Drivers going by a Kitchener roundabout may have noticed something unusual – a tent set up on the centre island.
CTV News got in touch with the man living at the centre of the roundabout, who you could call the king of Bleams Road and Manitou Drive. But his real name is Josh.
“King of the castle on top of my mountain top,” Josh screamed, laughing.
His tent has been there for about a month after recently moving from Port Elgin.
“I figured it wasn’t in a park, so nobody’s going to complain. And I figured nobody would be walking through there and there’s not a bunch of houses around,” said Josh.
While many people don’t experience homelessness by choice, Josh chooses to live this way.
“I feel better outside, but I wouldn’t go into a shelter anyway because there’s a lot of drug use in there and there’s like bedbug problems and violence problems,” he said. “I’m living an adventure. My life is like a movie.”
Although, he does say there are supports available for those who need them.
“Kitchener is like the best place I’ve ever been for something like this. Yeah, there really are good people down here and they take good care of you,” Josh said.
A tent set up at a roundabout near Bleams Road and Manitou Drive in Kitchener, Ont. on August 29, 2024. (Spencer Turcotte/CTV News)
He admits sleeping within a roundabout does get a little noisy.
“Yeah, a little bit in the morning. You know, when people put those exhausts that go BANG! I don’t like those ones,” he said.
But he wouldn’t have it any other way. He also hasn’t been forced out.
He says he was approached by Region of Waterloo workers earlier this week and was told they had to tidy up some shrubs on the centre island.
Josh moved his tent for them to do the work, but by Friday he was back at his so-called castle.
Region of Waterloo responded to a request from CTV News earlier this week about the situation.
In a statement they said: “The region is aware of the site and has outreach workers visiting to establish connections into housing supports and services. Alongside community partners, the region continues to work towards more solutions to support those experiencing chronic homelessness.”
Josh says he hasn’t had much interaction with outreach workers.
“The outreach workers have never really come when I was there. There was like a card from an outreach worker and that’s pretty much all I’ve seen from them,” he said.
When it comes to safety concerns, Josh doesn’t have any.
“No, do people ‘Dukes of Hazzard’ the roundabout all the time? Because everyone keeps complaining about it,” he said.
Even so, he’s gotten used to being at the centre of attention and the roundabout. His nickname backs that up too.
“They call me Hollywood. They know I’m always up to something,” he said.
With no plans to leave anytime soon, you could say this has become the unofficial ‘Hollywood Hill’ of Waterloo Region.
