Kevin Harris writes from England:
The Sunday Times had this article the other day, about a report to the Whitehall Wellbeing Working Group, which suggests that the attempt to quantify a personal “sense of wellbeing” is part of a move by all the main political parties to go beyond purely financial measures of wellbeing in setting goals for policy. Well anyway, it claims that people who take the time to chat over the fence to their neighbours tend to be happier.
Front Porch Forum‘s mission is to help neighbors connect and foster community within neighborhoods. It seems from our experience that the simple act of chatting over the fence makes a huge difference in people’s lives and in the well being of a community. Our online forums get the conversation flowing and, when things are working well, that spills over into face-to-face interaction.