The Relief of a Neighborhood Community

When I lived on Whidbey Island, north of Seattle, we had an unofficial phone tree in a large, cohesive neighborhood — our own community. One day we got an excited call from a neighbor. She hears the telling “blow” of a gray whale making its way into the harbor. We had out-of-town guests and dropped everything, grabbed our shoes and ran willy-nilly down the street to the beach. Never mind who’s still in their pj’s! By the time we hit the sand, that lovely creature was rolling around in the shallows, feeding on shrimp 20 feet away. OMG, a rare treat that none of us will ever forget. Especially our friends from Las Vegas!

I’ve just finished reading The Second Mountain by David Brooks, and neighborhoods are now on my mind. He talks about how we’ve ended up with so much anger in the country, about neighborhood communities and how they’ve disappeared. This subject pulls me in because I’ve known that feeling of safety you get from living where someone’s got my back. I’ve lived in neighborhood’s where everyone knew everyone and it’s wonderful.

Joining a club or meet-up automatically gives you a sense of community because you have that interest in common, but neighborhoods are different. These are the people who can be there in a flash when you need them. And this is important. In my neighborhood now for heavens sake, it was a couple of years before we realized the man right across the street had called an ambulance or taxi several times to get himself to the ER.

The neighborhood I live in now is different for me. Whereas I feel very lucky to have connected with a couple of neighbors here, it’s the first time so many have made it clear they are “not interested “. As I walk around the four-block radius, mostly people are not outside or not home. And if they are outside, I get a wave or an obligated “hi”. It’s disappointing.

When we first moved in, an old time resident had been organizing neighborhood picnics for years. Even Easter egg hunts for all the kids. She kept track of who lived where and printed their contact info for everyone to keep. It was wonderful meeting everyone all at once, and I felt comfort in knowing who lives next door and down the block. I still refer to her list nine years later.

Neighborhood Community Offers a Safety Net

I’ve felt the relief of having this safety net in previous neighborhoods, Once we got a call from a neighbor when we were away on vacation. Water was running out from under our garage door and we gave instructions on how to get in. (Turns out a pipe had burst in the garage.) We’ve regularly needed our mail picked up for vacations, chainsawed trees across the road after a storm, and coordinated with neighbors during snow storms when the power went down for days. Thank goodness for our 4WD. I’ve twice called 911 for fires close by and once called an ambulance at 4:00am for a neighbor who was having a stroke. Believe me, I know the importance of neighborhood community.

Maybe people feel overwhelmed by their own lives and don’t realize how some friendly conversation would soften the stress they live with. Although I don’t see evidence in my own neighborhood, everyone benefits from connecting with each other in some way. If for no other reason than for safety. It’s just that when your life is filled to the brim, you may not think about it much.

My daughter swears by her neighborhood Buy Nothing Group. What better way to connect than to offer up something you don’t need anymore to someone who does? Exchanging treasures is perfect.

A strong urge to do SOMETHING is praying on my mind, but what? A block party? A neighborhood yard sale? Hmmm, surely I can come up with a plan by Spring. These people need each other they just don’t know it yet. Ha!