Story shared by the Neighbourhood Strategy team in Kitchener, ON
"From the very beginning, we wanted the Strategy to be driven and created by residents," shares Mike Farwell, the resident co-chair of the Neighbourhood Strategy project team. "Based on the variety of ways people were involved and the number of hours people contributed during our community engagement, I am confident the final recommendations of the Neighbourhood Strategy will be firmly rooted in the community."
The numbers are in and the project team is very excited about the deep and meaningful ways people provided their input:
• 1,308 people spent 65 hours drinking lemonade and completing a survey at 27 events in 2015
• 400 people spent 1,000 hours talking neighbourhoods at the Neighbourhood Party in April 2016
• 1,093 people spent 182 hours being interviewed in "street teams" at 86 locations this summer
• 408 people spent 408 hours participating in 35 focus groups this summer
• 961 people spent 39 hours commenting online through a survey, ideas forum and on social media
• 111 people spent 222 hours providing input at meetings with neighbourhood associations and other community partners
• 600 people spent 150 hours sharing their perspectives through a statistically-valid phone survey
• 134 people spent 268 hours identifying the red tape that limits people from acting on neighbourhood ideas
• 310 people spent 620 hours testing and practicing placemaking at 9 different sites throughout the city
• 18 members of the Neighbourhood Strategy Project Team spent 888 hours guiding the project at 53 project team and subcommittee meetings
Add it all up, and that's 5,343 people and 3,842 hours of conversation dedicated to the making of a Neighbourhood Strategy. That's like talking neighbourhoods for 160 days straight!
Where and how did we engage?
We created a fun map to show just how unique - and inclusive - our community engagement process was. We reached out to a lot of people who aren't typically engaged in city consultations, including places like soccer games at Biehn Park, food trucks at Doon Presbyterian Church and card games at the Royal Canadian Legion.
The map also highlights the diversity of the 145 different organizations involved, such as the Filipino Society, Kitchener Waterloo Rowing Club, John Darling Public School and numerous neighbourhood associations.
The interactive map can be viewed at this link.
What did we hear?
With so much thoughtful input being provided by the community, the Neighbourhood Strategy project team is taking their time to fully understand people's input and develop recommendations to be included in the Neighbourhood Strategy.
A draft of recommendations will be available for public comment in November, with the final strategy being presented to City Council in early 2017.
That said, three primary themes have already emerged from all that public input: Great Places, Connected People and Working Together.
Plus, people expressed a strong desire for local ownership and participation in decision-making in their own neighbourhoods. Michael May, Deputy Chief Administrative Officer for the City's Community Services Department, explains, "We heard loud and clear from the community that they have the creativity, passion and ability to make great things happen. As the municipality, we can provide residents with essential resources, programs and supports. But just as importantly, we need to make it as easy as possible for residents to make great things happen by simplifying some of our policies and procedures."
