Social Designers: Why Our Own Neighborhoods Need Us as Much as Sub-Saharan Africa
- julie kim wrote in San Francisco, Social Design and Cities
Social change is a complex, messy business. It takes a long time. We’re best positioned to affect long-term outcomes when we stay home and work within our own communities.
Many of you are already enmeshed in local design activism. But do we see our work as designers as a form of community service? If not, I think we should. Think of programs and service delivery models like soup kitchens, Americorps, trash pick-up days. These models, more than global humanitarian work, are most relevant for designers looking to work locally.
‘The American Dream Starts With the Neighborhoods’: Why Harvey Milk is the Patron Saint of Neighborday
- GOOD HQ wrote in Living, San Francisco and Cities
You may have heard we’ve declared the last Saturday of April “Neighborday” and we’re encouraging you to spend some time that day getting to know the folks who live near you. April 27 will be a celebration of that basic human inter-connectedness that powers great neighborhoods—the kinds of places where we all want to live.
Overlooking Duboce Park in San Francisco sits the Harvey Milk Center for the Recreational Arts, a monument to a man devoted to creating thriving communities, one block at a time. One of the outside walls of this building contains a fragment of a quote from a little known speech he made in the early days of city politics: “The American Dream starts with the neighborhoods.”
Illustration by Jessica De Jesus
Your Neighborday Toolkit is Here
- GOOD HQ wrote in Neighboring, Neighborday and Culture
Introducing a holiday to people you barely know is easier said than done. Regardless of what you think of the people living in your neighborhood, we hope you can find something useful among these following resources that will add value to your Neighborday participation.
What type of Neighbor are you?
See the full toolkit on good.is
Let’s Make a Neighborday Documentary Together
- GOOD HQ wrote in Community, Film and Documentary
Hey GOOD Community,
We want your help documenting the awesomeness that is Neighborday. Over the next four weeks, we’ll be issuing four video challenges leading up to the big event, in an effort to chronicle all the cool ways you’re gearing up for April 27th. Then, once we’ve collected all the footage, we’ll use it for a documentary we’re releasing in May about Neighbordays across the globe that you can share with your friends and neighbors.
This one’s easy, folks. All you need to do is introduce yourself on-camera, including your name, what neighborhood and city you live in, and that you’re hosting a Neighborday. Something like this: “Hi, I’m Casey. I live in Echo Park, Los Angeles, and I’m psyched to be hosting a Neighborday this year. Also, I love chocolate.” If your name isn’t Casey and you don’t live in LA or like chocolate, then feel free to change the script accordingly!
THEN WHAT?
Go HERE to submit your video!
Infographic: Do You Know Your Neighbor?
- GOOD HQ and Oliver Munday contributed in Culture, America and News
Being neighborly isn’t just giving a smile and nod to your neighbors when you see them on the street. It’s a way of life—a way to build a real social network that can connect you to hyper-local current events, political action, and groups you can join to make your community a better place to live and work. What are ways we can improve how we engage with our communities?
Why We’ve Turned our Apartment Into a Part-time Restaurant
- Emily Coates wrote in Food, New York City and Brooklyn
For the past two years, on (almost) every fourth Saturday of the month, our apartment turns into a part-time restaurant. Sixteen to 20 people show up at our gate over by the Domino Sugar Factory, tucked under the Williamsburg Bridge, to eat with people they’ve never met. We call it Neighbor.
The first dinner was nerve wracking. We spent all week preparing. We went through the schedule over and over and over and over again. We worried about everything. Who would come? Will they think it’s weird? Will they like the food?
We’re back at it with Round 2 of our Elimineighbor Challenge. Who will come out on top as the best neighbor in pop culture? Cast your vote now on the GOOD Facebook page.
Why My Lease Says ‘Be a Good Neighbor’
- Adele Peters wrote in New York City, Brooklyn and Community
I don’t think I had specific expectations of neighborliness when I first moved from California to New York. If someone had asked me, I would have probably guessed that things in my new neighborhood wouldn’t have been that different from parts of the Bay Area; a steady flow of people moving in and out of apartments on the block, and people often passing each other on the street with heads down, without stopping to say hello.
Instead, I ended up in a neighborhood that reminds me of Sesame Street…
This Is Neighborday
- GOOD HQ wrote in Neighboring and Cities
Admit it, your neighborhood isn’t like Mister Rogers’. You don’t know the name of your postal carrier or beat cop, or even the person who lives next door. But why shouldn’t you? These people who occupy the orbit of your house have the potential to turn an otherwise dull domestic existence into the rich experience we used to know as community.
We’d like to help return some of that richness. Henceforth, let’s make the last Saturday in April (that’s April 27th this year) Neighborday, a global celebration of the people with whom we share space. It’s about potlucks and having face-to-face interactions with the people around you. It’s about taking care of your streets and supporting your local shops. It’s about getting to know the people around you that you may not notice every other day of the year. Think of it as a holiday of the GOOD community everywhere.
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Here’s how it breaks down:
1.
Sign up to celebrate Neighborday this year (4/27/13) by going here. Will you host a dinner? Start a lemonade stand? Stage a barn raising? It should be a day of block parties, yard sales, trading stuff, and barbecues. It should happen on sidewalks, front lawns, and on side streets. No traveling allowed; the idea is to know and enjoy the company of your immediate neighbors.
2.
Once you click “Do it,” our community manager Hannah will email you and introduce herself in case you have questions. (She’s really nice.)
3.
While Neighborday is on your mind and you’re still at your computer, let your friends know about it. Share it over email, on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, MySpace, wherever you like spreading the word. Here’s some helpful stuff to get you started on that.
