Outdoor public spaces are essential to a good quality of life in Kitchener. Our neighbourhoods would not be complete without parks, public squares, seating areas, skating rinks, and basketball courts. These are the spaces where neighbours from different cultures, ages, and income levels come together.

As our city grows by welcoming new neighbours into existing neighbourhoods, we must plan for new parks and public spaces. This physical infrastructure enables the creation of social infrastructure, described by the Waterloo Region Community Foundation as “the bridges necessary to build trust and civic participation”. 

In 2019, I led a community campaign for a pedestrian-first Gaukel Street in downtown Kitchener. We brought together neighbours, artists, cycling advocates, parents, students, researchers, dog owners, local businesses, and tech companies to create a much-needed new public space in Kitchener’s growing downtown. Today, Gaukel Street features greenery and permanent art installations. It is used every day by neighbours playing games or sharing a meal, by pop-up markets and cultural celebrations, and by landmark festivals that bring the whole city together.

All residents benefit when we have convenient options for moving in and around our city. Complete communities include walking, rolling, transit, and cycling routes that ensure neighbours of all ages and abilities can easily and affordably get to where they need to go.

Designing neighbourhoods for active transportation has multiple co-benefits including improved health outcomes, lower risk of road injuries, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and improving access for those who do not drive a car.

Public transit, including bus and ION light rail, is a responsibility of the Region of Waterloo. However, the City of Kitchener can collaborate with the Region to plan its roads, trails, parking, and active transportation infrastructure in a way that supports an integrated network of sustainable choices.

Sam's priorities for public space

• Recommit to establishing a permanent pedestrian-first street in the Market District, and create another new pedestrian-first street prioritizing greenery in the King East neighbourhood. Reduce barriers to activating vendor stalls on Gaukel Block, with the goal of operating as a turnkey bookable space for artisans and food businesses.

• Explore resident-led improvements to the public realm during the site planning process for new construction. By pairing redevelopment with buy-in from the community for improved public space, we can have better conversations about how we welcome new neighbours.

• Explore land acquisition for an expansion of park space as part of the strategic plan and asset management review for Willow River/Victoria Park, Huron Natural Area, McLennan Park, Rockway Gardens, Kiwanis Park, and RBJ Schlegel Park. These expansions could integrate with new or existing pedestrian streets, public squares, and trails.

• Expand the Walter Bean Trail along the Grand River to fill the missing links between Kiwanis Park and Schaefer Park, and in the former Sims Estate, replacing the existing on-road bypasses.

• Implement municipal sidewalk snow clearing, prioritizing streets without adequate snow storage (i.e. curb-facing sidewalks) such as Weber Street. This would mirror similar improvements recently implemented in Waterloo. Snow clearing should also be prioritized for crosswalks, trail connections, routes to transit stops, and school walking routes.

• Reintroduce the neighbourhood snowblower initiative, which offered up to $500 for groups of neighbours to purchase a snowblower to clear their sidewalks. We can resolve outstanding liability concerns by adopting clear standards and expectations based on our volunteer program for maintaining outdoor skating rinks.

• Work with the Region of Waterloo to add multi-use trails along the entire length of Ottawa Street, and include Ottawa Street in Kitchener’s citywide active transportation route network. This will improve connectivity between neighbourhoods and resolve a significant gap in the Cycling & Trails Master Plan.

• Double the pace of construction of citywide trails, which has already started with Route 1 (The Boardwalk – Downtown) and Route 2 (Stanley Park – Downtown – Uptown Waterloo). This pace would allow for a full build-out of the citywide trail network by 2030, with a total of 9 trails (2 per year). Accelerating the completion of this network will bring significant value to neighbours across the entire city, giving us more choices for commuting and recreation all year round. 

• As the City renews its Long-Term Parking Strategy, explore opportunities to increase the use of municipal parking garages in downtown Kitchener. Shifting more downtown parking away from streets and surface lots will allow us to make better use of our limited outdoor space.

• Work with the Kitchener downtown BIA to extend the summer patio program eastward to Stirling Avenue, including more publicly-accessible patios in addition to those associated with specific restaurants.