The University – Rosedale community is vibrant and full of interesting people: business leaders, educators, artists and your next door neighbour. It’s also huge. With over one hundred thousand people in the ward, it’s easy to just walk past a person and ignore them, or maybe not notice them at all. The community events we do have can be massive, with thousands of people who our are simply shopping and not getting to know their neighbours. I want smaller, more localized community events where people can really get to know their neighbours and aren’t focused on spending money. Community spaces, not transactional spaces.
Having worked in children’s television for several years, a game show no less, I can tell you that teens these days are almost face down looking at their phones. One of the best parts of the job is hearing the kids say that the best part of their day on set was “meeting other kids and making new friends”. These community events don’t need to be huge, they can be as small at 10 people and still make strong friendships and connections.