Affordability

Affordability and the rising cost of living are major challenges. Kitchener 2051 is an opportunity to plan a city where everyone, regardless of income, can live, work, and play.

Thinking about your hopes for Kitchener’s future, how important is each value?

Access and inclusion

It is important to provide equitable access throughout Kitchener’s neighbourhoods to public spaces, parks, shops, jobs, and community facilities & programs. Kitchener 2051 is an opportunity to provide access to these places for all.

Thoughtful and resilient growth

Where and how we grow requires careful balancing of trade-offs, with a focus on the future. Kitchener 2051 should reflect how city building topics, like housing, transportation, climate, and an aging population, are connected.

Mutual care and belonging

Imagine a city where everyone prospers, and no one is left behind. Kitchener 2051 should continue to build a city for everyone where, together, we take care of the world around us – and each other.

Safe and sustainable mobility

Where we live, work, and play and the distance in between has significant impacts on how we move around the city. Kitchener 2051 should focus on providing safe and sustainable ways to get around throughout the city & beyond for:

• pedestrians,
• cyclists,
• transit users, and
• drivers.

Section 1: Kitchener 2051 Overall Priorities

We need your help to identify what is most important for our city. This section will gather your input on where the city should focus its efforts to address key challenges. Like many Canadian cities, Kitchener faces challenges like:

• the climate crisis
• housing crisis
• rising income inequality

The new Official Plan can help address these by providing the framework for sustainable, equitable growth in the city. It can do this through:

• strategic land use
• transportation
• climate policies
• development policies

Optional: Tell us about yourself!

We are asking these demographic questions to better understand who takes our online surveys and who might be missing. Your answers will be kept confidential and are available only to City of Kitchener staff. The survey results will be reported all together in one large group (aggregated) and in such a way that no one person can be identified.

Answering the questions below is voluntary. You do not have to answer if you do not want to.

The personal information is collected in accordance with s. 28(2) of Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (MFIPPA) and will be used by the City of Kitchener to inform policy decisions. For questions regarding this notice of collection, please contact Sue Weare, sue.weare@kitchener.ca, 519-741-2200 ext. 7058.

Section 2: Building A Connected City

A Connected City is about connecting how we grow with how we move. It is about getting around easily, sustainably, and safely to the places and spaces that matter to us most.

Learn more about a Connected City

Thinking about a typical day in your life, please answer the following questions. We want to learn:

• How you get around Kitchener today
• What’s preventing you from getting around in a mix of ways
• Where new housing and amenities should go so you can get around easier

Travel Quality

We would also like to better understand the quality of your travel experiences in and around Kitchener.

Planning for how we grow and move

Kitchener is growing. By 2051, we are planning to become a city of up to 450,000 people. New residents will need places to live, work, and play, and ways to get around between these places. Where we choose to do this will have an affect on how we move around our city.

When the places we live, work, and play are close together, travel is more:

• Convenient
• Sustainable
• Safe

That includes whether you’re walking, rolling, cycling, taking public transit or driving a car. By designing safe connections between these places, we can accommodate all road users.

Section 3: Building A Green City

A Green City is about creating more sustainable, healthy, and resilient communities. It is about protecting our natural environment and building great green spaces.

Learn more about a Green City

Our new Official Plan can help to reduce impacts on our communities. By planning for resilience, we can:

• increase biodiversity throughout our city
• have more sustainable infrastructure and building practices
• protect our parks and natural environment

Section 4: Building A Thriving City Together

A Thriving City is about creating a city of vibrant and liveable neighbourhoods. It is also about growing an agile and diverse local economy by supporting entrepreneurs, workers, and artists.

To do this, our homes and the places we visit daily need to be located close to each other. Our neighbourhoods also need enough people living in them to support those places.

This means:

• providing housing opportunities for all
• supporting public transit connections
• encouraging people to walk, cycle or roll to their destinations

Learn more about a Thriving City

Section 5: Building A Caring City Together

A Caring City is about welcoming residents of all ages, backgrounds, and lived experiences. It is about reflecting and reconciling on our past, while planning for a future rooted in community wellbeing, inclusion, and belonging.

Learn more about a Caring City

Section 6: Bringing it all Together