Ways to Get Your Neighborhood to Feel More like a Friendly Community

Communication: we as a society have more communication tools than ever before known to man, and yet, we are far too often completely cut off from one another and don't even realize it. Many years ago I had a next door neighbor who passed away in his sleep. While the authorities were knocking on our doors asking us about this man, it occurred to me that in the 10 years I had waved to him every morning and evening, I did not even know anything about him, not even his name!

Since then I have been very vigilant about getting to know my neighbors. It doesn't matter if you live in a house or an apartment building, in the city or in a rural area. It doesn't even matter if you are living somewhere short term or long term. People need people! It is a good idea to bring your neighborhood together and to get to know one another. Different neighborhoods and communities have different "flavors" to them; each one is going to require a different approach to getting people together. Here are a couple of suggestions for you start the process:

1. Start a barter exchange group, a community garden, hold a pot luck, have a raffle, maybe a lemonade/juice stand, pool party, etc. anything to get a little bit of a crowd going and aha, everyone becomes interested. Why? Because we are such curious critters when it comes to seeing people milling about; we always want to know "what's going on over there?" We are nosey! We just have to use that to a healthy advantage to get people's attention.

2. Hold any of your social events frequently and make sure that they are both interesting and fun. Time is in very short supply these days and you are competing with a lot of other events that people are interested in. Most block party's and community garage sales or events like these are usually held annually. If you held them monthly/quarterly it gives everyone more exposure to the people in the neighborhood.

3. Instead of the same family or person doing the community newsletter every month, try to rotate it or parts of it to all of the neighbors. Now, I know some people are better at this than others, this is not a contest. And some people will just flat out not want to do it. It often times can surprise you how many people will step up to the plate when asked to help. This way the newsletter can have a different perspective than the same old "every month calendar".

Some of the benefits of a friendlier neighborhood are as follows;

Safety: It does make the neighborhood safer if you recognize the people there, that way if someone is out of place, you know it quicker and can take some type of action if need be.

A sense of community: as human beings while we all like the stability of being a part of something bigger than ourselves. It is a secure feeling to actually know the name and personality of the people we see everyday and night.

Responsibility: People are more responsible about clean up and maintenance issues if they know they are going to be held accountable by their peers. It may even create some healthy competition in the yards or gardens.

Kindness: We would all like to believe we are kind to one another already. Yet, many people in our communities are shut off from family/friends. In hard economic times we cut travel, phone calls and internet, etc. Friendship can be a great gift.

Help in times of need: Sometimes we are the helper and sometimes we are the person in need. It is a true blessing to share the load with others.

Lower crime rates: It is just common sense that if you know who is and isn't a part of your neighborhood it is easier to spot suspicious people who don't belong there.

Those are just some of the benefits of having a neighborhood where we all know each other. It really is a crucial part of making your place of residents a "home". I am sure you can add to the list. We truly are very much "in this together" every one of us!