Greetings, fellow Scarborough residents.
Recently, I attended the monthly meeting of the Scarborough Historical Society, which does a terrific job of showcasing Scarborough’s heritage. David Warner, our former MPP from many years ago, was the speaker. The topic was Scarborough’s natural ecosystem; our forests, streams and rivers. But the discussion segued into the role that neighbourhoods played in Scarborough’s evolution at a time when neighbourhoods were socially tighter and more commercially self-sustaining.
That, of course, was a long time ago. It’s different now. However, even today, the importance of vibrant neighbourhoods to a healthy city ecosystem should not be understated.
It is often said that Toronto is a city of neighbourhoods, which is true. Toronto is fortunate to offer such wide range of neighbourhood choices, suited to different preferences. Some are attracted to the buzz of downtown living and are willing to overlook the noise, limited green space, ultra-high housing costs, and the congestion that come with this. In fact, for some, congestion is part of the attraction!
Others have different priorities and make different choices. That’s what we have chosen to do in Scarborough. Yes, we’re further away from certain amenities and some of us have longer commutes. But there is so much to like about living here: more green space, less congestion, the waterfront trail, the Meadoway, the Toronto Zoo, Rouge Park, the Bluffs, a cultural mosaic that spans the globe … and our own championship basketball team! Small wonder why so many of our aspiring newcomers have chosen to settle here and embrace Scarborough as their own.
The same thing applies within Scarborough. We’re a community of neighbourhoods too. We share a common passion for Scarborough, but we live in many different neighbourhoods with distinctive characteristics. Neighbourhoods may be bonded by natural or physical boundaries, a community hub, a residents association, or by a shared heritage. Neighbourhood cohesion forms from within. This is a good thing. Thriving communities need vibrant neighbourhoods with shared social connections, including social media connections. We are fortunate to have many vibrant neighbourhoods in Scarborough and different ones to choose from, depending on what’s important to you.
The motto of the City of Toronto is “Diversity Our Strength”. The City can breathe life into this by enabling civic engagement in our many neighbourhoods, to nurture those features and cultures that make each neighbourhood special. That’s tough to do sometimes in a big, amalgamated city with one-size-fits-all rules and standards, but local vibrancy is what makes big cities livable.
That’s why Scarborough’s network of community organizations is so important; to socially integrate individual neighbourhoods and to weave those neighbourhoods into a pan-Scarborough mosaic. We need hyper-local organizations like residents associations and neighbourhood centres, service clubs like Rotary and Lions, cultural associations that socially connect our aspiring newcomers, and advocacy organizations that bring public policy attention to Scarborough as a whole, such as SCRO, the Scarborough Business Association and Scarborough United Neighbourhoods. Collectively, these organizations provide the social glue needed to cultivate a healthy pride in our local neighbourhoods and they provide the bonds needed to foster a shared connection across Scarborough as a whole, the place we have all chosen to call home.
And finally …
We must pay homage at this time of year to that other pillar of Scarborough-focused civic engagement: our food security organizations. Feed Scarborough, Agincourt Community Services, Scarborough Centre for Healthy Communities, Tropicana Community Services, and many of our places of worship quietly do the heavy lifting needed to help the most vulnerable members of our community all year long and especially at this time of year. Scarborough salutes you for helping to make our community a better place.
Happy Holidays to all.
Larry Whatmore
President
Scarborough Community Renewal Organization
(416) 562-2101
