Category Archives: Neighborhood

Online Forum Yields Face-to-Face Community

Posted on Monday, May 7, 2007 by • 1 comment

From a not-quite-yet-mature neighborhood forum in South Burlington… C.L. is welcoming long-time neighbors who just subscribed…

Welcome Nancy and Dick! It is kind of sad that this is how we have to communicate! Hope you are doing well and we do need to catch up! XOXO C.L.

As counterintuitive as it seems, people report that their online forums lead to MORE face-to-face time with neighbors. In fact, this is the most valued aspect of Front Porch Forum by members in neighborhoods with active and “full-grown” forums.

When enough folks join a given neighborhood forum and start using it, people seem to start organizing more block parties, street-wide yard sales, Green Up Day efforts, community action to get a new stop sign or potholes filled, etc. Lots of small things too… dog and toddler play groups, school and work carpools, support groups to lend a hand to an elder neighbor with yard chores, a regular poker game, etc.

A generation or two ago, it seems, most homes had a stay-at-home mom who was in the neighborhood all day and family size was larger and the little ones were home all day… lots of bodies in the neighborhood all day. Now, many neighborhoods are ghost towns during the weekday. The face-to-face neighborhood grapevine that thrived over back fence, around the kitchen table over coffee, and, dare I say, on the front porch, has withered in many places. Enter the virtual Front Porch Forum. Not to replace face-to-face… but to help folks rebuild the neighborhood grapevine and connect in person more.

It’s working in many places! A neighborhood forum seems to require 50-100 members to really get rolling. The one above has about 20 members (out of about 300 households) and three local officials who tune in. A simple door-to-door flyering and/or sign-up sheet on a clipboard will push those numbers up toward the critical mass needed.

Every Neighborhood deserves a Maypole

Posted on Sunday, May 6, 2007 by • 1 comment

I love a good neighborhood party. Liz, Bill and Willy hosted a great one last weekend… May Day! We even had a genuine maypole going. Some neighborhood musicians kept the music flowing. Garlands were woven and worn. Little ones underfoot. And a perfect spring day. Thanks neighbors!

Photo:  Wolfgang Hokenmaier

Neighborhood Forum Boosters Make it Happen

Posted on Sunday, May 6, 2007 by • Comments are off for this post

Here’s a great post from the Birch Neighborhood Forum today from Alan S.  It’s folks like Alan that cause Front Porch Forum to catch on and become a valuable service to one neighborhood after another.

I give my hearty welcome to the McGarghans and the Heveys.  I am pleased that you have joined the forum and encourage you to tell others in your personal networks to join their own neighborhood forums.  I think this vehicle for local communication is the best thing since sliced cheese. 🙂 I also am happy that my time spent distributing leaflets about the forum in our neighborhood is paying off.  Please consider doing something similar to spread the word.  Have a great day.

Vote for Winged Monkey

Posted on Friday, May 4, 2007 by • Comments are off for this post

With thousands of Front Porch Forum subscribers posting messages to their nearby neighbors across greater Burlington, VT, there’s always something interesting popping up.  Here’s today’s surprise from the Lakewood Neighborhood Forum in the New North End…

Our three minute winged monkey video is a finalist in the International Contest Sponsored by P.A.N.D.O.R.A.

I write to ask for your vote.  The results will be announced on May 12th.  Please click on this link,  read the instructions, and cast your ballot accordingly.  When you’re done (thank you very much), please pass this along to your friends, associates and email list and ask them to do the same.  Time is of the essence.

You’ll learn something, I guarantee it.  They’ll learn something too, same promise.  Turning the tides of modern medicine is no small task.

Rik Carlson

Neighbors take “Mud Walk”

Posted on Wednesday, May 2, 2007 by • 1 comment

Yesterday I joked that one way to build community locally would be to hold a “Mud festival… a day full of mud-themed games, food and good clean fun.”  (Spring in Vermont is commonly called “mud season” for obvious reason.)

So, imagine my surprise when John wrote to his Huntington Neighborhood Forum this morning…

Actually we’ve been doing something like this for about 15 years up on East Street. We call it our annual Mud Walk. It’s a movable brunch. We pick three houses each year to host–first house does coffee, muffins, etc.; second house does main courses; and the last house does desserts. Neighbors are assigned things to bring to the appropriate stop along the way. We spend the day munching, talking & walking with our neighbors! This year we did on April 1st. It’s great and I’d encourage other neighborhoods in Huntington to do the same!

Don’t let fear erode sense of community

Posted on Wednesday, May 2, 2007 by • Comments are off for this post

K.G. contributed the following post to her neighborhood forum (in Burlington’s New North End) today after some recent messages about suspicious characters, peeping Toms, stolen purse, etc.

Ever since Linda posted about the “peeping Tom” in our neighborhood, I’ve been feeling less safe in my home.  Now, today (Wednesday), I find two more postings about strange situations in the area.  While I agree that in this day and age we all have to be vigilant and aware, I also hope that we don’t start feeling like our neighborhood is not safe.