4.
Keep a lookout for a weekly email from us on Saturdays. Theyll include helpful tips, new ideas, and all sorts of ways to make sure Neighborday is off the hook.
5.
Get outside and talk to your neighbors. Download a sample set of invitations that you can print and start giving out to the people next door. Or feel free to create your own, and let us know what it looks like by emailing it to neighborday@goodinc.com or tagging it online with #neighborday.
6.
Document your own neighboring, and collaborate with us on the Neighborday documentary (we’ll be sharing more about that next week). Capture video, take photos, share thoughts and experiences in the comments.
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Got questions? Email us at neighborday@goodinc.com. It’ll likely go to Hannah.
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N.B. Neighborday was first proposed to GOOD as we were putting our Neighborhoods issue of the magazine together in the Spring of 2010. Someone named Gene Benjamin Baker suggested it to us on our Facebook page. We’re yet to track Gene down again, but if you know him, tell him thanks or give him a high five, and feel free to let us know how to get in touch if you’ve got any leads.
For the month of April, we’re doing a special tumblr takeover in support of Neighborday — a global celebration of the people with whom we share space.
Each day, we’ll be sharing helpful tips, tools, and updates leading up to the inaugural event on Saturday, April 27, 2013.
Want to know more? Start by adding Neighborday to your To-Do list and following along at good.is/neighboring.
Stay tuned for more…
Infographic: The Rise of Americans With No Religion
- GOOD Partnerships and Column Five contributed in Religion and Mindfulness
Today, one in five in the American public doesn’t identify with any religion, the highest share since Pew Research Center began this poll in 2007. Who makes up this group, and what implications does the growing trend have for secularization, politics, and spirituality?
![[Updated: Round 1 Results] Elimineighbor™ Challenge- GOOD HQ wrote in Living, Cities and Neighboring
ROUND 1 UPDATE:
Mr. Rodgers was the big winner of Round 1, when he lambasted Marcy D’Arcy with a whopping 98 votes to her 2! The biggest upset of the the week was Mr. Feeney just barely edging out Wilson from “Home Improvement,” who was the heavy favorite (Vegas odds were 3:1). Boner Stabone is turning out to be the real Cindarella story of the Elimineighbor Bracket Challenge, where he hopes to continue his momentum when he faces Mr. Feeney in Round 2.
Next week’s marquee matchup: Urkel vs. Freddie Krueger. Will Urkel manage to annoy Freddie to the point of defeat, or will Freddie claw his way to victory?
Don’t forget to cast your vote next Monday and Tuesday on our Facebook page at 12pm PDT, and remember to sign up to host a Neighborday HERE.
Hang out with your neighbors on the last Saturday of April (a day we’re calling “Neighborday”). Click here to say you’ll Do It, and we’ll send you GOOD’s Neighborday Survival Guide and a bunch of other fun stuff.](http://25.media.tumblr.com/6a19a930701bc689870dfce8fbe80f83/tumblr_mkc8uezVnA1qjq5r9o1_250.jpg)
[Updated: Round 1 Results] Elimineighbor™ Challenge
- GOOD HQ wrote in Living, Cities and Neighboring
ROUND 1 UPDATE:
Mr. Rodgers was the big winner of Round 1, when he lambasted Marcy D’Arcy with a whopping 98 votes to her 2! The biggest upset of the the week was Mr. Feeney just barely edging out Wilson from “Home Improvement,” who was the heavy favorite (Vegas odds were 3:1). Boner Stabone is turning out to be the real Cindarella story of the Elimineighbor Bracket Challenge, where he hopes to continue his momentum when he faces Mr. Feeney in Round 2.
Next week’s marquee matchup: Urkel vs. Freddie Krueger. Will Urkel manage to annoy Freddie to the point of defeat, or will Freddie claw his way to victory?
Don’t forget to cast your vote next Monday and Tuesday on our Facebook page at 12pm PDT, and remember to sign up to host a Neighborday HERE.
Hang out with your neighbors on the last Saturday of April (a day we’re calling “Neighborday”). Click here to say you’ll Do It, and we’ll send you GOOD’s Neighborday Survival Guide and a bunch of other fun stuff.
Citizenship Building Block #11: Learn to Cook a Dish With a Story
- Lara Rabinovitch in Living, Food and Building Blocks Of Citizenship
Food is a window into culture. Learning to cook a dish from your heritage will make you a better global citizen by enriching your mind—and belly. So this month spend some time with a grandmother and learn how to cook a dish she knows well. This may be with your grandmother, someone else’s grandmother, or your grandfather—because he’s the cook of the family. Whether it’s Japanese rice balls, Brazilian feijoada, Ukrainian varenyky, or curry vindaloo, learn how to make at least one dish from one part of your heritage. It might be tuna casserole or tamales or thin-crust pizza. Either way: take notes, ask questions, and taste. You’ll learn how to make something to share with others while also reconnecting with a part of your past. Think of it as culinary archaeology, only tastier.
A Neighborday Manifesto: Because We’re Better Together
- Kyla Fullenwider wrote in Living, Cities and Neighboring
Neighborday is about creating a new story. It’s about transcending the old story of self to create a new story of us. It’s about expanding our definition of self to include those who live above us, below us, and next to us. It’s a call to action of the most important kind: to let our neighbors in, and to build more self-reliant streets, blocks, and neighborhoods, together.
Read the full manifesto on good.is
Hang out with your neighbors on the last Saturday of April (a day we’re calling “Neighborday”). Click here to say you’ll Do It, and we’ll send you GOOD’s Neighborday Survival Guide and a bunch of other fun stuff.
Illustration by Tyler Hoehne
