Marcus sed/Glen replied
If
it is too painful to fund the fund, the pain needs to be spread out in
some systematic way with actual government IMO.
Before I started participating in this hyper local government (our
neighborhood development association - which is a branch of the city,
not one of those things property owners are supposed to join and pay
dues to), I completely disagreed with you. I assumed anyone who owned a
home would be interested in preserving their home's value by investing
in the local community. Apparently, I was wrong. There is an energetic
subset of those people. But most of them just don't give a damn until
they need help. Most will only come to meetings when they have
something to bitch about.
So, perhaps that's why I'm slowly turning into a liberal. It's time to
move... maybe out to Wyoming or somesuch so that I can again call myself
"libertarian" with a straight face.
When we lived in Berkeley for 1 year, one short block off Telegraph at
the Oakland border, a neighborhood association (Halcyon Court) took over
an underutilized parking lot and made it into a small greenspace/park.
It was a beautiful little park and it was the gathering place for
many... it had many lives in a single day.
Once a month (I forget the schedule .. Nth something of the month I
think) neighbors would gather to maintain the park... trim, dig, plant,
prune, etc. Nobody was in charge, but there were a few leftovers from
the original design/creation. It was very self-organizing. We
learned of it by word of mouth. No newsletter or e-mail list... just
conversations among neighbors "you coming out tomorrow?" "what do you
think most needs doing?" "I've got some stain for the bench, what do
you think?" mostly pairwise or 3 way convos.
Most of the people who came out (OK half) were not even homeowners...
they lived in one of the many small apartment buildings (quad/six plex
ish). It was about investing in the "common experience" of the
neighborhood as much as any percieved long term cash value of homes...
though those who did own there certainly seemed to appreciate it and
threw down strongly at these gatherings. Most every week, someone would
mention about 3PM... say... I've got a pot of beans on if anyone wants
to come by... I live over there (pointing). By "closing time", a
network of ad-hoc eatovers was passed around... and anyone hanging out
was likely as not to stop in two or three homes for a bite or a libation.
The park had 2-3 homeless who slept there every night... They were up
and out before the 6 AM crowd started to arrive with dogs for a pee or a
poop (never once saw any poop left... everyone just did their part)
then the Volvo wagons with the kids for the neighborhood day care
started arriving around 7. By 9, that crowd was gone and some of the
local families would wander in with kids... one slide, 2 swings and lots
of wood chips and a lawn big enough for a kids pickup soccer game. By
3 or so, the high school kids showed up to smoke (tobacco and
whacko)... then later, the Volvos to pick up the kids, the evening dog
walk... neighborhood chitchat... maybe an adult smoke outside the
house... or kids at the playground... then sometime after dark you
would see things being "lit up" in the dark... Cigs, Weed and possibly
Crack. If I took my dog out after 10, I'd probably have to call her
away from a sleeping body in the bushes... she loved to lick the
homeless... they are pretty tasty to a dog I think.
It was the most self-organized, ad-hoc, functional neighborhood I've
ever imagined. Far from perfect, breakins now and then, mostly
cars. Bums hitting you up for spare change. Never really quite
"clean" but never filthy. Hard to find good parking. NEVER a cop to
be seen. Never sirens or lights. 1/2 block away every hour... but not
in this self-run neighborhood, mostly of short-timer renters, and some
"vagrants"...
it gave me hope for the viability of a commons.
- Steve
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