Love My Hood is our neighbourhood strategy. We want to connect you with the tools you need to make positive change in your ‘hood.
On this page:
- About Love My Hood
- Newsletter
- Community gardens
- Resident-led traffic calming
- Love My Hood matching grant
- By neighbours, for neighbours
About Love My Hood
Residents take the lead. The city supports them along the way. That's the vision behind our neighbourhood strategy, Love My Hood.
We know that the best neighbourhoods are made by the people who live there. That's why Love My Hood offers support, tools and funding for the projects you care about. You told us that you're ready to take action in your neighbourhood and we're here to help!
Love My Hood inspires neighbours to get together and make a positive change. Plus, you can make great memories in the process.
Want to learn more about Love My Hood's action items to support Great Places, Connected People and Working Together? Read the full Love My Hood strategy.
Newsletter
We use our Love My Hood newsletter to share new tools and funding opportunities. Sign up to be the first to learn about new initiatives:
Sign up for the Love My Hood newsletter
Community gardens
Community gardens offer access to fresh produce, connect neighbours, give a sense of belonging and improve the look of neighbourhoods. Find out how to start a new community garden in Kitchener.
Resident-led traffic calming
Do you want to slow traffic, bring awareness to pedestrian safety issues or add beauty to your neighbourhood? Here are a few creative ways:
- painted crosswalks
- roadway painting, like intersection murals
- planter boxes on the boulevard
- neighbourhood lawn signs
- temporary or "pop-up" measures
- alternative uses of parking spaces
To get started, read our guide for resident-led traffic calming.
Love My Hood matching grant
Need cash for a cool idea? We can help! Up to $30,000 is available for projects that renew a public place, strengthen relationships between neighbours or foster neighbourhood pride.
Projects occurring on non-city land are eligible to receive up to $10,000 and events are eligible to receive up to $2,000. Learn how you can get funding to support positive change in your neighbourhood and view the eligibility criteria by visiting the Love My Hood website.
By neighbours, for neighbours
Love My Hood and Kitchener's Neighbourhood Strategy were created in response to what was heard from the community. They represent a collection of achievable actions that the city, community partners and residents can work towards in the coming years.
All the action items in our plan are based on the feedback we received during our community engagement process between 2015 and 2017, in which:
- 5,343 people took part, which is three people for every street in Kitchener!
- 3,842 hours of conversation were held, which is like talking about neighbourhoods for 160 consecutive days!
Through the 'resident-led, city-supported' vision of Love My Hood, residents have been empowered to lead projects in their neighbourhoods. Since 2017, Love My Hood has supported:
- 85 resident-led projects in every ward of the city
- 110 unique resident groups (by the end of 2019)
- 46 different neighbourhoods (by the end of 2019)
Since 2017, more than 400 residents have taken the lead in neighbourhood projects, investing over 10,000 hours of volunteer time into the community.
Through these resident-led projects and the online reach of Love My Hood, tens of thousands of residents across the city have been impacted by the strategy.
Visit the Love My Hood website for more information.