Neighbors helping neighbors

The latest issue of Sunset magazine has a great article about a neighborhood “collective” that has formed in Northeast Portland, Ore.

The Ainsworth Street Collective, as it’s called, is a group of more than 50 individuals and families who live in the same neighborhood. They came together about three years ago simply to socialize and talk about neighborhood issues, but the discussions during those early potluck dinners soon evolved into finding ways the families could help each other, save money, and care for the earth.

“Collective member Sarah Case started a wholesale food-purchasing program, buying in bulk in order to reduce packaging and the amount of time and fuel spent going to the store. Smaller groups have spun off from the collective, including ones devoted to knitting, yoga, gardening, and even one whose members gathered to fight pollution emissions from a nearby factory,” writes author Allison Arieff.

The group also created a directory of nearby businesses and the services they provide, hoping to remind people that they don’t need to travel far when they need a loaf of bread or some garden supplies.

The collective plans to organize a “tool library” where neighbors store tools and check them out for use, just as you check out a book from a library. A year or so ago, I interviewed Patrick Malone of Riverfront Farm—a neighborhood gardening project in West Central Spokane aimed at steering at-risk youths away from gangs—and remember him saying he was hoping to start something similar. As I recall, he hoped it would be a way to encourage people to improve their homes, which could have a ripple effect, fostering pride in the neighborhood.

The Portland collective also plans a car-share program and a neighborhood farmers’ market (selling food grown in backyard gardens). The group still gets together to socialize, including during a Christmas wreath-making party and impromptu caroling session.

The collective isn’t just about saving gas and knowing where to find a Skilsaw when you need one. Arieff quotes one of the organizers as saying, “Communities used to have a tight radius. We need to go back to that.”

Does anyone know of something similar happening in Spokane?

The first thing that comes to my mind is the Pancakes in the Park tradition at Polly Judd park, which was written about in the Spokesman-Review last June. The formula is simple: free pancakes + good coffee + neighbors = a stronger community.

I’m also hearing the word “potluck” more than ever lately, including at EatSpokane.org , which has organized at least a couple this spring for folks interested in Spokane’s food community.

Several years ago, my close friends here joked about buying a big house together where we could raise our families together. OK, two of us were dead serious about it. The rest of them humored us.

I still think it could be fantastic. Share in the housework, the yard care, the cooking, and even the babysitting and everyone wins in the end. Plus, when you pool your money together, you might even be able to afford a … well … pool!

Along those lines, my sister-in-law takes part in a meal sharing “collective.” Once a week, say on Mondays, she cooks dinner for her family plus two other families. Then, on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, the two other families each take a turn cooking for her and her clan. So even though her Mondays are spent in the kitchen, she gets two days off from making dinner every week.

Drop me a line if you know of ways that neighbors are building ties to one another in Spokane or ways that individuals are tightening their radius by taking care of their needs closer to home. I’d love to feature those stories here.

P.S. The current issue of Sunset also has an article about ways to reduce residential water usage. A timely topic, indeed!