Neighboring Tip of the Week - Utilize an outdoor public space in your neighborhood.

Happy Sunday, all! We hope this tip finds you well on this beautiful day.

When we talk about neighboring, we often talk about the importance of visibility. We have noticed that simply being out and about and in spaces where we can be seen by our neighbors has had an incredible impact on our neighboring. For this reason, this week’s tip is: Utilize an outdoor public space in your neighborhood. These spaces can look like parks, splash pads, bike trails, etc. Plus, this tip is also a perfect way to neighbor in the midst of this coronavirus pandemic! Outdoor public spaces are often large and open, so you should have plenty of space to keep distance between you and other neighbors. As always, please be intentional about this distancing. And, it’s the perfect time of year for this tip, too! Let’s get out and about and enjoy our public spaces before the temperatures cool!

Making yourself visible in your neighborhood and to your neighbors is really easy; all you have to do is go outside! And guess what? Doing so comes with a multitude of benefits! For this tip, we will just name a few. Being outside your home allows you to become more aware of what is happening around your neighborhood. It also displays to neighbors that you care about being outside and with those who live around you as opposed to always being inside your home and by yourself. Finally, and perhaps obviously, being visible to your neighbors makes space for connection! When we choose to be visible to our neighbors, we make more opportunities to talk with them and get to know them more. 

This point takes us to the specifics of this tip. Outdoor public spaces, like parks or trails, often provide the opportunity to participate in a variety of activities, but we must not forget that public spaces are, after all, for being in public and with the public! Like our front yards, outdoor public spaces within our neighborhoods are the perfect places to simply BE with our neighbors. And we have found that simply being in these places has not only brought us great joy but also led us to great connections!

Happy neighboring!