When we moved in last August, part of the reason we felt so immediately at home was the fact that the area felt safe and inviting. People say hello, children and families roam the streets on bikes and scooters.  Daily walkers, joggers, and dog lovers abound.  There is activity without busyness as people in our neighborhood share with each other their daily lives.

This new twist on our happy environment may leave us all feeling a little more exposed, and a little less willing to share of ourselves, our yards, and our homes.  While I want everyone to be watchful and safe, I wish with all my heart that the neighborhood continues to feel as warm and inviting as it has for the past year. It’s too easy to let fear control our lives.

Hear, hear! Rallying the neighbors to protect and foster the sense of community in the face of problems… that’s another great use of Front Porch Forum.  Reminds me of a South End neighborhood’s reaction when a little girl was briefly kidnapped out of her backyard by a drifter… after she was rescued, the call went out over their neighborhood forum to step up community involvement and watching each other’s kids rather than everyone running inside and locking the doors.

Eight Year Old Rocker!

Posted on Monday, April 30, 2007 by • Comments are off for this post

I love the message posted today on the Five Sisters Neighborhood Forum below by a father on behalf of his kid…

I am 8 years old and a 3rd grader at Champlain. I have been playing the drums for two years (lessons every week) and I am getting quite good. My Dad and Mom have told me that it is “cool with them” if I want to start a rock band. I am looking for a singer, guitar player, keyboard player, and a bass player. I am looking for band mates from the ages of 8 to 12. We can practice at my house on the weekends. I have my own drum set and we have keyboards as well. Please call me if you are interested. Rock on…

I think this is a first for Front Porch Forum… maybe we’ll make it in the liner notes some day (do they still write liner notes?).

Connecting with Neighbors helps Kids

Posted on Monday, April 30, 2007 by • Comments are off for this post

Kevin Harris reports today about some ESRC research that shows that parents who feel connected with their neighbors allow their young children more freedom to roam.

The findings are from a three-year study involving some 600 children and 80 parents in five contrasting areas – two inner London boroughs, an outer London suburb, a new town in the South East of England, and a city in the Midlands. During the study, the researchers examined children’s experiences of traveling to school and to a wide range of activities outside the home – from formal clubs to hanging out in the park.

They found that the more parents were involved in the lives of their neighbours, the more freedom they gave their children. At the same time, the more social networks children have in a neighbourhood, the greater parents’ confidence in the safety of that area.

The research also suggests that when parents allow their children to roam, their classmate’s parents draw from that confidence. This in turn impacts upon their classmates’ freedom of action.

It’s good to see more evidence of Front Porch Forum‘s underlying premise… when people are more connected with their neighbors and plugged into their local community, all sorts of good things can happen, including for kids.

Lost Dog Rescued by Neighbors

Posted on Sunday, April 29, 2007 by • Comments are off for this post

Deb Olsen wrote to her neighbors in the ONE East Neighborhood Forum the other day… a real sense of urgency…

Attention Neighbors – I am caring for a large Husky Hybrid dog for friends. Kiva dug her way out of my fenced yard today and is missing. She does not know this neighborhood, so I fear cannot find her way back. Her collar holds a tag with adhesive tape over her home phone number and mine written on it.

She followed that up with…

Hi Neighbors. A HAPPY BULLETIN – Thanks to the Front Porch Forum and my Henry Street neighbor, Jenny, LOST DOG, KIVA, IS HOME.

Jenny called me at 9:30 PM tonight to report that she had seen Kiva next door around 4:30 PM. She had phoned the number on Kiva’s dog tag, but the owners are out of town. When she saw the Forum notice on email tonight, she surmised it was the same dog and called me. She said she would go out to see if Kiva was still around. I had little anticipation Kiva would still be there hours later, but joined her outside for a look. Sure enough, Kiva was still there and although she was scared and would not come to us, we followed her down the street and she ran onto my front porch as if nothing had happened.

Another happy ending, thanks to Front Porch Forum and my alert, caring neighbor, Jenny, our neighborhood portrait artist.

More time online hurts real relationships?

Posted on Friday, April 27, 2007 by • 2 comments

Refrigerator Rights reports…

A newly released study at Standford University acknowledges what we already know – an increasing number of people say their personal relationships have suffered as a result of their use of the Internet with many confessing that they are discreet about their online habits. This is certainly not a surprise to anyone that follows cultural trends. Our immersion in electronic media comes at a price – and that price is almost always the decreasing amount of time we spend with other people. It is an argument to become more intentional about our social world – building Refrigerator Rights relationships. You can read about the study through this link.

I agree. (FYI, if someone is friend-enough to walk into your home and help himself to something from your fridge, then he’s said to have “refrigerator rights.”)

That said, it’s also interesting to note that our members report that using Front Porch Forum works in the opposite direction, i.e., our internet service leads to more face-to-face time with neighbors.

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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