Making neighbours neighbourly

Mayor wants to help people who long for a return to a sense of community

WATERLOO — Tim Osland is burning with excitement to see city government finalize a new plan to provide neighbourhoods with more support.

He points to how the city approved a small bonfire last summer at Old Oak Park after earlier requests failed to get past fire rules.

More than 200 neighbours came out to roast marshmallows and celebrate the summer solstice. They had so much fun they want to make it an annual event.

This illustrates how the city proposes to ease the red tape that sometimes gets in the way of neighbourhood celebrations, Osland said. He’s among volunteers who are helping to steer city council toward a formal neighbourhood strategy.

“We are very excited that they are moving in the right direction,” said Osland, president of the Laurelwood Neighbourhood Association, representing 1,740 residences.

Waterloo has several neighbourhood associations plus a $30,000 fund to help neighbours achieve grassroots goals. The proposed strategy is meant to enhance city efforts to help residents develop a stronger sense of community.

“I want to bring back the neighbourhood of the 1960s, when you knew everyone on your street and you actually did go next door to borrow a cup of sugar,” Mayor Dave Jaworsky said. “We have busier and busier lifestyles, and the internet competing for our time. So we need to get people out and about.”

City government hasn’t always made neighbourhood-building a priority in part because it hasn’t had to. Waterloo has some neighbourhoods affluent enough to operate their own pools and tennis courts.

Other neighbourhoods don’t have exclusive facilities or haven’t been able to establish associations. Student areas near university campuses are seeing stresses. Waterloo is also adding highrise dwellers. Jaworsky suspects they may not be as inclined to see themselves as neighbours.

The city consulted with more than 1,600 people to craft a neighbourhood vision to implement within five years. It aims to encourage public interactions, empower neighbours to lead, and build city policies that support neighbourhood-led initiatives.

Waterloo doesn’t plan to replicate Kitchener’s costly network of community centres, built in part with natural gas revenues that Waterloo doesn’t have.

“It’s very expensive to do it with community centres,” Jaworsky said. “If we were to move into that way, it would take us 30 years to get there. This is something that we could strike quickly.”

Among city proposals is to provide affordable mobile equipment for neighbours to use at events. The city proposes to improve access to current indoor space. It proposes to help train volunteers and to provide more money for neighbourhood projects, with new spending yet to be determined.

The neighbourhood strategy is to be finalized later this year after input Monday at Waterloo council. Jaworsky argues that helping neighbours get to know each other better may reduce calls on city staff to intervene in neighbourhood disputes. “You just have more patience for your fellow neighbour,” he said. He sees this as a direct taxpayer benefit, freeing up city spending that could be redirected elsewhere.