1998, Sidewalks make a community great, Michelle Price, Nov. 12, No. 1
From her column "Second Thoughts"
A neighborhood is just a neighborhood. But if you call a neighborhood a community, it says really wonderful things about the people who live there.
Most people have the same idea of what a community is, beyond the definition of the word. Some are more interested than others but everyone holds the same understanding of what community means and it always seems to carry positive connotations.
I have often wondered what makes a neighborhood a community. It could be any number of things: friendly people, churches, social organizations or kids who play together. However, the one thing I’ve found to be consistent in every great community I’ve lived in, is the presence of sidewalks.
When I’ve lived in neighborhoods with sidewalks, I’ve known my neighbors well and many of them have become close friends. In neighborhoods I’ve lived in without sidewalks, I’ve hardly known my neighbors at all. What is it about sidewalks that brings neighbors together to form a community? Maybe it’s that sidewalks seem to extend an unspoken invitation to neighbors. A shared walkway becomes a common thread between neighbors.
I know that there are a lot of newer neighborhoods without sidewalks that are great places to live and I’ve lived in that type of neighborhood and liked it very much. Somehow it seemed to take a lot more effort to know my neighbors there.
I think what it boils down to is the idea of an unspoken invitation. That’s what brings a community together. It doesn’t have to be an actual, physical sidewalk to extend that invitation.
Extending a sidewalk, whether concrete, virtual, spoken or implied, gives people a sense of community and from there great things can happen.
The week before Halloween, my daughter and I came home and found a pumpkin on the porch with a note that read, “Happy Halloween. Love, Rachel.” One of my new neighbors had bought a pumpkin for every child on the block. Now it could be Rachel would do sweet things like that anywhere she lives but I have to question if it’s not because we have sidewalks between us.
Just last week, another neighbor, Angela, came over at dinner time as I was thinking I’m too tired to cook and I don’t want pizza. She asked, “Hey, are y’all hungry because I’ve got a ton of food? Why don’t y’all come eat?”
I think Angela would probably have made the same offer, with or without sidewalks because she is such a thoughtful person but still, I have to wonder how much of a role those sidewalks play in the everyday kindness that takes place in my neighborhood. It could just be that I live in a great community.
The Northport Gazette would like to be your community sidewalk, linking everyone who reads it. Northport is a wonderful community and we are excited about being a part of it. One of the greatest things about a community is the care and concern people have for each other and the wonderful acts of kindness neighbors extend. That is the type of community I believe Northport is, even as it grows continually larger. Northport has that small town feel that gives it a strong sense of community.
If you know of an act of kindness someone in the community has received or bestowed, we would love to tell the story in The Northport Gazette. Please contact us at 759-3091, or stop by. We are located in historic downtown Northport, just behind Sue’s Flowers.