Where Everybody Knows Your Name

[marmar]

from OnTheCommons.org:



Where Everybody Knows Your Name
The neighborhood is a powerful-- but often overlooked-- resource for changing the world

By Jay Walljasper


The neighborhood is the basic building block of the commons— indeed, of human society itself— and successful efforts to make the world a better place usually start right there.

This might strike you as archaic, a throwback to the time when men wore fedoras and everyone walked to church on Sunday mornings. Yet the age of globalization actually makes neighborhoods more important than ever. After spending all day connecting with Facebook friends in Kyoto, Krakow and Kokomo, virtual globetrotters are eager for face-to-face contact in a real place, like a coffee shop, park, town square or other form of local commons.

Neighborhoods— whether in cities, suburbs or small towns— are the level of social organization at which people interact most regularly and naturally, providing a ready-made forum for tackling serious issues together. Even if the neighbors abhor our political views or artistic tastes, we nonetheless share a bond. When a crisis occurs (a rash of burglaries) or opportunities arise (plans to revitalize the park), these are the people who stand beside us to make improvements for the future.

In an era when what’s wrong in the world can seem complicated and daunting, neighborhoods offer hope that we can still make a difference. What’s overwhelming at the international, national or even municipal level often can be fixed closer to home, without large sums of money or political connections. And in an era of instantaneous global communications, no great idea stays in one place for long. .........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://onthecommons.org/content.php?id=2714