Every new year has the opportunity for a fresh start — I like to think that each day is a blank page of a 365-page book.

With the holidays behind us, the businesses, residents and organizations of uptown Waterloo have a chance to reflect on the great successes of 2018, and also the opportunities to make changes and improvements. This past year saw a lot of transformation for uptown — some of it good, some of it difficult, all of it part of our evolution.

From the business side of things, it is important to remember that, due to various different reasons, we said goodbye to nine businesses in 2018 — and there are others who are still struggling after the last few years of construction. We also had reason to celebrate, as we welcomed 28 new businesses to our uptown Waterloo family last year — with more on the way.

Keeping an eye to the future: uptown Waterloo's updated streetscape, broad range of housing and diversity of businesses is gradually — yet purposely — bringing more people to visit, live, work and play in uptown. Empty-nesters and families already living here are enjoying the unique lifestyle that uptown Waterloo offers, including excellent restaurants, walking trails, clothing stores, salons and spas. Young professionals are continuing to visit and move here for our cool vibe, bike trails, transportation choices, nightlife and new condo developments.

Collectively, those of us who love uptown are growing an important community legacy; this next year will see more changes for us as we further establish ourselves as a place to “be” in Waterloo Region. Like the trailblazers we are, we will meet them with an open, can-do attitude, making sure we stay true to what’s important — caring neighbourhoods, thriving businesses and economy, healthy lifestyle options, beautiful and useful outdoor spaces, innovative learning opportunities, impactful arts and civic engagement, sustainable development — among a few others.

It’s time to rediscover all that uptown Waterloo has to offer. There are still 352 pages left in our 2019 uptown Waterloo book — let’s write a good one together!

Uptown Myth Buster #1

We often hear from people that finding parking in uptown Waterloo is a challenge: this is simply a misunderstanding. With our new streetscape, uptown Waterloo encourages more use of multi modes of transportation — no longer is the car “king” here. As a result, parking has changed in uptown. Many people think that they can only park at Waterloo Public Square or on King St.; however, there is still lots of free, two-hour parking at six different lots in uptown, especially along Regina St. at City Hall, Paul Puncher and on the corner of Bridgeport Rd. — all just minutes from store doors — just like if you were at a large mall. Check out this parking map for more info: https://uptownwaterloobia.com/uptown-parking.