One is that they have a large Indian population. We were thinking about seeing a movie, so I went online to check Brampton's only local theatre, which was a Silver City (sounds untrue, and admittedly, I'm going off some stuff I heard, as well as a quick Google search). After looking through their options, I asked if they had a large Indian population, which caught a few laughs. More than a few of their featured films were in Hindi or Punjabi, and when we went to the theatre, we were definitely in a distinct racial minority. However, the film we wound up seeing (a movie-length picture of the television show Downtown Abbey, held in England about 100 years in the past) attracted a Caucasian majority. My girlfriend assured me that only this specific film could bring together so many white people in Brampton.
Honestly, the Indian/Nepali-to-European-Canadian ratio didn't really make me uneasy, as it pretty accurately reflects the population of my townhouse complex. Felt right at home. I also think it's kind of cool that even a large corporation such as Cineplex Cinema's Silver City will tailor their film choices to the preferences of a local community.
Another thing I learned is that a certain area of Brampton, called Bramalea, is sorted into even smaller areas based on alphabetical order. So it starts with an A-section, where all the street names start with the letter "A", then moves to a "B" section, and progresses all the way to "P". Outside of the letters they never reached, it seems they never made an "I" area.
While we're looking at city development, there are a few things happening here in Kitchener.
First off, I'm not sure if I've already mentioned this some time back, but they're tearing down the Sears building that used to connect to one of our largest malls. I wouldn't have expected this to be controversial, but apparently a number of people considered this to be a heritage building, which commemorated "50's Shopping Culture".
The 50's still feel a little too early to be historic, but I guess historic things only get to be the way they are because nobody tears them down when they are only slightly old. I wouldn't have thought that "shopping culture" was something to protect, or on the way out, but I guess online shopping is now currently endangering the mall experience. It doesn't feel like it was too long ago that everyone was against Wal Mart for choking out local businesses. Now it seems that Amazon gets all the attention.
They are putting in a new Conestoga College campus where the old Market Square used to be. Market Square was this old shopping centre that used to be an Eaton Centre (Old Quebec Street Mall in Guelph apparently was also an Eaton Centre, so I feel like the age of Eaton Centres is passing). Because I have lived near, and have provided support close to this area, I have some knowledge of what remained of Market Square before these current events. When I subletted near it five years ago, their food court was full. Since then, everything except Mr. Wok and Grill Inn shut down. Two restaurants inside an otherwise empty food court.
I always wondered how the food court did so poorly when they were basically the cafeteria for Trios College, which is a little, less-renowned college that still seemed to hold a consistent attendance. They also had a successful and attached Goodlife Fitness gym, but those guys are never hungry.
On the first floor, there used to be an athletics shop that closed down and was never replaced. Otherwise, there was a spa, an electronics store, and a watch store.
They are calling the new Conestoga Campus "Kitchener Campus". Despite my school's building falling inside the borders of Kitchener, it is called Doon Campus, because "Doon" used to be it's own place before Kitchener absorbed it.
At Frederick Mall, they are closing Imagine Cinemas, which isn't a huge surprise to me, just because I couldn't see how they were possibly pulling a profit to begin with. They sold the cheapest tickets in town, at like, $7 a piece. They had two screens, and more often than not, I would have the theatre to myself. One time, they forgot to turn the lights off 20 minutes into a movie because they forgot anybody was in the audience. Somehow, they managed to keep themselves open since long before I arrived in Kitchener, but I guess it couldn't be sustainable.
Charles St Terminal has finally closed. I've felt pretty strongly about keeping you guys informed on this, even though it is completely uninteresting, just because this terminal was a place that I have spent a lot of time in over the years.
After the terminal stopped being used for local transit, they left the Transfers cafe and bar, and the information desk open. At this point, I really wondered if these businesses could remain open without the main local service running. Then, the information desk relocated to a nearby hotel, but the bar and cafe were still open, and business was better than ever. I guess just because of sentimentality as everyone knew they wouldn't be around for long. Then, the desk and bar closed, but they still had security custodial staff, working bathrooms, and a working drinking fountain. The homeless people that used hang around the terminal were also still there. However, this past month, they closed their doors entirely
Not everything is being torn down. In my neighborhood, they just opened a shawarma spot. Shawarma has become a popular fast food option in Kitchener, and I'm really glad that it has. However, somehow down the line, shawarma joints all decided to adopt poutine onto their menus, with "shawarma poutine" as a local, expected fusion food. I just wonder how Canadian Soul Food and Middle Eastern Cuisine managed to merge together so consistently in my area.
I mentioned in the past that Guelph paid big money to have these giant cement pigeons built near their bus terminal, made intentionally old-looking and with the same material as the city's Church of our Lady. Here is one of them:
I guess when building the new bus terminals to accommodate our Light Rail Transit, KW decided to take a leaf out of our book and decorate one of their main terminal with its most prevalent pest.
They don't get their own perch in the sky, but they are more vibrantly cloured! And for some reason, they put mulch under their feet, as if they are expected to grow like a plant. I'll let you guys decide which city has the more iconic representation for this common pest.
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