Northdale

Anybody who has a one-line solution to the challenges in Northdale doesn’t have the answer. This is a complex issue that needs a complex solution, and a councillor who really understands the neighbourhood.

What we have in Northdale, which is the neighbourhood adjacent to the University of Waterloo and Wilfrid Laurier University, is a neighbourhood for which the status quo isn’t working: not for long-term residents, and not for students. We have too many people crammed into inadequate spaces, whether they are overly crowded small houses or five-bedroom apartments. We have a neighbourhood that lacks suitable amenities for a vibrant and safe urban community. We have a complex situation that can’t be solved easily, or responded to with one-line solutions.

I live across the street from Northdale and I have spent a lot of time walking the streets of this community and speaking with residents, both long-term and new arrivals. Since 2004, when I first helped the push for a new strategy, it has become clear that Council has not made solving these issues a priority, and that we still have not moved past just discussing the problems.

What we need in Northdale is a community with a range of housing types suitable for the types of people who would want to live in walking distance to either university, Uptown, and the Research and Technology Park. I know that all of Northdale’s members need places to go within the neighbourhood: corner stores, coffee shops, public spaces, and other businesses where the community can gather. We must ensure that amenities are both suitable and available, helping residents to enjoy a higher quality of life and interact with others in their neighbourhood. We must see community-oriented small businesses that are focused on serving those in Northdale, not just those who are driving through.

I believe that guiding appropriate development will help us to ensure a better quality of life in Northdale for the long-term residents and for the students. To find and implement cost-effective solutions, the City needs working partnerships with the stakeholders who have offered their support, including long-term residents, the universities, developers, businesses, students, and young professionals.

Having worked with many of these groups, I have the skills and experience to bring them together and build trust and a shared vision. Building a more intensified neighbourhood block by block, the City can work with its partners to ensure that these long-term changes build community and are cost-effective.