The South, Part 2

As promised, I'm here to talk about community in the South.

Community is what planners and advocates alike really really want. In plans of every intensity and level, "community" support is of utmost importance. In other plans, such as open space building (is that an oxymoron?), the community-building aspect is held in high regard. But what is this thing we call community? How does it manifest itself in the city, and how is it created?

My belief is that nowhere will ever have the type of community that I experienced in the rural South. Everyone seemed to know each other, and as Pete from Habitat said, "If you sin in this town I'll find out before you finish sinning." Beyond being a tad creepy, that really gets to multiple facts about community in a place such as Lenoir, North Carolina: everybody knows each other, and it's all about church.

From a planning perspective, how can we create this kind of community? To a large extent, I don't believe we can. Community has to happen naturally. However, that doesn't mean there aren't things we can do to help. I of course love me my open space, but recognize we don't live in an ideal (or medieval) world where people will congregate and socialize freely and create an organic community in a public square. Parks and plazas are great for preexisting relationships or some time to yourself.

Planners should encourage "community" sites such as schools, religious buildings, and markets. These are places where you can meet someone new, maybe after realizing you have the same Saturday Greenmarket preferences or your son and so and so's daughter are in the same homeroom.

Beyond that? Well, developers getting overambitious seems to incite a lot of community anger. Maybe in the city, our best bet at community is getting angry together?

All I know is that no matter how hard we try, we will never have community like they do in Lenoir.