Community is in the Eye of the Beholder
This week’s debate sparked a conversation about whether or
not suburbs are considered communities. In my opinion it depends on the users
and how they occupy the space. KJ brought up a great thought when she posed the
question “Does providing community amenities dimmish community engagement?” I
think this thought alone opened my eyes to the reality of situations where we
often don’t have things and we end up asking others for help and those small
conversations create community. If we circle back to my initial thought of the
idea of communities depending on the user, I think that the characteristics and
introverted/extroverted-ness of people often dictate whether a space, environment,
or suburb feels like a community.
Autumn, I think a sense of community, particularly in rural areas, can also come from local connections. For example, I grew up in a house next to my pediatrician, my father's coworkers, and my middle school soccer coach. While we had those regular neighborhood interactions, we also could count on interacting with many neighbors on a daily basis while we were out.
ReplyDeleteAutumn, I do agree with your last statement. It depends on an individual's desire and perspective. In cities, You can have a large community and experience social relationships with many more people than you could in the suburbs. Suburbs will have considerably smaller community circles but close-knit ones. The potential of ownership of the place where the user lives also plays a significant role in defining these relationships and communities. The probability of the user buying the house they live in is much higher in the suburbs than in the cities. When you own a place, you use the space differently than renting the home, which affects the user's social behavior in the community.
ReplyDeleteAutumn, I totally agree. I grew up in a neighborhood that did not have community amenities except the local park. I would go over to my friends' apartment where they had a pool and we went there all the time, but now, I haven't stepped foot in my community's pool. I think it is dependent on the person, but also perspective. My perspective and priorities as a child was far different and more naiive than they are now. I think that is a point that should have been added in the previous discussion.
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