I had a lunch on Friday with Kit Hodge, a friend from college that I hadn't talked to for years. It was wonderful to see her and to catch up. Since 2000, she's done a lot of grassroots work in neighborhood issues in New York (and, I think, Chicago).
We spoke a while about Neighbors Project, the organization she is now President and CEO of. It is grassroots movement of young people (20-30 years old) living in cities, working to improve the quality of public life in our urban neighborhoods. The organization was started in 2006 by people worried about "both the increasing polarization of our country due to expanding suburban sprawl and the polarization in our city neighborhoods due to increasing gentrification."
What struck me about Neighbors Project as I searched the website and in my conversation with Kit, was its relevance to one of my recent concerns. I am interested in enriching our communal spaces -- environmentally, culturally, our language and media. Neighbors Project showed me that many of these things could be done by all of us, by the caring of our neighborhoods. By supporting local merchants and farmer's markets, your money stays in the community, and out of large chains' hands. By having birthday parties in local parks or biking more, we care about the urban environment and safety around us. By saying hello to neighbors or organizing neighborhood watch communities, we begin to care for the individuals in our community. Planning and engaging in local film festivals, we support our arts and culture.
The Neighbors Project brings simple checklists for people: sitting and reading on your front stoop, getting to know all your elected officials in person, or repairing your bike on the sidewalk. The lists are simple actions that people can pick up, one at a time, as they learn to improve their relationship to their community and their community's relationship to them. Very practical... and very appealing.
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