In the neighborhood where I live, few people know each other. Neighbors avert their eyes to keep from speaking during afternoon jogs, and garage doors close as quickly as they opened. Witnessing a game of flashlight tag with neighborhood children this week was the most community I've felt since moving in here in April. I am trying to change this environment, as my immediate neighbors Ken and Melissa will tell you, but it is a slow-turning ship. Neighbors just aren't very neighborly anymore.
To combat this trend, architect and social designer Stephanie Smith decided to launch a social experiment in suburban Los Angeles. Smith is the founder of Ecoshack, an entrepreneurial company focusing on low impact design and alternative forms of community, which put the project together. The project took a suburban cul-de-sac and transformed it into a commune. Residents now share the land, food, and their lives with each other.
Smith claims that the reason communes have failed to produce utopian living spaces in the past is they insist on leaving old communities to start new ones. Smith believes this idea could be successful because it allows people to remain in established communities while reconfiguring the way they currently function.
"Every single neighborhood in America and around the world is a commune," Ecoshack's Smith told NPR. "And every single apartment building is, and every office building is, and every single thing is built new using guidelines around sharing resources. Nothing less than that." These cul-de-sac communities are now popping up all over California. (Read or listen to the full NPR story.)
I don't live in a cul-de-sac, but part of me wishes I could turn my own neighborhood into a place where neighbors shared meals together and tangibly supported each other. Suburban living leaves a lot to be desired for a generation that craves community. Maybe Smith is onto something.
Could this type of community work where you live? Does the idea of communal living sound attractive to you?
Travis Mamone said:
Sounds very interesting. I forgot who said it, but some one said the decrease of front porches has led to most of the problems of the world. I probably misquoted that, but there is some truth to it. We spend so much time with our heads pointed to the ground that we forget to see how our neighbors are.
Of course I'm just as guilty as the next guy, mostly because I'm a total loner. So it might take me quite a while to get use to living communally.
Posted: September 19, 2009
Bill Beahan said:
Sounds interesting. Reminds me of college where frternity was about to go under when few brothers who were Christians decided to recruit new pledge from he Christian community. Within a year we had a full blown Christian fraternity house. It was great. I think it has possibilities. I ould suggest it would be a very workable model for Christian Senior Citizen complex.
Posted: September 19, 2009
Jonathan Merritt said:
Bill,
Interesting idea. I never thought about applying this to seniors. It might eliminate the need for assisted living. Good point.
Jm
Posted: September 19, 2009
Mari Lynch said:
Tomorrow, for the third time this summer, I start a week of caring for chickens and other critters at one of my neighbors, while they are away. As I told them, I love doing these chores because it reminds me of the chickens at my family's home back in rural Central Illinois; and it also makes me feel like part of my neighbor's family here, on the Central Coast (of California). I've lived in this rural neighborhood for nearly 30 years, and I cherish the warmth among neighbors. Such relationships are so worth cultivating.
Posted: September 19, 2009
Katie Corbett said:
Being new to my neighborhood, there is something to be said about having my neighbors know about and care about my life. My friendly neighbor on my right mows my lawn and the sweet older woman on the left offered her shower to me on my first day here because my water hadn't been turned on yet. It was hardly what I expected. I really like walking out of my house and getting a genuine wave and smile from a neighbor. I haven't known my neighbor's names since Miss Betty, Mr. Eddy and Miss Zora from when i was a little girl. It's really very nice.
Posted: September 20, 2009
Mike Little said:
Jonathan,
Couldn't agree with you more on this one. Living in urban Midtown Atlanta during a church plant spoiled me to the many benefits of urban "community". I'd be real interested in hearing... and will look myself at how suburban communities may have implemented some of this stuff. I live in Chapel Hill/Durham now, and it is much more inclined to be supportive of this than Gwinnett County Georgia. We lived for 5 years not far from Crosspoint... near the Mall of Georgia.
Thanks again for all you are doing. And thanks again for being a part of a church where my Dad was finally Baptized. Your father is one of the few people that can connect with his CEO mind. :)
Would love to get you up to RDU to have a forum or conversation. Let me know if you are ever up this way.
Posted: September 20, 2009
Justin said:
I agree completely. One of my hobbies in my apartment building is to try and get to know everyone and people feel together. Some things I do to help...
1. Replace the hallway art with nude self-portraits so people recognize me.
2. Stuff mailboxes with radical political flyers and street sheets to give us something to talk about.
3. Throw homeless BBQ parties in the communal BBQ pit on the roof of our bldg to help enlarge our community.
4. Sit down in the lobby dressed as a concierge and make small talk with everyone coming in or out.
5. Prank call neighbors with food delivery services. (Unfortunately, there are not many places that will deliver to anyone in our building anymore - but a new Chinese place is opening up down the block.)
All of these things have really helped.
Posted: September 22, 2009