Why promote NND in your city or town?
“Communities work better (students perform better, crime rates are lower, kids are safer, people live longer) when neighbors know one another better. Knowing your neighbor on a first-name basis, as National Neighborhood Day suggests, is a surprisingly effective first step toward a better America.” Robert Putnam, Harvard University Professor and author of Bowling Alone and Better Together
Benefits include:
- Increased social capital: commonly defined as the value of all social networks (who people know) and the inclinations that arise from these networks to do things for each other.
- Neighbors will come to know each other better, which produces increases in:
- Communication, consensus-building, and problem solving among neighbors
- Neighborhood self-sufficiency
- Neighbor-led local improvements and collaborations
- Citizen involvement and community service
- Neighbor involvement in community organizations and associations
Opportunity for you to:
- Highlight community programs and services that are in place or in planning stages
- Highlight existing resources and programs during events
- Help community and social service agencies get out their message
- Increase local pride and build trust across the entire community
- Get to know your constituents in a friendly, low-key atmosphere