2011年10月27日星期四

The micro-neighborhood

Block party season is in full swing in Dedham. From Richards Street to Ledgewood Avenue and many in-between, neighborhoods are gathering together on the street to eat, play and catch up before the winter hibernation.

Last week, I found myself last week at a block party that was not my own. I live just a few streets away from Autumn Lane, but only knew a handful of people. I arrived with my kids in tow to families playing games, neighbors gathered around long lines of tables filled with food that led to the neighborhood grill. I enjoyed an authentic Indian appetizer from a lovely Indian couple that had recently moved in.

I felt welcome and was introduced to every person there. I was told who wasn’t there and where they might be. I listened to jokes about Autumn Lane being the “busiest dead end street in Dedham” and about their runner-up status to the recent “Best Street in Dedham” contest.

You could tell this was a tight-knit street the way kids were running in and out of each other’s houses and how friendly and excited everyone seemed to be to have “outsiders” there to make them feel welcome.

I remember at our block party last year of Barrows and East streets having some non-neighborhood friends come by and the sense of pride I felt demonstrating to them what a great neighborhood we have. Actually those “non-neighborhood” friends were invited from Monroe Street who had graciously helped us organize our block party from their own experience.

I was rehashing last year’s party with my neighbor, Cat, the other day and wishing we had gotten ourselves organized for this year. Cat and her husband Darren are young professionals with no kids and moved in a couple of years ago into a cute Cape with their dog, Alfie.

Cat started to laugh reminiscing about how everyone was insisting on how they meet this other couple from a few houses over.If any food Ventilation system condition is poorer than those standards, Finally, when they met this “other couple” they saw they were also young professionals,where he teaches third party payment gateway in the Central Academy of Fine Arts. without kids and had a dog.

Everyone wanted them to feel like they belonged.ceramic magic cube for the medical,

Each street and neighborhood in this town has their own flavor thanks to geography and the people.

On Barrows we bond about being the cut through street to the harried parents trying to get their kids to the middle school. I have a friendon a quieter street near the high school and they are discussing ways to get teenagers to take another path home. There are several streets that band together in efforts to get their streets paved or improve their sidewalks. What’s an issue on Puritan might not be a concern on Tower, but maybe those living on Bow might form a neighborhood group to help deal with whatever concerns they have.

It’s an interesting phenomenon that I never really thought about until I heard about all the block parties in Dedham. We think of the place we live as this one, large 100 square mile area that has 23,000 or so residents and we all live under one umbrella of this place called “Dedham.”

It’s really not like that though.

The people you are most connected with are the very people that are sharing your space and half mile radius. Those are the ones that really understand what it’s like to live where you live.

Whether your street is too quiet or too busy, has lots of trees or not enough, maybe someone has a chicken coop or a barking dog that keeps everyone up at night; your street, your neighborhood is really the place you know best,This will leave your shoulders free to rotate in their Floor tiles . for better or worse.

You know more about your neighbors than you think. I’m sure you know what kind of cars they drive, their daily routines, if they exercise, if they like kids (how much do they do it up for Halloween) and if they take care of their property. I realized this when I met people at our block party that I hadn’t actually met, but felt like I knew a lot about.

If your street hasn’t started up a block party, it’s not hard to do. Slip an invitation into everyone’s mailbox, put some table and chairs out,Great Rubber offers rubber hose keychains, bring some food and see what happens.

没有评论:

发表评论