Category Archives: Front Porch Forum
Social Capital Takes Time to Build
Richard Millington really nails it on FeverBee today…
People want to feel a sense of togetherness. It’s easy to hop aboard a short-term opportunity to feel good. There is nothing to lose. You trade a few hours with a broom for a sense of achievement and togetherness. There is no social or physical risk there.
Compare this with the Turkish community in London that banded together and drove the rioters away.
The difference, as you can probably guess, is social capital. Not just bridging social capital, but bonding social capital. The London Turkish group feels a strong sense of community. They’re a unique group in a different environment. They have strong social ties. They trusted each other. They came out for each other.
Whilst other business owners bemoaned the lack of police presence and watched their businesses get ransacked, the Turkish business owners made calls and saved their livelihoods…
Front Porch Forum helps people build social capital with their neighbors. This starts when folks post and read dozens, then hundreds, of simple messages among neighbors about everyday life… lost pets, babysitter leads, car break-ins, plumber recommendations, and more. This type of online exchange leads to lots of face-to-face interactions over months. This is the slow accumulation of real social capital among neighbors… sharing news, helping each other, and more. Millington goes on…
Social capital takes time to build. It needs to be carefully nurtured. It requires spending time introducing people to each other, encouraging people to interact, hosting events/activities, creating a shared history and building genuine friendships…
If you want people to take a few easy actions, then a good trigger is all you need. Most viral waves that sweep across the internet are built upon a strong trigger. If you want people to band together to do something that’s hard, risky and meaningful, you need social capital. That takes far more time and effort.
Digital Devices in Public Meetings… Good or Bad?
Andrew Nemethy covers a controversy in Essex, Vermont, for VTdigger this week. In part… 
A laptop is what got Essex Town selectboard member Bruce Post in trouble last May, revealing a cultural/digital divide that took several weeks to work out in this bustling town of 20,000 in northern Vermont.
… he didn’t think twice when he brought his laptop to a selectboard work session and then took it into the actual meeting that followed to take more notes.
But that prompted an onlooker to question the propriety of having the laptop open during the meeting, and in a “point of order” discussion, Board Chairwoman Linda Myers ruled that using the laptop violated board rules on digital devices though in fact the rule only applied to handheld devices.
Take a look at the comments to Andrew’s piece. He goes on…
… five members of the Burlington City Council now “live tweet” when the city council meets (fully a third of the council), says Ed Adrian, a Democrat who represents Ward I.
“I think people have been really supportive for the most part,” says Adrian, who works as an attorney with the Vermont Secretary of State’s office. With people having busy lives, tweets are a way for him to inform his constituents, most of whom can’t make it to evening meetings.
He says the biggest digital impact on city government in Burlington, though, is the use of the social media/email newsletter, Front Porch Forum.
“By far that’s the most important media tool I use,” he says…
Founded by Michael Wood-Lewis and his wife Valerie in Burlington in 2006, it now is available in more than 60 Vermont towns… and 28,000 members, says Wood-Lewis.
He has definitely seen an increase in local officials using FPF to communicate, noting there are now more than 450 members counted as local officials, and probably a lot more who don’t list their official titles. He guesses perhaps half of the forums now feature postings of meeting agendas and town announcements sort of a virtual country store poster wall.
While services like Twitter and FPF are clearly beneficial in passing along town information, they raise some gray areas. During a vibrant discussion last mud season on FPF about rough road conditions in the town of Calais, selectboard members wondered whether to get involved in responding, and whether if they did, they were speaking for the town or themselves?
Wood-Lewis says FPF is good for distributing information and for asking questions or prompting discussion but thinks “it’s not ideal for trying to resolve challenging local issues, ” which should be done in face-to-face meetings.
Changing Face of Vermont’s Villages Aug. 1 on VPR
Tune in! From VPR…
The Changing Face Of Vermont’s Villages
Monday, 08/01/11 Noon and 7pm
By Jane Lindholm, Produced by Steve Zind
Vermont’s small towns have long stood in contrast to stark “The Last Picture Show” image of dying rural communities. The bustling little post office and the tidy general store are symbols of the vitality of village life.
But an increasing number of those general stores are being shuttered, and there’s talk of closing some post offices. Economic trends have also taken a toll on many local businesses; from the independent bookstore to the small-town auto dealership. These were businesses that helped support many civic activities.
What do these changes mean for small town life?
We talk with Paul Bruhn, executive director of the Preservation Trust of Vermont, University of Vermont political science professor Frank Bryan and Tom Slayton, VPR commentator and editor emeritus of Vermont Life.
If you live in a small community, tell us how you think its changing and what you think is key to your town’s vitality. Post your comments below or email vermontedition@vpr.net.
Virtual neighborhood gathering places?
Can virtual tools build real community? (#BTV #VT) Wayne Senville of the Planning Commissioner’s Journal takes a look on the Project for Public Spaces blog today. In part…
Neighborhood gathering places like coffee shops, diners, and post offices have long been a cornerstone to community life in America… For years, a common sight outside many of these places was the message board, where neighbors left word about a missing dog, a yard sale, an apartment to rent, a community meeting and where candidates for city council, alderman, school board, or mayor placed their campaign posters. But fast forward to 2011. Email and Facebook is where we often “talk.” Many bemoan this, feeling it has weakened civic life and resulted in a loss of connection within our neighborhoods. And, yes, count me among those who’ve made such claims.
Yet something quite remarkable has emerged in Burlington and other Vermont towns. A locally-developed… service, called Front Porch Forum, has established itself as the key way many residents now keep in touch with neighborhood concerns: by posting announcements, notices, offers of help, requests for help and also debating a variety of local issues.
Valerie and Michael Wood-Lewis started up the precursor to today’s Front Porch Forum (FPF) in their own small “Five Sisters” neighborhood five years ago. Their mission was and remains: “to help neighbors connect and foster community within the neighborhood.” In 2007, the Orton Foundation recognized the Front Porch Forum with its 2007 Innovator in Place Award.
FPF has exploded in popularity. Remarkably, more than 50 percent of Burlington (pop. 40,000) households subscribe to FPF! … Front Porch has become the “place” people think of first when looking to find out what’s happening in their neighborhood, or to post an announcement…
Michael Wood-Lewis: Front Porch Forum is used frequently by residents to announce, discuss and organize for or against development projects Williston landfill, Southern Connector, Circ highway, Moran plant, Appletree Point senior housing, on and on. FPF gets dozens, hundreds, even thousands of people tuned into planning-related issues. It should be noted, that after Town Meeting, the postings reverted back toward FPF’s bread and butter lost cat, seeking apartment, car break-in report, etc. FPF members talk about feeling an increased sense of community ownership. A survey found that 45% of respondents reported “speaking up or getting involved on any public or policy issue as a result of subscribing to Front Porch Forum.”…
… Front Porch Forum can actually increase citizen interest in local government meetings and public involvement. For example, [here is a] comment from a steering committee member on one of Burlington’s neighborhood organizations: “We had a great turn out at the Neighborhood Planning Assembly meeting this past week — 80 plus people and almost all of them are on the Front Porch Forum. We have had three great meetings with numbers above 50 this fall thanks to… Front Porch Forum.”
About Blog
Ghost of Midnight is an online journal about fostering community within neighborhoods, with a special focus on Front Porch Forum (FPF). My wife, Valerie, and I founded FPF in 2006... read more
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