Community By Design Episode 5: Won’t You Be My Neighbour
Community By Design is a podcast series, with host Jay Harrison, that takes a deeper look at how social infrastructure, our shared spaces, services, and community connections, shape daily life across our region. Listen more at https://communitybydesign.transistor.fm
The most important social infrastructure of the future might not show up on any city plan.
It is residents naming what they need, young people given real leadership now, and neighbours knowing each other well enough to support one another when things get hard. This episode explores how focusing on neighbourhoods can help us plan social infrastructure for the future.
We hear from Kim Fowler at Fiddlesticks Community Center, who shares some history on how the organization was created and how their focus has been on what their community needs.
“The majority of us are place-based and develop based on what our neighbours want to see happening… A lot of times, when people think of neighbourhood associations, they think of recreation programming. In fact, our purpose is actually relationship building through recreation programming… I look at what we do very much as social infrastructure; we’ve just always called it community development.” -- Kim Fowler, Executive Director of Fiddlesticks Community Centre
The programs and connections fostered inside a community centre are a clear example of the kind of social infrastructure that builds community. For youth, some connections made can last a lifetime.
“I started volunteering here when I was 12. My mom thought it would be a good idea for me to make some friends in the neighbourhood… And I just kept coming back over and over because I kept making new friends here, lifelong friends who, to this day, over 20 years later, I’m still seeing on a regular basis. It’s just been a really nice community. People here are really friendly. It’s diverse, and I feel like our ideas are heard both as a youth and as staff.” -- Chanelle Martin, Volunteer and Community Engagement Coordinator at Fiddlesticks Community Centre
When young people have access to spaces and programs where they are genuinely valued, entrusted with real responsibility, and trusted to lead, they become the next generation of community builders.
As our region grows, we face choices about where we build, how we build, and who we want to be as a community.
“We’re trying to have this conversation about smart growth in a new way because, just doing it based on urban planning discussions, I don’t think it has been successful. Telling the story of smart growth in a way that resonates with frontline nonprofit work is how we’re going forward with this project. You want to have your kids be able to walk to school. You want to have libraries and parks close by. And to do that, it’s better to welcome new neighbours into the neighbourhoods that already exist.” -- Sam Nabi, Coordinator of One Million Neighbours
As Waterloo Region continues to grow, we have the opportunity to grow smarter – designing walkable neighbourhoods that put schools, parks, and community centres within easy reach.
CREDITS
Jay Harrison, Host/Producer
Karyn Atkins, Writer/Reporter
Deren Atkins, Editor
David Harmes, Executive Producer/Engineer
EPISODE 5 GUESTS
Kim Fowler, Executive Director of Fiddlesticks Community Centre
Chanelle Martin, Volunteer and Community Engagement Coordinator at Fiddlesticks Community Centre
Sam Nabi, Coordinator of One Million Neighbours
BONUS: Journalism Film Festival & Local Media Discussion
On May 5, 2026, Midtown Radio hosted a local media panel, followed by a screening of Spotlight, for World Press Freedom Day. A key theme throughout the discussion was about local media as a form of social infrastructure, not just a source of news. Moderated by Shannon Knelsen, panelists included Melissa Bowman (Citified), Stewart Grant (Grant Haven Media), and Ken Seiling (former Regional Chair).
Couldn't make it to the event? A podcast version of the conversation is available here.