Association

Three Steps to Building a Better Block

All you need to do to drive change in your community and move past stagnant committees and outdated regulation is to stop waiting around. Even if that means painting in your own crosswalks and blackmailing yourselves into action. In his...

The Stranger

A powerful neighborhood is hospitable; it welcomes strangers, people we don't know. John explains the fullness of what that means and how hospitality enriches our lives.     Home page image: Ramashng

The Neighborhood Effect

The character of a neighborhood—strongly expressed by how much people help and trust each other—may influence its collective health and economic survival even more than such obvious indicators as income levels and foreclosure rates, a long-term study suggests. Harvard sociologist...

Strengthening Government and Community through Genuine Partnerships

Local governments everywhere tend to think of their jurisdictions as places and people with needs. They seek to address these needs by relying on tax revenues and bureaucratic expertise. Such a top-down approach may be appropriate at times, but...

Building Government–Community Partnerships

Jim Diers has been called "the Albert Einstein of local government" and "the Pied Piper of the Seattle Neighborhood movement." Not without reason. Experience his energy and insights in video highlights from one of his 2012 Neighborhood Strengthening presentations...

Building Government–Community Partnerships

Jim Diers has been called "the Albert Einstein of local government" and "the Pied Piper of the Seattle Neighborhood movement." Not without reason. Experience his energy and insights in video highlights from one of his 2012 Neighborhood Strengthening presentations...

Safety and Security: A Neighborhood Necessity

Jane Jacobs — author, activist and icon of the importance of a vital neighborhood — wrote years ago that a safe street is produced by eyes on the street.* It is produced by people walking around, sitting outside, knowing neighbors and...

Lessons in Community from Chicago’s South Side

Robert J. Sampson and his colleagues have devoted decades to studying the enduring impact of place.* They have found that two factors often predict whether a neighborhood is crime prone: Is there mutual trust and altruism among neighbors? and...

The Village Connectors Project

Anna D’Aste makes and teaches ceramic art on 12th Street in the ""Village of the Arts" in Bradenton, FL. She  was part of the original group of artists who moved into the neighborhood 13 years ago to start the Village. When...

Together? Tis the Season

Thanksgiving, Diwali, Christmas, Hanukkah, Ashura, Bodhi…these are just some of the seasonal celebrations that bring people together to remember, celebrate and enjoy each other. For people like me, who has a community and people to be happy with, it...

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The Biggest Question You Can Ask in Life

A Buddhist teacher once nudged me along the path by rephrasing a question my mind kept posing to itself....