One Million Neighbours WR is pleased to announce the first version of its Neighbourhood Service Map, which reveals how access to various services differs between neighbourhoods across Waterloo Region.
Each neighbourhood has been ranked as “most access”, “average access”, or “least access” based on these factors:
- Transit
- Green Space
- Schools
- Healthcare
- Libraries
- Community Spaces
The map also accounts for population, so a neighbourhood that has grown rapidly without a corresponding investment in services will see its ranking decline.
As Waterloo Region grows to 1,000,000 people in the coming decades, we need to know that we are allocating resources equitably and that we are building a region where people in every neighbourhood can thrive.
This map is one way we are measuring progress towards the One Million Neighbours vision, created by non-profits and community groups across Waterloo Region. We identified common priorities and envisioned future scenarios based on multisolving: finding solutions that solve multiple problems at the same time, while advancing equity.
This project was developed in collaboration with Civic Tech WR, a volunteer group of software and data professionals who build tech solutions for civic change.
What will this map accomplish?
This map helps tell the story of our neighbourhoods — how many of us live close to amenities like green space, healthcare, community centres, and libraries? And are those amenities keeping up with population growth?
When we imagine a future that includes everyone, the benefits are felt at a neighbourhood level. What matters most to one’s day-to-day experience isn’t the overall number of parks in the Region, for example, but how many of those are safe and convenient to access.
This map is an advocacy tool: it’s meant to arm community groups with information about access to services on a hyper-local level. This knowledge can be used to guide investments and effective advocacy.
We can also identify where neighbourhoods can build on their strengths. The maps shows us the unique advantages of each rural, suburban, and urban neighbourhood in our Region, and which ones may be most ready to welcome new neighbours. As we continue important discussions about how to direct growth across Waterloo Region, this map can provide useful insight about per-capita service levels.
We envision a resilient Waterloo Region where every neighbourhood has good access to nature, culture, jobs, and services. We believe in creating neighbourhoods that can welcome people at different life stages, so families are not forced to move far away when theie living situation changes. We believe that neighbours know what services they need and that those who live there should guide neighbourhood-level investment priorities.
Who is this map for?
This map is informed by the priorities of non-profits and community groups in Waterloo Region. It can help us understand where there are needs in particular sectors, and where organizations can collaborate to solve problems together.
It’s also for neighbourhood associations and community groups who are looking for data that will assist them in their advocacy priorities.
Governments can use this map to validate their own plans against real-world outcomes, and to assess the effectiveness of their policies.
Businesses can use this map to understand how to better serve people in their community; especially for essential services like healthcare, childcare, and groceries.
Why another map?
There are several other mapping projects that take their own spin on mapping well-being and demographic information across Canada, such as:
Each of these tools was designed to answer a particular set of questions; while they have a lot of useful information, they don’t focus on tracking neighbourhood-level assets in the same way that we want to analyze them here at One Million Neighbours.
This is the beauty of open data from sources such as Statistics Canada and Open Street Map: we can rely on a common set of reliable information, while creating tools that are specific to our needs.
How will this map be kept up-to-date?
We recognize that keeping this map relevant and up-to-date is an ongoing responsibility. One Million Neighbours intends to refresh the data at least annually, in partnership with our volunteer researchers, local Universities, and Civic Tech WR.
We also plan to add new datasets to meet the needs of neighbourhood associations, nonprofits, and community groups in their advocacy and planning efforts.
Since some of our data relies on Open Street Map, we are also interested in coordinating grassroots mapping events to contribute high-quality original data to the Open Street Map database.
We will continue to update our datasets and analysis to improve the usefulness of the map, and we will log any changes to methodology here in the One Million Neighbours blog.
How did you decide the neighbourhood boundaries?
The neighbourhood boundaries are defined by Statistics Canada’s Aggregate Dissemination Areas. They can contain anywhere from 5,000 to 30,000 people and the boundaries of these areas remain stable between censuses.
Something looks wrong on the map. How can I help you fix it?
We welcome contributions from anyone who has knowledge of the on-the-ground reality of their neighbourhoods. Please email us at connect@holdthelinewr.org.
How can my group use this map to support our advocacy efforts?
One Million Neighbours is here to help! To book a workshop for your organization, please email us at connect@holdthelinewr.org. We would love to speak at your board meeting, run a public visioning session, or help with your strategic planning process by bringing our grassroots research and mapping tools to the table.
One Million Neighbours Waterloo Region 