Help!! Info needed on Kitchener/Waterloo

[pta-mom]

I really need some help! After living in the 'burbs of Ottawa for the past 18 years, it looks like we might be moving to the Kitchener/Waterloo area for a job. I've never even visited this area so any help you can give would be greatly appreciated.

Housing? Where is the best place to live? I don't think money is a huge issue for us, within reason. But we do have two teen sons so we would like to be in a good area with good schools. Currently our kids are in the Catholic school but they could do public too. Any thoughts on the local high schools there?

What is there to do for the teens? Neither of my guys are big into sports although they both ski and one is into music, plays guitar, etc.

Any thoughts or info would be greatly appreciated!!

And Happy Thanksgiving!!

 

[Ken_Breadbox]

K-W is one city--don't let anyone tell you any different. If they took the signs down, someone from away would never know she was leaving one city and entering another. Cambridge is still sort of separate, but it is increasingly connected to south Kitchener.
There are good areas in Kitchener--generally, the further away from downtown you get, the nicer the area is. There's a housing premium in Waterloo: the exact same house will somehow gain $50-125K in value if you magic it out of Kitchener and plop it down in Waterloo.
The local paper is a joke, and it speaks to a provincialist attitude that is somewhat shocking in a city this size. (If you count Cambridge, and you should, this place has about half a million people in it). I swear I'm not making this up: the headline "POTBELLY PIGS MAKE PERFECT PETS' once appeared on page A1 above the fold.
Beechwood is the creme de la creme of housing here, and one of the few places where I suspect your 'within reason' clause will kick in. Housing is affordable by Ottawa and especially by Toronto standards.

Is public transit important to your family? What kind of house appeals? New? Older? Do you want to be close to shopping?
Schools--Waterloo CI is a preppy, arty school and KCI is an old hulk of a school that serves a different kind of student. I can't speak for other schools, not having kids.

 

[pta-mom]

Thanks so much Ken for your answer. I did look on the MLS and thought that there was more bang for your buck in Kitchener. We would probably try to move to where ever the best area for our guys (who are NOT wanting to move!!) would be.

I haven't thought about public transit...how is that in the area? And shopping is not too big of a deal as long as I can get to a grocery store within ten minutes.

I think for me, the biggest thing would be the schools. I have one son who does really good at school and would be considered preppy-ish but my other one has a harder time at school and is the rocker...long hair and all! He too is the one who is shy and is terribly nervous about making new friends while starting a new school in grade eleven!! I know, I know, bad timing!

Anyway, any parents of teens out there who can tell me about the local high schools? What type of programs do they offer? Extra-curricular activities? Music programs (not band but rather guitar for credit for example?) Graphic arts courses? What about school trips? Ski club? My guys both ski (or snow board) and I know it will kill them to not be able to do so during the winter.

Thanks again for any input. REally trying time for us right now so we will take whatever help we can get in the form of info.

 

[dopeyluvsgrumpy]

I moved into the KW area about a decade ago for work and now I couldn't imagine leaving. My advise to you would be to make a weekend visit to the area and find out where you want to live because it is a large city and each neighbourhood offers different things. I personally prefer the outskirts of town and tend to stay away from downtown. My kids are still young so I don't have much knowledge of the high school system but I was at an event this weekend and all the parents were talking about how they would love to get their teens into Huron high school. Its a fairly new school with all new computers and tech equipment. And if money is no option there is a great (or so I'm told) private school that draws kids from around the world. I think its called Scholars Hall. Also we have two universities and a college so there is a lot of oportunity for leisure classes. We do have a ski hill....though I use the word hill loosely. More like a small bump with snow on it

Good luck with your search!

 

[pta-mom]

Thanks Dopey for the info! My kids are going to be a bit upset about your ski hill, er...bump!

As for schools, they currently are in the Catholic stream so I would be most interested to hear if anyone knows anything about the same in that area. I've been doing some research and it looks like it would be St. Mary's, St. David's or Resurrection High (I think that is what they were, I'm doing it from memory!)

Is there a big difference between these schools?

Thanks again for any help available!

 

[ls15]

Hi there! I used to live in Waterloo and have some family there.

Luckily, there are some great stuff for teens there. If they love music, Maxwell's Music House is a must for them to check out. Personally, Belmont Village area is a beautiful place to live. Union has some gorgeous homes.

I only have a moment but wanted to quickly reply.

 

[YukiPhnx]

I'm a student that just graduated from the University of Waterloo. I've lived in Waterloo for the last 3 years and like it a lot. It's a lot quieter on this side.

I've had a lot of experience with the transit system....and they're working on improving it. It's definitely not the best right now, but it's convenient because they usually stop at the main stops like malls and terminals. The busses don't work in a grid system because KW is anything but a grid, so it can get very confusing and the only way to to just ride each route to learn of where it takes you.

I don't know much about the high schools, but I've seen a lot of high school students because I live near one. Really can't say much about them except that some stores around the school actually don't allow students to bring their backpacks in...So sounds kind of sketchy. It's a Catholic school too.

For skiing, the only decent place is Blue Mountain in Collingwood, which is....about 4 hours away.

KW is very much a University city with lots of students in the Fall/Winter/Spring times and pretty empty during the summer.

 

[Ken_Breadbox]

OP: your best bet for all the info you need is the community forum wonderfulwaterloo.com.

 

[dopeyluvsgrumpy]

Check out this forum thats for kw mom. Someone on there should be able to answer all your questions http://forum.waterloo-moms.ca/

 

[mom_rules]

Born and raised here. Both my now adult kids were born and raised here.

Love the city. There is so much to do here-every community has its own community centre that offer different interests and classes each season of the year.

There are several catholic high schools spread out throughout KW.
http://resurrection.wcdsb.ca/newsite/default.html
http://stmary.wcdsb.ca/
http://stdavid.wcdsb.ca/

Property taxes are a bit lower in Kitchener than Waterloo. Both have new subdivisions being built. Property values here have not decreased like some other areas of the country. Average home prices are in the $300000 range.

Blue mountain is about 2-1/2 hours away. Chicopee is a great place to go if you want to get in a quick run. Its been around for 75 years http://www.discoverchicopee.com/index.php/about/
There are also hills in Milton-45 minutes away.

I agree with previous poster-best thing to do is plan a visit here during the school year and have a look.

 

[pta-mom]

Wow! Thanks for these great websites! We are still waiting on the offer to be finalized but we think that we will be moving sometime in the new year. Pretty nervous about leaving Ottawa but Waterloo does look great!

 

[mom_rules]

Wow! Thanks for these great websites! We are still waiting on the offer to be finalized but we think that we will be moving sometime in the new year. Pretty nervous about leaving Ottawa but Waterloo does look great!

Don't be It really is a lovely city. and look, you've already made some friends

 

[disneydivermom]

My son is also in Grade 11 and attends St. David's. If you have any specific questions email me and I'll ask him for you. The neighbourhood we live in is RIM Park and he takes the bus to school. He has lots of great friends from school who don't all live in our neighbourhood.

Lisa