Ghost of Midnight

In tough economic times people invest in community

Local traditional media could write a story like the one below from the Washington Post.  Vermonters are flooding into Front Porch Forum to help connect with neighbors and build community at the neighborhood level.  The harsher the economic climate, the more folks look for shelter by investing in community.

In Recession, Some See Burst of ‘Neighboring’
Tough Times May Be Helping Build Stronger Communities in D.C. Suburbs
By Annie Gowen
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, May 4, 2009

When Kris Kumaroo founded a new neighborhood association in Silver Spring in October, he was driven by a desire to combat recession-era problems such as vacant homes and petty crime.

Seven months later, Glenmont has its crime watch, but also much more: As the neighbors got out of their homes and started talking to each other, the sense of connection grew. They learned one another’s names and began to say hello at the nearby Giant. Somebody got Metro to trim the shrubbery around the Glenmont Station, which made it feel safer. They had a “visioning” session for their community and created a colorful Web site. At their first spring festival, April 25, 174 people showed up for face-painting and hot dogs.

The little Cape Cods and ranchers off Georgia Avenue have been there 55 years, but it took a global downturn to turn them into a real neighborhood.

Some sociologists and community organizers say they think there has been an uptick of “neighboring” in the recession, as residents who just waved hello before are instead reaching out, in person and through e-mail discussion groups. They’re talking crime and the economy, helping others through job losses and organizing money-saving potlucks. In Montgomery County, for example, the number of new neighborhood groups has doubled, while in hard-hit Manassas, active groups jumped from five to 20 in the past two years.

“There’s been an overwhelming increase in participation overall,” said Kisha Wilson-Sogunro, neighborhood services manager for Manassas. “People want to get back to the basics. They understand, especially with the housing crisis, you just don’t know who is living next to you, and all of a sudden it’s a foreclosure. . . . If you would have been neighborly, you’d know who to call if something’s going wrong.”

Although the evidence is still largely anecdotal — U.S. Census and other data won’t be available until later this year — some scholars say the numbers of those involved in community activities could increase for the first time in years, after a long downward spiral that began in the 1970s because of longer commutes and time pressure on two-income families.

Historically, economic hard times can be tough on civic engagement — involvement dropped during the Great Depression, for example — but experts say that doesn’t take into account new social technologies, a burst of political involvement among the young and a president who has inspired many. Experts are waiting to see whether President Obama’s call for service will be felt locally, as it has on such national programs as AmeriCorps.

“Almost anyone in America can think in terms of ‘this could happen to me.’ It evokes a kind of empathy that is leading people to reassess what they value, what they care about and what they believe in,” said John M. Bridgeland, national chairman of the National Conference on Citizenship, a federally chartered nonprofit group that takes the pulse of communities through an annual civic health index. “In my view, we’ll find a stronger inclination, a higher level of ‘neighborliness’ and civic engagement as a result of the economic downturn.”

The group estimates that 33 percent of the nation attended a community meeting in the past year and that nearly 40 percent worked with others in their neighborhood to fix or improve something.

Keith N. Hampton, an assistant professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg School for Communication, runs a Web site for neighborhood groups with 50,000 members. He said communication on i-Neighbors.org is up 25 percent this spring over last, with talk about topics including vacant homes and starting community gardens.

“I don’t think people will create silos and hide in houses to shield themselves from this,” he said. “They’re concerned about these issues, and they’re going to look for people to help solve those problems. Those tend to be your neighbors.”

Click here to read the rest.