“Most of us belong to lots of different kinds of clubs, groups and associations. Each is held together by a common gift, skill, interest or passion. Choirs are associations that magnify the gifts of people who sing well. Sports teams collect people together with certain athletic skills. The Legion joins together people with a common war experience.
Whatever the group, the "glue" that holds it together is whatever the members have in common -- something important enough to lead them to join and actively participate in a pursuit that interests them all.
If your block or neighborhood is organized, it is because something leads people to want to come together. Where blocks are not organized, it is because neighbors don't know what they share or have in common. Just living on the same block is not enough to pull many people out of their homes to join with neighbors... except possibly for an annual block party. One step up is the block club created to deal with crime, safety and security. But that is a community drawn together by fear -- one created by a fortress mentality.
The neighborhoods that are organized are drawn together because they have discovered the gifts, skills, interests and passions of their fellow residents. This knowledge is the catalyst for all kinds of new relationships. The connections may be between two neighbors who discover a mutual interest in jazz. Or several neighbors may be connected by an interest in gardening. Or it may be that all the neighbors have discovered their common interest in being a village that raises a child.
Whenever a neighborhood comes together in powerful and satisfying ways, it is because two things have happened. First, neighbors have found out about each other's gifts. Second, they have made new connections based on these gifts. It is the sum of these connections that "glues" a neighborhood together. This is often called social fabric.” PBlock & JMcKnight
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