Information AboutWaterloo, On |
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with Waterloo in red.]] The City of Waterloo, Ontario is the smallest of the tri-cities in the Regional Municipality Of Waterloo , and is adjacent to the larger city of Kitchener . According to the have encourage strong immigration and population growth; at the end of 2005, the population of Waterloo has swelled to more than 109,000. Kitchener and Waterloo are often jointly referred to as Kitchener-Waterloo (K-W), or the Twin Cities , although they have separate municipal governments. There have been several attempts in the past to amalgamate the two cities, but none has been successful. The City of Waterloo covers an area of 64.09 sq. kilometres. Residents of the area pronounce ''Waterloo'' with the stress on the last syllable (water-LOO). The City of Waterloo was named by the Intelligent Communities Forum as one of the Top Seven Intelligent Communities of 2006 in the world.[http://www.intelligentcommunity.org] HISTORY Waterloo was founded in 1804 by Mennonite s from Pennsylvania , including Abraham Erb , considered to be the founder of Waterloo because the two lots of land he owned later made up the core area. In 1816 , the new town was named Waterloo after the site of the Famous Battle in Europe the previous year. By the 1840s the area was a popular destination for German settlers. The Germans settled mostly in the area to the south-east of Waterloo, which in 1833 was called Berlin , later renamed to Kitchener in a controversial referendum conducted at the height of anti-German sentiment during the First World War . LAW/GOVERNMENT The current mayor of Waterloo is Herb Epp , who was elected mayor in November , 2003 . The Waterloo city council is made up of the mayor and 5 councillors (soon to be increasing to 7 councillors), each elected in his or her " Ward " (inaccurately called " Riding "). The City of Waterloo itself was voted one of the top 100 employers in Canada in 2003 . The City is responsible for fire protection, libraries, parks and recreation and secondary streets, but many municipal services come instead from the broader level of government, the Region Of Waterloo . Regional responsibilities include social welfare, community health, and policing through the Waterloo Regional Police Service. The chief local political issue is the apparent overspending, and alleged wrongdoing, in connection with the massive development of RIM Park early in the present decade. Past and present city councils have been committed to providing for the explosive population growth that is coming with the local economic boom. Rapidly developing subdivisions are often described by their critics as urban sprawl that threatens environmentally sensitive areas and valuable agricultural land. GEOGRAPHY There are five main parks in the city. The largest is RIM Park , which occupies 500 acres (2 km&2) and is home to a wide variety of indoor and outdoor sporting facilities, including an eighteen hole golf course, and the heritage 'Martin Farm House'. Waterloo Park is in Uptown Waterloo, and contains historical buildings and a bandshell. Bechtel Park occupies 109 acres (0.4 km&2) and has many outdoor sporting facilities along with wetlands, meadows and hardwood forest. The park also includes a very large off-leash dog park. Hillside Park and Lexington are smaller facilities. Laurel Creek Conservation Area lies in the northwest of the city. The Grand River , which is popular with canoeists, flows southward along the East side of the city. The centre (or 'uptown') of Waterloo is located near the junctions of King and Erb streets. The centrepiece is the now rather old Waterloo Town Square shopping centre, which is ( As Of 2005 ) undergoing a renovation. The historical centre of the city was once along Albert Street, near the Marsland Centre and the Waterloo Public Library. Residents use the term 'uptown' to refer to the Waterloo city centre, while 'downtown' is reserved for the Kitchener city centre. The uptown/downtown distinction stems from the fact that Waterloo's city centre is at higher elevation than that of Kitchener. Parades march from Waterloo downhill to Kitchener as it is easier for participants, and particularly draft animals, to march downhill rather than uphill. In the west end of the city, the Waterloo Moraine provides over 300,000 people in the region with drinking water. This is the largest region dependent on ground source water in North America. ECONOMY Waterloo has a service oriented economy with healthy insurance and high tech sectors as well as two major universities. The city's leading employers are Sun Life/Clarica Life Insurance Co , University Of Waterloo , and Manulife Financial . Waterloo has a strong technology sector. Waterloo has even become the centre of "Canada's Technology Triangle", made up of Waterloo, Kitchener, Cambridge, and Guelph (Waterloo and Kitchener are often considered as the same city, hence the three points to make up the triangle). The dominant technology company in Waterloo is Research In Motion , the makers of the BlackBerry , which has its headquarters and many offices in Waterloo. Breweries and distilleries had been a significant industry in the Waterloo area until 1993 when a Labatt -owned brewery was shut down. Now the only major brewery is the Brick Brewing Company . Waterloo was also the original home of distiller Seagram . Insurance companies have had a strong presence in Waterloo, as several Waterloo-based insurance companies such as Manulife, SunLife Financial and Economical appear on the Financial Post's listing of the largest insurance companies. The Waterloo Region is also home to Toyota's largest manufacturing facilities in North America, which is so well-regarded by executives at Toyota that these facilities are the only ones outside of Japan entrusted to make cars under the Lexus brand. TRANSPORT Roads The Conestoga Parkway and Highway 8 connect Waterloo with Kitchener , Cambridge, Ontario , Highway 7 , and Highway 401 . Public transport Since 2000 , public transport throughout the Region Of Waterloo has been provided by Grand River Transit , which was created by a merger of the former Cambridge Transit and '''Kitchener Transit'''. GRT operate a number of bus routes in Waterloo, with many running into Kitchener . In September 2005 an Express Bus route was added. The route, called '''iXpress''', runs from downtown Cambridge through Kitchener to north Waterloo. Railways Waterloo no longer has regularly-scheduled passenger services of its own. VIA Rail trains between Sarnia and Toronto stop at the Kitchener Railway Station slightly to the south and east of uptown Waterloo at the corner of Victoria Street and Weber Street. The station is accessible by local buses via Kitchener's downtown Charles Street transport centre. There are no GO Transit railway stations within easy reach of Waterloo; the nearest is Milton Station . City councillors and public petitions have called for the extension of GO trains to the Region of Waterloo, but at present GO does not plan to go beyond already-announced bus links. Air The closest airport to Waterloo is the Region Of Waterloo International Airport in nearby Breslau, but while it is a thriving General-aviation field, it is not heavily-served by scheduled airlines. Most air travellers use either Toronto 's Lester B. Pearson International Airport or Hamilton 's John C. Munro International Airport . There are no permanent public transport links from Waterloo to any of these airports. COMPANIES BASED IN WATERLOO High-tech
Many other high-tech companies, with headquarters elsewhere, take advantage of the high concentration of high tech employees in the Waterloo area, and have research and development centres here. DEMOGRAPHICS Many locals are of Ethnic German descent. There is also a strong Mennonite presence, thanks to the region's history. The universities and colleges attract a large number of individuals from elsewhere in Canada and the world at large, giving the city a cosmopolitan ethnic makeup. Because of its attraction as a Suburb , Waterloo has grown by 11% in the last 5 years and attracts a variety of ethnicities. Racial groups The city of Waterloo {Link without Title}
Other groups include Koreans and Arabs. Religious groups
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EVENTS An annual Jazz Festival is held in July, and a Busker's Carnival in August. Waterloo joins with Kitchener in Kitchener-Waterloo Oktoberfest , the largest celebration of Oktoberfest outside of Germany , which takes place at Canadian Thanksgiving in October. The Royal Medieval Faire takes place in September. COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES The University Of Waterloo and Wilfrid Laurier University are located in the City of Waterloo. Various high-tech companies, originating on the University of Waterloo campus, have remained in the city. SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINKS General
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