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Balance needed between town and gown "Students have a right to safe. affordable housing and leisure opportunities, However. citizens of Waterloo also have the right to safe quiet enjoyment of their properties and access to leisure opportunities," said the mayor following a panel dis- cussion on student housing. ayor Herb lipp hit the null Mon the head this week with his comments regarding the student housing crunch in Waterloo. Epp pointed out that balanced policies must be enforced that take the rights of both students and homeowners into consideration. On one side, students from both the University of Waterloo and Wil, frid Laurier University have asked the city on numerous occasions to Decoration held sentimental value Waterloo is in a time of transition _ But how can the city achieve such balance? Sandy Baird ls speculation that people use insurance costs as an excuse to conceal the fact that they are impecuninus is only very slight- 1ylustitied. It is true that a rich person would not have a problem to go anywhere regardless of costs: however as one gets older health pruhlemeMo increase. Insurance premiums increase exponentially. and all new pre-existing conditions are exciud- ed to boot. her living in the west end for Alsix years, Waterloo is starting a feel like hnmc. It takes 25 minutes to get to the ice rink. The taxes are skyrocketing. And traffic is starting to crawl. It was painted blue. with white letters that said "Oh Holy Night." and a mother kneeling in adoration A case in point. my best friend. Alfred da Silva, while in Florida this The edge of toin used In he a Eve-minute walk not it live-minute drive. To celebrate this past Christmas. some dear friends of ours lent us a beautifully handmade decora- tion for our from porch. Great urgency is made of the need for improvements to a library- that seems to be closed more than it is open. and when it is open, it seems to be empty. City hall looks to expand a money-losing golf mursc at a time when there is no money to build or maintain swimming pools. (raarriple one: locating the recre ation centre on the Edge ofTowm. (Example two: mialmwing new lodging homes near the university hut preftfrring to long? them in sin. The planning deifartment seems to be caught in that 1970s socialist time warp: Baird's speculation ‘slightly justified' family cdmmunities where the ETTERS TO THE (:1;de Reducing the MUS would allow for more lodging houses to be built. and put a dam in the city's student housing woes. redure Its rurn'nl Minimum Itis- tanti St'pm'almn ”HUS? bylaw. which calls for an least 75 [Helms ol space between lodging houses. But homeowners are up in arms at the thought. convinced that more lodging houses will bring more noise and disruption to their neighbour- hoods The study group. made up of city officials, university representatives. student leaders and residents, is looking at the issues surrounding student housing. identifying prob- lems and potential solutions. before a manger. I phoned the police to report the incident (theft). but they offered lit- tle conftdence that it will be recov- ered. I am left with a great sense of guilt that someone Else's property was stolen while in my care. The city's student accomodation study has been ongoing since last spring. past January had a heart attack. The ambulance was right there and whisked him to a Fort Lauderdale hospital immediately. During the trip he had to be resuscitated sever- al times. Two weeks later he was sent to his motel and forbidden to take an airplane back home in Canada for several additional days. and the airlines refused to accept him as a passenger without a specif- ic medical release allowing him to hoard an aircraft. So flying home when you have a problem is not that simple and Mier dumping the sarcasm. it should be clear that Ibis is the best place to live in thtwarld- rice racers are always welcome). It's just like living below the Escarpment. We live in a vihrant community in a time of transition. Families along the Fischer Hallman cnrridnr are maturing. The fruits of our uni, versity programs are coming to har, vest. ()ur humble city is growing into a world-class community. We are actually past the point of no return and decisions have In he made now. by a council that sec-ms fixated on last year's prohktms. If Iheybvcr reach a point where they are ready In look forward, they will see a formidable fortress. They are hound by too many lew els of government. The city cannot deal with the traffic because it has yielded that resptmsihility to the region The province has plarcd our s"'),") ,n l VICL] But it's gum}: to lake "lore than sumo coffee talk In sulvv these Humming Lssutyi. As tht) old saying goes. actions 'speak louder than words. - Some people have asked the city In start a database of lodging house owners The list would allow bylaw offr, can to easily track down the source if problems arise on their properties. Since students make up a signifi- cant part of Waterloo?, population. and the universities and Conestoga College play a vital role in the local economy. there must be a c0mpro- mise between town and gown to address this growing problem. Student leaders have also sug- gested designating a district for stu- dent housing to allgw for higher density around the universities. I ask that anyone with any infor- mation contact either the police or call 883-7489. No questions will he asked, and a reward is offered upon its recovery. going In Florida as Mr. Baird seems to suggest without insurance is reckless lunacy. By the way, as much as hisuipsur.