From the Inside Looking Out

After my seminar’s discussion on what makes a “healthy” community, I decided to take a drive through my neighbourhood and critically analyze the needs and assets of my community. To give you some context, I live in Thornhill a suburb North of Downtown Toronto. Thornhill is located within the City of Vaughan and is one of the fastest growing communities in the GTA. Thornhill is home to an ethnically diverse population, however is particularly known for its large Jewish community. Having lived in Thornhill all my life, I have seen the community adapt and change to better accommodate the changing demographics and diversity of its population. For example, T &T Asian supermarket was put into the Promenade Shopping Mall in the heart of the community to cater to the rising Chinese community members. I decided to base the needs and assets of my community of the themes of people, places and priorities from the community quality of life project we looked at in class.
Driving down my street, I immediately noticed that all of the houses are extremely far apart. It’s no wonder that I don’t even know who my across the street neighbours are. Besides a couple walking their dog, I did not see anyone else walking the streets .Thornhill is considered to be a “driving culture” where nothing is within walking distance. For example, I could not even walk to my local public high school which was only recently built. The streets are fairly well lit, however from a safety perspective; I would not feel comfortable walking alone at night. Thornhill is home to many outstanding parks and recreation centres as a result of community projects that were taken on including “Greening Vaughan” and “Communities in Bloom”. As you drive around the neighbourhood you will notice how impeccably clean the streets are and how well kept the city grass is which is one of my community’s key assets. Beautiful, open parks equipped with walking and bike paths, child playgrounds and even tennis courts reside in the core of the Thornhill community. These functional spatial units give community members a collective space to come together to engage in conversation with one another. Every September, community members look forward to the Thornhill Heritage Festival , a street festival which features crafts, music, food and a parade in celebration of the community. This festival represents a way that the community of Thornhill can take action and mobilize their resources to positively impact the culture, attitude and appearance of the community as a whole.
Despite the vital assets that my community features, I believe there is a growing need for more culturally diverse services in community and recreation centres. I feel that with the increasing immigrant and multicultural population, social activities such as community kitchens would allow an opportunity for skill building and social cohesiveness. Implementing these kinds of programs to a rapidly evolving community has the capacity for mobilizing positive social change and empowering community members to get involved in community programs. However, in order to be successful in our endeavours, we must have a clear understanding of the needs and wants of the community members.
Take a long at the short video below for an overview of the City of Vaughan and an overview of its rich history.