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Lincoln Heights Area in Waterloo
Greetings, greetings, one and all, and welcome to the WRX Property Group blog. We’re working our way through the neighbourhoods and Neighbourhood/Community Associations of Kitchener-Waterloo (as well as numerous relevant topics pertaining to moving here, and real-estate in general).
Today we’ll be looking at southeastern Waterloo; more specifically, we’ll be discussing the other neighbourhood with Lincoln in its name. Today’s subject is none other than Lincoln Heights (south of Lincoln Village, and though a little smaller, no less special).
Lincoln Heights is in the southeast corner of Waterloo, bordering Kitchener to the south. Its boundaries are made up approximately by University Avenue to the north, the Conestoga Parkway to the east, Erb Street to the south, and Weber Street to the west.
The small area south of Erb Street, and east of Weber, includes some streets connected with the Lincoln Heights area, though zoned for a different public elementary school (Elizabeth Ziegler rather than Lincoln Heights). Prices in the neighbourhood can vary from $250 000+ to over $600 000 for single family homes.
There are condos available, as well, the prices of which tend towards the lower end of that spectrum. Please feel free to reach out to WRX if you’d like to learn more – we’re always happy to help.
View Homes for Sale in Lincoln Heights
Location
We’ve been covering a lot of newly-developed neighbourhoods along the peripheries of Kitchener-Waterloo, but today we’re back to a well-established region.
Indeed, settlement in the area stretches back to the early days of Waterloo’s settlement by German Mennonites in the 1800’s (Erb Street, along the neighbourhood’s southern boundary, bears Abraham Erb’s name – the man often referred to as Waterloo’s founder).
The neighbourhood became established as Lincoln Heights in the mid-twentieth century. Lincoln Height’s age displays itself in a number of positive ways: houses are quite distinct from one another, and they typically have large properties and yards, compared to newer developments that tend to feature similar house-designs and more compact yards.
Furthermore, and again distinct from newer developments, the yards – and the streets that run along them – feature rows of verdant, tall, mature trees that provide oxygen and shade. During the spring and summer, walks along the streets of
Lincoln Heights are quite pleasant indeed – but know you don’t have to hug the trees to appreciate them.
It’s important to know what’s in – or close to – a neighbourhood beyond the streets and houses themselves. And Lincoln Heights has quite a bit to offer. First of all, there are multiple schools within the neighbourhood itself, including one of Waterloo’s three public secondary schools – but we’ll discuss those later.
In the northeast corner of Lincoln Heights is a commercial area with a Zehrs, an A&W, a CIBC Bank, and a few other options. Having a grocery store within the neighbourhood, as you probably know, is a major advantage – you need never worry about your ice cream melting on the way home in Lincoln Heights.
And if one grocery store seemed good enough, how would you react if I told you there were not one but two more? It’s true: west of Weber Street is a larger shopping area, with both a Wal-Mart Supercentre and a Sobey’s – just about all the basic shopping you could need (and it doesn’t hurt that the Sobey’s is open 24-hours a day).
There are several other shopping opportunities and restaurants, including: Shoppers Drug Mart (technically a fourth option for groceries); Bulk Barn (a fifth option?!
Lincoln Heights is truly a fabled land of grocery shopping); Tim Hortons; Petro Canada; and much more. Two of the best parts of Lincoln Heights are immediately to the east and west of the neighbourhood. To the east – forming the neighbourhood’s eastern border – is the Conestoga Parkway, Waterloo’s most vital means of connecting with the rest of Waterloo Region, the Tri-Cities, and all of Southern Ontario.
The ease of access to Highway 85 (and from there, Highways 7, 8, and the 401) makes Lincoln Heights great for anyone who enjoys travelling, or who has relatives visiting them. The on- and off-ramps on Erb Street and University Avenue are close and accessible for all residents of the neighbourhood, and travel really is made easier by their presence.
West of Lincoln Heights is the lovely Uptown Waterloo, a beautiful, trendy area centred on King Street North, which has plenty of shops, restaurants, and more. It's close enough that you can walk over and enjoy the sights and sounds, without having to sacrifice the comforts of suburban life.
Education (and Transportation)
This is another of Lincoln Heights’ key highlights. Within the neighbourhood are four schools: Lincoln Heights Public School, Elementary School L’Harmonie, St. Agnes Catholic Elementary School, and Bluevale Collegiate Institute.
Lincoln Heights Public School serves Kindergarten-Grade 8. Elementary School L’Harmonie is part of the Viamonde network of schools, in which subjects are taught entirely in French, and their goal is to ensure complete fluency in the written and spoken language. St. Agnes Catholic School also serves Kindergarten to Grade 8, and it offers Extended Day Care.
Nearby is the affiliated St. Agnes Catholic Church parish. L’Harmonie and St. Agnes rank among the top elementary schools in Kitchener-Waterloo, according the Fraser Institute. Bluevale Collegiate Institute serves public high school students within Lincoln Heights and surrounding areas, and it is again one of the top secondary schools in Kitchener-Waterloo, according to the Fraser Institute.
The education opportunities don’t stop there: Along the northern border of Lincoln Heights stands the Waterloo Campus of Conestoga College. This college facility has been offering increasingly many programs, and it has its own bookstore.
Lincoln Heights is particularly close to Wilfrid Laurier University, and quite close to the University of Waterloo, as well. One of the things I’ve not yet mentioned is Lincoln Heights great access to public transit: multiple bus routes run by the neighbourhood.
The 5, 8, and 92 lines run along (or at the corner) of Lincoln heights; the 12 runs through it along Lincoln Road (a great route, which connects residents to Conestoga Mall, Fairview Park Mall, and the universities, running every 15 minutes during peak hours); and perhaps most excitingly, the iXpress line 202 runs along University Avenue, offering residents speedy service to both universities, the Boardwalk shopping area in western Waterloo, Conestoga Mall, and more.
If that’s not enough, there are several hubs nearby that offer even more routes and connections. Finally, once the LRT is up and running, Lincoln Heights residents can easily hop on one of the electric ION cars by Uptown Waterloo, and from there travel up to Conestoga Mall in Waterloo, down to Fairview Park Mall in Kitchener, and a few (hopefully not too many?) years down the line, all the way to Cambridge.
In Conclusion
Lincoln Heights offers a settled, suburban lifestyle to its residents, with plenty of grocery stores, schools, and amenities nearby. The Moses Springer Community Centre, with its skating rink, pool, and more, ensures there will always be something to do.
But Lincoln Heights does not feel isolated whatsoever: it is incredibly close to many of the things that make Waterloo great, from the universities to the Uptown to the Conestoga Parkway. Want your life to climb to new heights? Check out Lincoln Heights!
Written by Will Kummer