Many residents view St. Albert as a city with a small town feel, but some are worried that this feeling isn’t as strong as it could be.
The St. Albert Neighbourhood Network and FCSS are bringing in a guest speaker who knows exactly how St. Albert feels. Howard Lawrence is a neighbourhood consultant and active volunteer with Edmonton’s Highlands community and part of the group leading Edmonton’s Abundant Communities Initiative.
As cities grow and become more perforated by one-way streets, traffic lights, merge lanes, strip malls and arterial roads, that small town feeling can be threatened by the bane of any tight-knit community: aloof indifference. Lawrence, a social researcher and resident of the Highlands, found some interesting things when he examined his own backyard.
“There was no specific issue, but a general ... recognition from the research there was reduced levels of social capital,” said Lawrence Thursday. “In the vernacular, you would call it neighbourliness.”
Lawrence said the neighbourliness was a lot less than people remembered, and perhaps less than what they wanted. He pointed out there was nothing technically wrong with the neighbourhood, as so many people ask. There was just an aloofness that could addressed. He said it’s not just something being talked abut at the local level. Provincial and federal governments are also looking at social capital and its benefits.
Simply put, neighbours can have a very big positive effect on residents.
“Massive, in fact,” Lawrence said.
He said the old adage about a village raising a child is true, along with the village caring for seniors, caring for new moms, helping youth find jobs, ensuring education is relevant and finding new friends of wide age and experience levels.
He said the move to increase neighbour interaction has been growing, especially as it’s known people tend to herd with those who are similar in opinions and habits to themselves.
“We tend to go and actually shop for friends, rather than look for the friends who surround us,” he said. “The neighbourhood is a place where you can find a good mix.”
In the Highlands, residents had been addressing their social capital quotient with activities like block parties and a formal neighbourhood social club. That’s when Lawrence discovered the author John McKnight, who specializes in social capital.
He wrote The Careless Society: Changing Neighbourhoods from the Inside Out, and co-authored The Abundant Community. Lawrence was hooked by what he called the simple yet profound message of The Abundant Community.
“It’s that every neighbour has something to contribute, or a gift,” he said.
“Gifts are best when they’re shared together. Hospitality. We want to include everybody in this, the people in our neighbourhoods who are really characters.
“You celebrate the characters. We’re looking for hospitality and inclusion.”
Lawrence will be coming to St. Albert to speak on Monday, Nov. 4 at the Grace Family Church.
“We’re going to look at the story of our neighbourhood,” he said. “The basis is actually neighbours having a conversation with other neighbours.”
The presentation, which will allow lots of question and answer, will be held at Grace Family Church located at 60 Liberton Drive at 7 p.m. Monday, Nov. 4. The event is not a public event, it is a Neighbourhood Network gathering. That said, if someone is interested in attending they can contact Angie Dedrick at the City of St. Albert for information. There is limited seating. Contact Dedrick at [email protected] or 780-418-6055 extension 3086.
