-aviation field, it is not heavily-served by scheduled airlines. Most air travellers use either Toronto's Lester B. Pearson International Airport or Hamilton's John C. Munro International Airport. There are no permanent public transport links from Kitchener to any of these airports.
Sports teams
- Kitchener Rangers of the Ontario Hockey League who play at the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium Complex
- Kitchener Panthers of the Intercounty Baseball League who play at Jack Couch Park
- Kitchener Dutchmen of the Ontario Hockey Association who play at the Kitchener Memorial Auditorium Complex
- KW Braves Jr. A Lacrosse of the Ontario Lacrosse Association who play at the Waterloo Rec Centre.
Famous people
- Walter P. Zeller, the founder of Canada's largest discount department store chain, Zellers [4] was born near the city
- William Lyon Mackenzie King, Canada's tenth, and longest serving prime minister
- Dave Sim, creator of the comic book "Cerebus the Aardvark"
- Darryl Sittler, retired NHL ice hockey player
- Scott Stevens, retired NHL ice hockey player
- Lennox Lewis, retired boxer, grew up in Kitchener and still owns a house in the city.
- Jason Reso, professional wrestler (under the name "Christian Cage")
References
See also
External links
- City of Kitchener
- Kitchener-Waterloo Oktoberfest
- Centre in the Square
- The Record Newspaper (Serving Waterloo Region)
- Satellite image courtesy of Google Maps
- Kitchener Ontario Links
| North: Waterloo | ||
| West: Wilmot | Kitchener | East: Woolwich, Guelph |
| South: North Dumfries, Cambridge |
| Region of Waterloo |
| City of Cambridge | City of Kitchener | City of Waterloo |
| Township of North Dumfries | Township of Wellesley | Township of Wilmot | Township of Woolwich |
| Regional services: Grand River Transit | Region of Waterloo International Airport |
