The skyline is changing in London with several new buildings being built with a planned development that will become the tallest building outside of Toronto. A BRT transit system is under development which will improve public transit (which you failed to mention) We have three major hospitals and superior shopping malls. London is one of the fastest growing city in Canada.
London is one city, KWC is three cities. I like the new lrt you have but Kitchener area is basically becoming part of the gta and the traffic is far worse. London is far enougn from Toronto to have its own identity and is exactly halfway between Detroit and Toronto. I would like to visit Kitchener someday for Oktoberfest.
Thanks for your comment. Traffic in London is worse than in Kitchener-Waterloo. Every statistic on traffic I found stated that. I think we have an identity here, and we are still pretty far from the GTA. Oktoberfest is always a great time.
I am close to retirement. I live near Ottawa but I want to relocate somewhere less cold when I retire. I went to Londan last year and Kitchener this year. I am not interested in proximity to GTA. I noticed that the GTA commuters jam the 401 at rush hour in the Kitchener area. The German bakeries in Kitchener are a plus. London is quieter. I am choosing a rural area near London. Probably Strathroy, Mitchell, Stratford or Seaforth in the order of preference. Good video you did raise some good points.
Yeah the 401 can grt backed up at times just east of Kitchener but it is much better now that they have widened the highway between Milton and Mississauga Personally, I think Stratford is a great choice for retirement, all of the daily conveniences a beautiful town and the prices are lower than Kitchener. When you are ready to make your move to southwestern ontario, feel free to reach out to me, I would be delighted to help you with the move. Have a great weekend!
The comment about the skyscrapers makes me think you haven't been to London recently. A new 40 floor tower is almost finished, which is taller than One London Place. London has a lot of towers either under construction or proposed, up to 53 floors tall. I was in K/W recently and yes there is a lot of construction, but the skyline is still a decade or two behind London's density. With regards to location, if you want to live in Toronto, then live in Toronto. How is proximity to Toronto the main argument? Like why not move to Brampton then?
There are multiple towers under construction in Kitchener that are taller than the one you mentioned at 40 floors., and multiple that have been approved that are even taller at 185m. The city of Kitchener has a higher population density than the city of london. The density of Kitchener is 1,900 people per km2 and London is 913.1. In regards to the location, the commute to the GTA is only an hour, and the commute from London to the GTA is two hours.
I grew up in Cambridge, now living in London. London is a very green city, true the city centre needs attention, but the tall buildings issue I think isn't a big deal, London has expanded its city outward, only now building upwards. If yearly wage is $8000 difference, but your mortgage is $140,000 more in Kitchener than London is better, not Kitchener. Traffic can't be compared either, London's population is 423,000 vs Kitchener's 262,000, so if course Traffic is worse. I agree London dropped the ball when going for bus rapid transit over light rail though.
Thanks for your feedback. In terms of the traffic, it was Kitchener-waterloo vs London, the two cities combined have a higher population total. I live in Kitchener, so there is always going to be a slight bias. Have a great week.
City proper London has more population but comparing metro populations between both, KW metro population is larger. London also feels like endless sprawl which is a pain to traverse. KW is more compact and easier to get around with LRT, bus and inner city expressway options. Housing alone does not make London better but it's definitely the biggest factor why someone would want to move there.
Yes I agree with you in regard to London is bigger than city of kitchener and the city of Waterloo. Real Estate is slightly cheaper but I prefer KW far more than London.
London is largely a redneck dumping ground unfortunately at the moment. Maybe it might change with development of some good shopping centres or European style walkability in the decaying core. But in order to have walkability, you need safety first. Only thing going for London is access to a well rounded university that has a law school as well as a med school, the two $$ power houses of post secondary institutions. That and the fact it's the closest city to TO outside it that provides as such for "elite" students (Kingston and Windsor are farther). Same can't be said for places even like Hamilton (McMaster) or Kitchener-Waterloo which I would say are niche/specialised university cities.
