by Lois Lawrence

Created on: September 21, 2009   Last Updated: September 23, 2009

While Robert Frost may have believed that good fences make good neighbors, there can be little doubt that good neighbors make good neighborhoods.

We are a culture obsessed with privacy, so it is not surprising that we are less likely than our grandparents might have been to show up at the new neighbors' door with a macaroni salad and a big "hello" out of fear that the reception might be chilly, or worse, that the favor might be returned on too regular a basis.

Yet life is not so simple as it was a few generations ago. While we may be too busy shuttling children to soccer practice and dance class or working our own second jobs to have much time left over for the afternoon coffee klatch, our crowded schedules also mean that we are more in need of mutual support than ever before.

Millions of people all across the country have learned that the most satisfying and efficient way to meet that need is through the formation of one version or another of something called a neighborhood association.

The goals are as diverse and unique as the concerns of the individual members and the definition of neighborhood is broad enough to cover a cluster of rural counties in Minnesota or a single block in Greenwich Village.

We are in the midst of an economic downturn more severe than most of us have experienced in our lifetime. Harry Truman said, "It's a recession when your neighbor loses his job. It's a depression when you lose yours."

In Providence, Rhode Island a small commercial neighborhood along Hope Street looks for help from its merchant's association. This spring, the association organized an event they called the Hope for the Earth Festival for local residents where children could learn to knit at a workshop offered by a yarn shop or make crafts at a shop called Kreatelier. Parents could buy fresh local herbs and shop sidewalk sales while their kids were entertained by the Roli Poli Guacamole Band. To keep everyone close by for the day, a couple of local restaurants served "green" food treats.

El Paso, Texas, claims 67 neighborhood associations at last count and offers assistance and guidance to anyone else interested in forming one. Their suggestions are good: Plan a meeting in a park, library, or school and invite individuals who might act as a temporary committee to get the word out. Meeting the neighbors is the first step toward building friendship and cooperation. Once people get to know one another, it naturally follows that they will explore their mutual

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