- ante has not divulged the total masts yet, they are estimated to he in the neighbourhood of $601100. a pilance fur a really wealthy person. Since he (friend) had this prob- lem, he is now uninsurable and his trips to Florida are now a thing of the past. . needs an a priority list. somewhere beyond the light away. A u In the quest to be politically core rect, they have put aside their vision to employ community workshops to lead us through the century. This is a double-edged sword. On the one hand. they have a good chance to pick up some pro- found ideas. hut they risk getting high-jacked by populist opinion at the risk of lost visions ahsvnt lead, ership. lt is important for our rommuml ty to get involved. hut not impedc the progress ofa strong plan. "o not forget to follow the city"; business by visiting the Web site at www.citywaterlomomrmlCsirJerks tMinutestinderhtmr Ii is iime for every good citizen to come to your city at www.city.walerlnn.nn.ca _ Heidi Vanslo ne Waterloo Raul Ferreha Waterloo Robert Tudor Waterloo In fact the economic and social her1etits that these educa, tional institutions have brought to the City of Waterloo have become so recognized that our neighbouring municipalities in Kitchener and Cambridge are wooing the universities to locate campuses in their downtowns. WLU started the ball rolling five or six years ago when they opened a campus in the City of Brandon]. UW came to the party soon after and agreed to move its School of Architecture to downtown Cambridge (Cam. These forays into creating separate campuses in other communities have been aided by willing city governments who have contributed substantial amounts of local property tax dollars to the projects. Personally I enjoy the vibrancy and hieliness that students bring m our community, Not m mention the other tremerr dons. advantages the University of Waterloo and Wilfrid Laurier University bring In our fair city. Add into the mix a campus of Conestoga College and you have a high-powered. international- ly recognized educational cluster that is the vow of communr ties throughout Canada and the world. Local governments see the benefits of bringing professional staff and faculty into their core areas. Staff and students will sup- port local restaurants. fast food opera- tions and a variety of other services as 1 they go about their daily lives. The relocation of the school of architecture in Cambridge has generat- ed a mild property boom in downtown Galt as husiness owners. investors and landlords have focused their attention on getting things ready for the students and faculty when the school opens later this year. In fact, the success of the initiative ,'; V -t, in Cambridge has caught the attention if u, of the City of Kitchener in a big way. 7 Kitchener has struck a partnership with WLU to relocate the faculty of SEAN social work to the former St. Jerome's STRICKLAND high school on College Street at a cost of approximately S6 million. Moving right along, with barely a moment m catch their breath. the City of Kitchener is now working closely with UW to build a brand new $13? million school of pharmacy at the comer of King and Victoria Streets. This will cost Kitchener taxpayers about $60 mil- lion plus land. ofticiitls from the City of (gamhridge‘sqem to think'it is. They are absolutely ecstatic about the school of architecture and how its move to downtown Galt has mobilized hundreds of people to get behind the project. For the first time in a long time people are actually excited about doing business in downtown Cam- bridge and the future looks quite promising. The struggles that Kitchener has had with its downtown are legendary. Once vibrant and thriving. the core began to deteritr rate when suburban shopping malls opened in the mid NEEDS. Ever since the downtown has been a topic of much discussion and debate. Is it worth it? University campuses are on the move Recently the city has been spending millions on buying unsightly buildings. building a new City Hall, and constructing a new farmers market to npen later this year. The opening of the children's museum and a new theatre has generated momen- tum that has not been seen in downtown Kitchener for years. The next steps in the partnership between the two local uni- versities and the City of Kitchener are critical. The universities and the city are both taking risks that they hope will pay off in the long run, Next steps are critical V Kitchener is risking that local ratepayers will suriport their tax dollars. funding post secondary cducatinn when post secondary education is clearly a provincial responsibility. As far as I'm concerned, the risks to theCity of Kitchener and the universities are minimal. The branching out of campuses hom Waterloo to other parts of the region will engagr more rin- If!“ in the pursuit of higher education, contribute to economic diversity, and bring more people to the downtown. In need of more cash. the universities are gamhling that the risk of losing their identities with satellite campuses will he offset hy their ability to expand and use new money from the munici- pal tax base to leverage additional money from the province. Thkhold plan will strimgthen Kitchener. Watedoo and Com bridge as cities. individually and collectively - Prease email your quesiionstcommentk In seangseanntrfck- land.com