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8 + WATERLOO CHRONICLE + Wednesday, May 7, 2008 Peter WINKLER PUBLISHER jormston @ waterloochronicle.ca EDITORIAL Bob VRBANAC EDITOR ext. 229 editorial @ waterloochronicle.ca sports @ waterloochronicle.ca Jennifer ORMSTON REPORTER ext. 203 Greg MACDONALD REPORTER ext. 215 #dmacdonald@ waterloochronicle.ca Gerry MATTICE ext. 230 RETAIL SALES MANAGER sales @waterloochronicle.ca SALES REPRESENTATIVES Norma CYCA ext. 223 neyca@ waterloochronicle.ca Jackie HAMILTON ext. 228 jhamilton@waterloochronicle.ca Carly GIBBS ext. 222 cgibbs@waterloochroni¢le.ca Brenda SOKOLOWSKI ext. 202 bsokolowski @ waterloochronicle.ca CLASSIFIED 519â€"895â€"5230 CIRCULATION 519â€"886â€"2830 ext. 213 Canadian Publications Mail Sales Publication Agreement Number 40050478 International Standard Serial Num ber ASSN 0832â€"3410 Audited Circulation: 31,292 ADVERTISING The Waterloo Chronicle is published each Wednesday by Metroland Media Group Ltd. 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Addresses and telephone numbers are used only for verification purposes and will not be published. Names will not be withâ€" held. We reserve the right to edit, conâ€" dense or reject any contribution for brevity or legal purposes. Letters may be submitted by fax to 519â€"886â€"9383 or by email to editorial@waterâ€" loochronicle.ca or by mail or delivâ€" ered to Waterloo Chronicle, 279 Weber St. N., Suite 20, Waterloo, Ontario N2J 3H8 279 Weber St. N., Suite 20 Waterloo, Ontano N2J 3H8 519â€"886â€"2830 Fax: 519â€"886â€"9383 ww w waterloochronicle.ca 519â€"886â€"9383 vatre Agter a couple of fits and starts (and one municipal lection) it looks like the idea of the civic square is finally going ahead. â€" â€" â€" _ With everyone on council finally committed to the idea now it comes down to execution. How do we do something, that is unpopular in some quarters, on cost and on time. A lot of ink has been wasted on the pros and cons of the project from the concerns over displaced parking to the need for another gathering spot in the uptown core. Well, after it was found that there will have to be some environmental remediation before the site is even ready that became an even bigger challenge. With the city‘s budget stretched to the max, the last thing this council needs is another surprise. That‘s why some much needed caution was exercised in this case. Citizens aren‘t prepared to foot the bill for more cost overruns. s That‘s why it is a good decision that council decided to plan for a public ice rink and an attractive water feaâ€" ture without mortgaging the future. Like all good home renovation projects we should complete what we can pay for. Just think of this as a home landscaping project on a miich grander scale. We also understand that this area has great potential for being a gathering spot for Waterloo‘s citizenry. That‘s why the projects like the rink and the water feature should be part of its overall design. We need to think about things that will attract people to the core, and add to the destination spot it has already become. . â€" s That leaves the question of funding for these new features. Council has decided to looking for some priâ€" vate backers for what is a very public project.. â€" Maybe some unique ideas like selling the naming rights to the rink, or perhaps some other company‘s largess will add to the character of the core. â€" If done right this is one City of Waterloo attraction that promises to stand the test of time. Doing it right VIEWPOINT We took a little heat over the past couple of weeks on the series we put together called Waterloo‘s First Ghetto? about the porâ€" trayal of students in these features. But for those who thought it was straight stuâ€" dent bashing, you‘re missing the point. Really, it‘s the land specuâ€" lators and absentee landâ€" lords that are the biggest problem. Home‘s what you make it They‘ve allowed their properties to decay, or shoved as many students as they can into the cramped wartime homes that they own in the hopes of turning a tidy profit. It‘s not all their fault. There are some who would like to do something with the property but have their hands tied by zoning in the area around the universities. One of the prefabricated homes, that city Coun. Mark Whaley pointed out to me, had 13 students living in what was a traditional two or threeâ€"bedroom dwelling. He told me the landlord would love to do something with his property and one adjacent to it, but can‘t get a zoning adjustment from the city. | Meanwhile, along Columâ€" bia Street there‘s been a building boom of new apartâ€" ments replacing single famiâ€" ly homes, with seven new projects slated for developâ€" That might be one of the unfortunate loop holes the city has in its nodes and corâ€" ridors planning policy that wants part of the city to grow up instead of out. . It‘s definitely growing up along Columbia Street, but not in the way the planners might have dreamed. Instead of a mix of apartâ€" ment or condoâ€"type develâ€" opment, most of the new buildings seem to be dediâ€" cated entirely to addressing the growing student populaâ€" Not that there‘s anything wrong with that. Students need somewhere to live, so why not one of these new clean and modern structures instead of the substandard ones some of them find themselves in. But this doesn‘t leave stuâ€" dents completely off the Just because you have Now that‘s a true ghetto. landlord problems or your But it didn‘t stop us from student Shangriâ€"la is a little making our old row house rundown doesn‘t give you livable because a home is the right to treat your neighâ€" _ what you make it. bourhood or the rest of the city as a dumping grounds. Anyone listening on Ezra Avenue? This isn‘t the first problem that this street has had with endâ€"ofâ€"term celeâ€" brations gone wrong. I remember almost a decade ago when a similar eve of destruction happened and a girl almost lost her eye after being hit with debris. I worked with her dad at that time and the family was quite distraught about the whole thing. » This time students were actually inviting people over for "housewrecking" parties, telling people it was OK to destroy everything from the walls to the kitchen sink. Most of those party favours ended up on the street and remnants of it were still there two days later. It kind of helps prove the point when you say that student behaviour is part of the problem. It doesn‘t have to be that way. A lot of us went away to school and decided to make a home instead of havoc out of our accommodations. And some of us lived in far worse places than Waterâ€" loo‘s so called ghetto. I remember living near Moss Park while going to jâ€"school in Toronto with hookers turning tricks in our back alley and crack dealers on