Creating an amazing city or neighbourhood is less about a silver bullet solution and more about rediscovering a lost art. A few years ago I sat down and wrote my own neighbourhood manifesto as a way to help me see more clearly and chart a way through to a better community. This is my neighbourhood manifesto:
We’re for Facebook mentions that lead to face-to-face connections.
We’re for listening to stories and creating memories.
We’re not afraid of crisis or pain, it will come; we’re in this together.
We’re expecting mistakes. Grace is the cornerstone of our city.
We’re for hand delivered cards, not trading barbs.
We’re for sharing our BBQ steak and our Kraft Dinner. There’s always room at the table.
We’re for loving enemies and making allies.
We’re for surprising our neighbours with fresh hot biscuits, not bylaw tickets.
We’re for kids, we slow down and we get to know them.
We’re for joining in whatever is already happening, cheering good things along.
We’re more than residents or citizens, we’re neighbours.
We’re sure that making our neighbourhoods welcoming places will always be the better way.
We’re for generosity experiments and sneaky acts of kindness.
We’re for throwing snowballs and block parties, not tantrums or tirades.
We’re for bringing the best out in others and for being in our neighbour’s corner.
We’re for forgiveness.
We’re for waiting when patience is needed.
We’re discovering that the best security system is a well-connected neighbourhood.
We’re setting the DNA of our city – even now.
We’re here for a purpose. Our neighbourhood is better because we’re in it.
We’re for celebrating what we have, not angry about what we don’t.
We’re sure that the small things are important. In fact they may be the most important.
We’re for our teachers, our firefighters, our politicians, our barbers, and our tattoo artists.
We’re neighbourhood environmentalists who create space for growth.
We’re for creating cultures of trust.
We’re discovering that a neighbourhood is more like a garden and less like a veneer.
We’re convinced the people around us are amazing, unique, rare, and eternally valuable.
We’re for solving problems over coffee, not over a pitchfork.
We’re fluent in the language of potlucks, garden parties, and impromptu marshmallow roasts.
We’re for good ideas and the courage to see them happen.
We’re sure we can do this together.
This is my Neighbourhood Manifesto, what would yours say?
