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How Community Development / Building / Loneliness could be different



Citizen-led emergency response groups could be formed

Seniors could have a march of hats

Strangers could share inner thoughts through a phone / photo

Homemade meals could be baked for neighbors

People could live in country clubs / communities

Cafes could be for grief / discussions of death

Snowmen signs could be made for neighbors

Immigrant communities could have cultural retirement centers

Communities could have crop swaps

Hugs could be given on the internet

The U.S. / world could have more public swimming pools / lessons

Stews could be perpetual

Supper clubs / underground dining / pop-ups could be hosted in homes or other venues

Yoga classes could be donation-based

Tomato sauce could be jarred in the summer

Libraries could be public / community spaces

Backyards could have potlucks

Hot tubs / pools in backyards could be open to all

Showtunes could be sung around a piano

Theater could be guerilla

City girls (or people) could walk

Dining could be a communal experience

Convenience could be inconvenient

No one could die alone

Community chess games could be organized by volunteers

Neighborhood holiday decorations / trick or treating could be found

Inspirational messages / quotes could be left in highly trafficked areas

Nothing could be bought

A national monthly holiday could encourage community improvement projects and volunteering

Communities could have alfresco chats

"Parents' Evening" meetings could be held in communities

Group psychotherapy / activities could be good for people

Ice could be harvested for refrigeration

Communities could imagine new futures

Social prescribing / helping others could be used for depression and mental health

Community mediation boards could resolve disputes and conflict

Asylum seekers/refugees/immigrants could access culture classes/integration opportunities

Communities could have big lunches

Portable basketball hoops could be allowed on curbs

An ongoing dinner party could serve meals from UN countries

Musicians could stroll

Adults could have playgrounds

Slums could have creative arts

Houses could have porches or stoops

Christmas / Holiday workshops could be held

Square / plaza dancing could occur in parks or public spaces

Neighbors could be booed on Halloween, jingled / knocked on Christmas, egg-ed on Easter, tagged on Thanksgiving, etc.

Pantomine theater could be performed during the holiday season

Online public spaces could be created

Victorian calling cards could be used for visits

A restaurant, bar, bookstore, coffee shop, and community events venue combined could exist

Greetings cards could be made for the sick, elderly, or military

Men, women, and transgender could have support groups

Freedom or victory gardens could be promoted

Karaoke could be in front of a huge crowd

Human "birdfeeders" could be created with benches

Mutual aid networks could offer help to communities

Pop-up dinners could create community

Social clubs could create community development, networking, and other positive outcomes

Walking groups could inspire better health, healing, and organizing

Walking partners could be found

Garage sales could be city-wide or town-wide

Concerts, comedy, and plays could take place in homes

Ben Franklin circles could help inspire citizenship and community building

Jeffersonian dinners could help social issues and create networks

Volunteer events could help clean up litter

Police and communities could get to know one another

People could receive free things from their communities

Religion could be secular, humanist, and involve community service

Communities could host outdoor dance lessons and music

Communities could go on strolls

Volunteer listeners could ease loneliness

Community health workers / entrepreneurs / mentors / volunteers could improve health outcomes

Saturdays could be for civic engagement

Cafes could be chatty

Promise Neighborhoods could decrease poverty and improve educational outcomes

Exercise could include community building, progress charting, and variety of workout routines

Youth could participate in service projects with stipends, education, and job training

Meals could be delivered to the elderly, disabled, new mothers, sick, or mentally ill

Students could cook, serve, and clean up lunch

Peers could offer low-cost / free counseling

A "Friendship Bench" could be a tool for positive mental health

Communities, schools, homes could have gardens and/or food forests

Excess food could be shared with neighbors

Mentorship could act as an extended family

Mentorship programs could help at-risk youth, drug addicts, homeless, ex-offenders, potential terrorists, immigrants, refugees, new employees, and students

Storytelling events could occur

Running could include scavenger hunts and costumes

Choirs could be open-access and drop-in

Local investigative reporting and newspapers could be funded by philanthropy / become nonprofit / have a sustainable business model

Communities could have public baths

Group meals could ease political polarization

Festivals could encourage inclusivity, cooperation, civic responsibility, and participation

Communities could have sing-a-longs

Cities and towns could have open or slow streets

Dance parties could be in the morning

Communities could go on bike rides together

Post office employees could deliver services for the elderly, disabled, new mothers, or mentally ill

Dance could be free-form / for exercise

Communities could have public saunas

Film festivals could be held in backyards

Volunteering events could be easy to find

Parents-to-be could be trained by veteran parents

Community planning could involve games / crowdsourcing online

Libraries could be free and little

Group exercises and stretching could be used by schools, communities, and organizations

People could learn from others in their community or people online

Homeowners could rent their homes after a foreclosure

People could create and share dinners in communities

Positive deviance could be used to produce beneficial behavioral change and outcomes

Homecooked meals could be shared with strangers

Cohousing could have social, economic, and environmental benefits

Communities could use private social networking websites to connect with their neighbors

Babysitting co-ops or registries could provide affordable childcare

Libraries could lend out "living books"