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MIXING COMMERCIAL AND RESIDENTIAL
Southern development of Fischer-Hallman to
be Kitchener’s next urban mixed-use corridor
by Helen Hall
Kitchener Citizen
As you drive down Fischer-Hallman Road, you can see the changes in planning practices in Kitchener.
Between Forest Heights Collegiate and the Expressway, the road is lined with single family homes that were built in the 1960s when suburbia was king. To meet the needs of this highly-populated area, commericial centres sprung up to the south between the Expressway and Bleams Road.
As development expands further south from Bleams towards Plains Road, the City of Kitchener is blending these two things to make the city’s eighth urban mixed-use corridor.
The Fischer-Hallman Road Mixed-Use Corridor Urban Design Brief was approved by Kitchener’s Planning and Strategic Initiatives committee on June 18.
The document outlines standards and guidelines for developers along this section of Fischer-Hallman, according to Kitchener Senior Planner Heather Holbrook. The road is to be a mixture of residential and commercial uses.
“They could even be in one building,” Holbrook said, such as a condominium with offices or stores on the main floor.
Guidelines also require the area to be pedestrian and cycling friendly with sidewalks, trails and transit along the road.
Holbrook said it moves away from the “car-oriented” designs that were popular at the time that the Forest Hill and Forest Heights subdivisions were built.
Other mixed-use corridors in Kitchener include sections of King Street East and West, Queen Street South, Victoria Street North and South, and the Belmont and Lancaster villages.
This section of Fischer-Hallman will be the main corridor of the Rosenberg neighbourhood which includes undeveloped lands on either side of Fischer Hallman Road from Bleams Road to Huron Road on the west side, and almost to Plains Road on the east side. It is named after a settlement that was established near the Huron Natural Area.
This part of Fischer-Hallman is slated to be expanded to four lanes in 2015, said Ward 5 councillor Kelly Galloway in an interview.
“I’m glad the guiding principles for this subdivision were done early, and not piece by piece,” she said. “It’s going to be a great product in the end.”
Galloway said density of the new neighbourhood is projected to be between 25,000 and 40,000 people, depending on whether developers choose to build for the minimum or maximum density.
More detailed information about this urban mixed-use corridor is on the City of Kitchener’s website www.kitchener.ca/fischerhallman.
Kitchener Citizen
As you drive down Fischer-Hallman Road, you can see the changes in planning practices in Kitchener.
Between Forest Heights Collegiate and the Expressway, the road is lined with single family homes that were built in the 1960s when suburbia was king. To meet the needs of this highly-populated area, commericial centres sprung up to the south between the Expressway and Bleams Road.
As development expands further south from Bleams towards Plains Road, the City of Kitchener is blending these two things to make the city’s eighth urban mixed-use corridor.
The Fischer-Hallman Road Mixed-Use Corridor Urban Design Brief was approved by Kitchener’s Planning and Strategic Initiatives committee on June 18.
The document outlines standards and guidelines for developers along this section of Fischer-Hallman, according to Kitchener Senior Planner Heather Holbrook. The road is to be a mixture of residential and commercial uses.
“They could even be in one building,” Holbrook said, such as a condominium with offices or stores on the main floor.
Guidelines also require the area to be pedestrian and cycling friendly with sidewalks, trails and transit along the road.
Holbrook said it moves away from the “car-oriented” designs that were popular at the time that the Forest Hill and Forest Heights subdivisions were built.
Other mixed-use corridors in Kitchener include sections of King Street East and West, Queen Street South, Victoria Street North and South, and the Belmont and Lancaster villages.
This section of Fischer-Hallman will be the main corridor of the Rosenberg neighbourhood which includes undeveloped lands on either side of Fischer Hallman Road from Bleams Road to Huron Road on the west side, and almost to Plains Road on the east side. It is named after a settlement that was established near the Huron Natural Area.
This part of Fischer-Hallman is slated to be expanded to four lanes in 2015, said Ward 5 councillor Kelly Galloway in an interview.
“I’m glad the guiding principles for this subdivision were done early, and not piece by piece,” she said. “It’s going to be a great product in the end.”
Galloway said density of the new neighbourhood is projected to be between 25,000 and 40,000 people, depending on whether developers choose to build for the minimum or maximum density.
More detailed information about this urban mixed-use corridor is on the City of Kitchener’s website www.kitchener.ca/fischerhallman.
