Many of us live within feet of our neighbors and may not even know their names. Having connected relationships with your neighbors is important for mental health, safety, and many other factors. So how do you engage with your neighbors? Whether you’ve already made efforts or are just starting, here are some practical and easy ways to help connect and engage your neighborhood.
Start With The Easy Connections
In every neighborhood, there will be those who want to connect and those who simply don’t. However, there are also a group in between those extremes, waiting for a reason or opportunity to engage. By simply starting small with social media (like setting up your neighborhood on NextDoor, creating a Facebook page just for your neighbors, or creating an online neighborhood directory), you can start finding those who want to engage immediately. It’s also a great way to find others to help you with future events and organizing the neighborhood. Plus, people are more likely to take an introduction online or join a group than attending a face-to-face event.
Engage Neighbors For Fun
Even if the purpose for an event is as simple as “eating food together” or “listening to music” as a neighborhood, have a reason to bring people together to let them engage with each other. There are tons of options for a casual event: neighborhood potluck, wine night, movie night, book club, holiday celebration, or block parties. These are low-barrier events your neighbors can engage on their own terms, come and go as they please, and feel the least amount of pressure or commitment. In fact, one of the largest neighborhood events in Colorado Springs started as friends getting together to have a party in their yard. Now, it’s become Porchfest in the Patty Jewett neighborhood which draws thousands of people annually.
Engage Neighbors For a Purpose
Perhaps the next step is asking for a bit of commitment from those in your neighborhood. There’s still the element of gathering for fun and meeting new people, but there’s a driver and often additional commitments and events. Examples include: forming a neighborhood watch group, creating a community garden, organizing a music or art festival, running a neighborhood cleanup event, or forming a community sports league with your neighbors. These types of connections and ongoing engagement create lasting relationships and strong bonds in your community.
Use The Resources Available to Engage Neighbors
Check with your city government or Google local resources for neighborhoods. There are plenty of general tools and suggestions online, regardless of your location. Also, tap into your local Homeowners Associations, churches, or even businesses around you who are invested in seeing the neighborhood thrive (hint, hint: most local Realtors would be interested in helping with this).
In Colorado Springs, a key group exists to help with connecting neighbors called CONO. With a mission to engage, equip and educate, you’ll find resources to plan a gathering, learn about how the city operates in Neighborhood University (a free community program), attend a lunch and learn, and even take the next step in becoming a neighborhood leader.
Also, the City of Colorado Springs is challenging neighbors to host 1000 Neighborhood Gatherings during summer of 2024 to help combat loneliness and address social isolation. There’s a page for additional resources and publicity, plus a way to register your neighborhood gathering to show that the city is meeting this goal. Watch the video below for more information and explanation of why these hyper-local gatherings are so important.
Overall, whether you start small or plan a huge event, just start! The most important thing is doing something and reaching out to start forming relationships, engaging with your neighbors, and spearhead the connections that people will thank you for later! Contact us if you need help locating resources or want to brainstorm ideas on ways to partner to help engage your neighborhood.
