RE: What Creates Community?
From: Lon Goldstein (lgoldstemedici.ils.nwu.edu)
Date: Wed, 19 Apr 95 19:30 CDT
>** I'de like to see the subscribers of this list do what Mike just did - submit
>a quick and simple list of:  WHAT CREATES COMMUNITY - for you.  Not in theory,
>but for each individual.  A staw poll of how people feel about this fundemental
>issue.
>
>Everyone is a legitimate expert on their own feelings, so if you've been
>lurking, now is a good chance to contribute (mouth off) like the rest of us,
>all
>for a good cause.

A lurker delurks (Thank you for the kind invitation):
One quick and by no means exhaustive answer in  response to this excellent
question -  Having never experienced cohousing or intentional community
(other than group houses in college - not enough private space - a problem
remedied by cohousing) I have a memory of experiencing somewhat of a
community feeling when I lived in a small college town (Bloomington, IN).
Having lived there long enough to know a good number of people in this town
of around 40,000,  I would be able to run into people I knew on the street
pretty much whenever I went downtown.   It was nice to walk to the downtown
area when I just did not feel like being alone and maybe go to the food
coop and inevitably  run into people who I knew and liked and cared enough
about to catch up on things and maybe hang out a bit.   I think community
for one thing comes from feeling part of a web of people who know and care
about each other.  Like if you go on vacation, you will be missed and
people who you run into ask about your latest projects.    I don't
experience quite the same thing in my current neighborhood in Chicago,
though I believe it is possible.    Life in the suburbs, and for many
people in large cities requires much arrangement and planning to get
together with friends, and doesn't afford much feeling of connection with
the people you see day to day.

Community is much more than proximity, but I think that can add an
important dimension.  Having people around you with whom you feel safe, who
are sort of an extended family is important.

thanks,
Lon

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Lon A. Goldstein         (lgoldstein [at] ils.nwu.edu)       (708) 467-1868
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