Ideas for Block Activities – from Jim Diers, Steven Clift and e-democracy.org

in community engagement, Place-based communities

Steve Clift

Thanks to Ashoka Fellow and e-democracy founder Steven Clift for sending me this list, which was drafted at his request by Our Blocks friend Jim Diers, the author of Neighbor Power and former head of Seattle’s Department of Neighborhoods. You can add to the list by going to the Block activities wiki on e-democracy.org.

In many communities there are intentional efforts to organize “block clubs” among neighbors. They are often promoted by police departments because neighbors who know each other, watch out for each other. In some communities, neighborhood councils play this role. Because organizers typically have a goal in mind, like “crime prevention,” the support materials and systems do not document in detail the wide range of activities block clubs/neighbors can organize among themselves.

Suggestions for Block Activities

Jim Diers

  • Crime prevention
  • Emergency preparedness
  • Block parties
  • Skills exchanges
  • Share tools, pickup truck, camping equipment, etc.
  • Buy in bulk
  • Policy discussions
  • Support for latchkey kids
  • Support for housebound seniors
  • Support for one another
  • Rideshares
  • Create community garden on vacant lot or someone’s yard
  • Create pocket park on vacant lot or someone’s yard
  • Install benches, picnic tables or other community furniture in front yards
  • Improve/maintain common spaces: alley, median, park traffic circle, etc.
  • Paint mural in intersection
  • Plant street trees
  • Provide base for neighborhood association
  • Slow traffic with signs/art
  • Create placards for doorway of each home representing that family
  • Create website for block
  • Create a manifesto of block values and commitments to one another
  • Create a directory of available expertise (recycling, technology, etc)
  • Create a green block in which each household commits to reducing carbon footprint
  • Conduct a talent show
  • Celebrate Good Neighbor Day by recognizing good deeds

These suggestions were subsequently added to the wiki:

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Wrap-up: Coverage of Pew Research Center’s “Neighbors Online”

in community engagement, Place-based communities

Pew’s Neighbors Online report, published Wednesday, provides baseline data on neighborhood communications. Join the Q&A with author Aaron Smith, over at e-democracy.org’s Locals Online. Several media outlets reported on the report, and here are a few that did more than reprint the overview:

  • Chicago Sun-Times: Folks use digital tools to take role in community – “Leonard’s experience mirrors the findings of a study released Wednesday. Contrary to assumptions that people who go online hole up in their basements, the study showed the opposite: Internet users are more likely than non-users to talk face to face with their neighbors about local and community issues.”
  • CivSource: More going online to go local – “Steven Clift, director of E-Democracy.org – a nonprofit organization that works to develop civic engagement and online community building strategies – called the report an “excellent start,” in an interview yesterday. The report puts numbers to what we’ve instinctively thought about neighborhood activity online and I think it will certainly move the field of discussion along.”
  • Christian Science Monitor: The Internet probably won’t turn you into a hermit, study finds – “Far from being more reclusive, Internet users are more likely to meet their neighbors face-to-face and engage in community issues, a new study reveals. The findings suggests that talking in person or over the telephone remain the top two ways that people living close to one another keep up on community developments, even in an increasingly digital world.”
  • e-democracy: Neighbors Online – What have 27% of Internet Users Discovered? Women Lead the Way. Need More Inclusion – “So now we have numbers on the digital participation divide we must close: Only 2% of those with household incomes under $30,000 are on a neighborhood e-mail list; only 3% of Hispanics; only 2% of rural residents.”
  • New York Times: Friends, Neighbors and Facebook – “There’s no need to pine for a return to the pre-Facebook, cardigan-swaddled idealism of Mister Rogers and his charming “neighbors” and “friends,” but it is important for us to remember that tangible, meaningful engagement with those around us builds better selves and stronger communities.”
  • ReadWriteWeb: Neighbors Rely On Word of Mouth, But Online Gains – “The biggest effect that online tools have had on neighborhood interactions is in providing an avenue for learning about and interacting on local issues to individuals who might not engage in these issues through more traditional means.”

Although all of Pew’s survey respondents are from the United States, the report has global implications. See this analysis by UK-based Kevin Harris, author of the Neighbourhoods blog, reprinted here in its entirety with Kevin’s permission (thanks Kevin):

Online communication in neighbourhoods: not just people we know

The latest Pew Internet Project report has just been published, on the topic of ‘neighbors online’.

It’s based on telephone interviews with 2,258 Americans, and while I didn’t read anything that hit the wow-box it certainly helps us think about communication at neighbourhood level. The questions asked about face-to-face interaction with neighbours, telephone contact, and a range of local online resources.

Unsurprisingly (and as last year’s Pew Internet study demonstrated) internet users are just as likely as non-users to discuss local issues face-to-face. People in higher income households and with higher educational attainment are more likely to talk face-to-face with neighbours about local issues.

Between 4% and 11% of all those surveyed exchange email with their neighbours about local issues, read a blog dealing with local issues, or are signed up to a locally-focussed online forum or social network. This is baseline data, hopefully Pew will repeat the questions every now and then.

For me the most interesting finding was this: (more…)

Locals Online – For hosts of neighborhood e-lists, placeblogs, and community social nets

in community engagement, Place-based communities

Ashoka Fellow Steven Clift recently created the Locals Online forum on e-democracy.org, to bring together people round the world who are working to connect neighbors with one another.

In his April 21 post, he noted: “From neighborhood e-mail lists to social networks, placeblogs to block-level Facebook groups, thousands of people are doing what we are doing in isolation. The challenge with this online group is to get enough of us gathered to begin sharing tips, lessons, and ideas on a regular basis.”

He invited hosts of neighborhood e-mail lists, place blogs, community web forums, building or block-level social networking groups, hyper-local online communities, and online journalism sites designed for active community participation. Dozens of local leaders signed up, and on May 5, Steve asked them to start introducing themselves to one another. As of this morning, 17 people did. Links to their intros, and excerpts: