Knowing one’s neighbors can be one of the most satisfying things in life and yet how many of us know our neighbors? This is not our grandparents’ era when neighbors helped out one another and residents knew each others’ names. Today’s urban dweller is apt to be quite isolated from his or her neighbors. There’s few familiar faces, no knowledge of names, no neighborly chats, no social gatherings, and certainly no mutual assistance. We have no idea about most of those fellow souls living on our street. The gap once filled by neighbors coming together for the good times and the tough is now filled by bureaucracies, police, childminders, psychiatrists, doctors, electronic entertainment, and so on. It’s an expensive trade-off, leaving extremely busy and unsatisfied people.
And yet, as many of us have no memory of ever having lived in a community we don’t miss it. In fact, we often say “I have no time for meeting my neighbors; I’m already too busy”.
Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, well-connected neighbors are not only happier but also have more free time and save energy and money. Here are some examples…
- Babysitting and petsitting
- Bulk-buying groceries
- Teaching household DIY skills
- Cutting each others’ hair
- Carsharing
- Lending tools
- Taking turns cooking for each other
Once you start exploring the landscape of neighborly assistance, you will wonder how you ever managed it without it. And it is inevitable that once neighbors start working together, they’ll also begin playing together. For instance…
- Progressive dinner parties (neighbors tour various homes on the block, eating a course at each house)
- Movie nights
- Discussion groups
- Music nights
- Book clubs
- Random stop by’s to say hello
This all sounds great but the first step toward a more neighborly life can still be a daunting leap into the unknown. The trick is to start small. Here’s some advice on how to get started (more advice, on the block scale and beyond, can be found on the What you can do page)…
- Do ordinary activities, such as reading or eating meals, outside in the street. To do this find or install a bench, table, and/or chairs on the street
- Throw a sidewalk potluck barbecue. Put out flyers to all neighbors ahead of time and pull out the barbecue on the day. Remember to bring some sticky name tags for folks to wear
- Organize a block party. I am available to provide advice on this matter. See here for more guidance on organizing a block party.
- Go door to door with a Neighbor Survey. The premise of this survey is to collect contact information for emergencies and to find out people’s interests, skills, and needs; but it is also a fantastic way to meet your neighbors. Most people appreciate the visit. See here for a downloadable survey template
This is just the beginning but, I repeat, start small. Do something fun and easy and I promise you’ll get the bug and want to do more. Soon you’ll be doing something that many people have never seen: building community on your block. And yet, anyone can do it!
I encourage you to start on this exciting road today.
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Adam Greenfield (bio/contacts) President, Inner Sunset Park Neighbor |