Innovate Youth Scarborough

As inclusive city-builders, we support the intrinsic power of people. We envision a Scarborough where youth are actively involved in the planning, shaping, and decision-making of their city.

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Innovation energizes us. Civic-training and systems-thinking inspire us. And our city strengthens us. By providing the spaces to think, dream, and try new things with one another, we're creating a community where young people feel empowered to stay, invest in their neighbourhoods, and have a direct impact on the Scarborough of tomorrow.

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Unfortunately, suburbs around the world are challenged with assumptions. You might have heard some of them before. Hit singles include:

• Suburbia: A hell I can't escape

• A house, a husband, and 1.5 kids

• I love you like I love my 9-5 commute (I don't but I'm stuck with it)

Or our personal favourite:

• The suburbs don't need transit (You all have cars anyhow)

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But we don't have to let people continue thinking that the suburbs are "where good planning goes to die". (Yeah, that's a real one. We've seen it.) Our suburbs are - and can continue to be - livable and sustainable for generations to come.

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Innovate Youth Scarborough comes out of a need for grassroots youth city-building. We are taking leadership into our own hands to not only imagine what our communities might look like with, but create the same support for social innovation and experimentation in our suburban spaces that we see in Toronto's metropolitan center.

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Placemaking - the act of creating meaning for geographical spaces - is the key. Our own story reflects this. Interested in what made a city tick, we were all attending various events being held in Toronto. Although we weren't aware at the time, each one of us was searching for Scarborough.

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Toronto's city-building networks aren't as connected as they could be. City hall meetings, block parties, employment training, transit studies, social innovation spaces, co-working hubs - all these were prime for higher density spaces. But the suburbs? Simply put, we weren't seeing the investment.

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But Scarborough is succeeding despite misconceptions. Why? Because tight-knit suburban communities excel in making places where people come together to feel included and heard.

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Like many people faced with systemic problems, we're taking this opportunity to experiment - with new ideas, identities, and projects. Because we're not just diverse and resilient. We're innovators. We're bringing our own voices to the table and taking matters into our own hands.

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So if you've traveled the blue line from Kennedy to McCowan and still don't know where life is taking you, feel free to start here. Let's build this city from the outside in.