Published in the Idaho State Journal and Blackfoot Morning News week of June 6, 2010
“Won’t you be my neighbor?” Mister Rogers
When I was young growing up in the North Park neighborhood of Chicago, us kids had the run of the place, and neighbors knew us whether they wanted to or not. We’d play a summertime game called Zombie with vague rules that involved a lot of running up and down our city block hiding and seeking each other in backyards, breezeways, and front bushes until it got dark. It was a crowded city block with old homes and apartment buildings, and lots of front porches to watch the Parking Space Wars that occurred after a good Chicago snowstorm.
A neighborhood is many things—it’s an extension of our residence, the home-base community from where we launch into the world every day. Some neighborhoods are well-defined, with strong identities and resident organizations, and some neighborhoods aren’t. This week, from June 5-June 12, is NeighborWorks Week, sponsored by NeighborWorks America. NeighborWorks America is a national organization designed to strengthen communities, one block, one neighborhood at a time. So this week, community and social health starts at your property line, and it’s a great time to consider what you can do to improve the world just outside your front door.
You don’t need to live in a house, on a block with other houses, to appreciate neighbor relations and the health of your micro-community. You can live in an apartment where your neighbors are five feet away, or live in an area where your nearest neighbors can only be seen with binoculars. Whatever the location or structure, neighborhoods are where we live and share, with a few unfortunate exceptions, the values of safety, familiarity, comfort, and leisure.
So how can you be a good neighbor this week, any week? First, check the impact of your personal residence on the people living around you. Is it time to pull those weeds or remove the blown-in trash? How are your animals—are they scary, messy, loud, and what is something you can do about that? Do you have a neighborly lifestyle, or do you insist on sound barrier experiments and aggression? Do you react defensively to offers of help, or are you grateful for the extra pair of hands?
Next, take a little walk around your neighborhood. Is there a resident you haven’t met yet? Is there a disabled, elderly, or overwhelmed neighbor who might need a little help with those weeds or trash or other exterior projects? Identify some of the trouble spots in your neighborhood—too dark, too noisy, not enough stop signs, too many potholes, neglected or abandoned lots. Perhaps other neighbors feel the same way as you, and perhaps now is the time to take some action.
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has,” says Margaret Mead. Neighborhood change starts small, a few neighbors gathering over coffee; and there are always opportunities to get a little more involved in the improvement of your residential community. So this week, consider how you can make it a beautiful day in your neighborhood, and how that effort will improve your life, as well. Onward!
0 comments:
Post a Comment