What's Booth Up To Now?

It happened in Toronto, it happened in Hamilton, it happened in Ottawa, it happened in wee little towns along Lake Huron and it happened in small Ontario vacation communities north of Toronto.  AMALGAMATION.  People just hate it; they can’t stand losing their “identity” or having to share their city with people who never used to be a part of it.  Well, it seems as though the issue just won’t leave.  It seems as if there are still people who think it’s a good idea, and it seems as if Waterloo Region might see more of its cities join in holy matrimony, even after Cambridge “suffered” the same fate in the 1970′s.  It seems as if city names and identity and turf are major issues with folks in todays cities, with particular disdain being shown for those who dare to call one’s hometown by another name.

“So, you going home to Toronto this weekend?”
“No, I live in Richmond Hill.”
“Oh c’mon, ‘same thing.”
“No it’s not.  Richmond Hill is a separate city.”
“Well you may as well be part of Toronto.  I mean, if you look at any map, there’s really no differentiation.”

This conversation is real and has been re-iterated many times when my friends leave campus and go home for the weekend.  It is a major example of “identity”.  The same thing happens here among KW locals.  People are very sensitive about having their own city being called by another name… like calling Waterloo “Kitchener”.  I realize that Waterloo, as well as Cambridge, are all separate cities in Waterloo Region, but when I’m talking to an out-of-town resident, I’ll refer to everything generally as Kitchener.  Why?  Because it’s the biggest city of the bunch (by both population and land area), and it sits in the middle between Waterloo and Cambridge.  Both Waterloo and Cambridge are officially considered to be in Metropolitan Kitchener, and the area is called Kitchener CMA (Census Metropolitan Area), because such a title is given to the largest city in the metro area.  It’s not called Richmond Hill CMA now is it?  No, it’s called Toronto CMA, or Metropolitan Toronto.  Not Metropolitan Vaughan or Metropolitan Brampton.

If Cambridge was the biggest city, it’d be called Cambridge CMA, and Kitchener and Waterloo would be its metropolitan cities.  Same for Waterloo if it were the biggest.  But since neither of them are, and nor are they even close to closing the gap, it will remain Kitchener CMA.  Unfortunately, this bugs some people, who don’t like being affiliated with another city, especially if their own city is considered to be nicer.  Uptown Waterloo is considered slightly classier than Downtown Kitchener, and Waterloo is generally a very white collar, very high-tech urban centre.  Kitchener has traditionally been very blue collar, with fewer upscale neighbourhoods.  This is changing though, because Kitchener is going through a major downtown renaissance, and is leading the charge for greater unity among regional cities. 

Unfortunately, people aren’t all on-board with change, because it means someone has to cave, and no one wants to be the one that gives in.  They all want to keep their names and their identities, and not succumb to the big brother.  Unity is needed, whether you amalgamate or not, so if we’re not going to amalgamate, then let’s at least have a unified voice for regional things.  More to come on this issue…