Take an action today to improve your community

So often we are not aware that we can change the way our communities look. We think that the city authorities will improve our neighborhoods. We wait the indefinite time for improvements of the roads, sidewalks, and crosswalks. We spend our weekends at home in front of TVs dreaming about better times.

Rik Adamski encourages everyone to take a stand toward improving his own community. He speaks about Do It Yourself (DIY) Urbanism as a form of responsibility each citizen must assume for his own city, people, and vicinity. Instead of relying on the governmental aid in helping to build better sidewalks or paint the crosswalks, people can act together as a union with similar interests and goals. These goals have to be oriented toward building the social sustainability. This may imply motivating every citizen to be responsive to the needs of his community.  

Someone may wonder how to motivate people toward instantaneous actions.

Rik Adamski suggests motivating people through reasoning. The objective is to “convince the citizens that their neighborhoods are their responsibility”.

Firstly, it is important to make sure that everyone attends the community meetings and is actively engaged in discussion of the problems his or her community currently experiences.

Secondly, it is crucial to start acting immediately. For example, if there are gaps in the sidewalks, the community has to get together and fill in the gaps with the proper material. Condensed granite can be used for this specific matter. Why everyone must be involved in doing this job? The answer is simple. No one wants to be hurt or to see his kids get into a trouble while walking or playing in the streets only because the sidewalks have some gaps.

How much effort does it take someone to clean his own block?

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Cleaning a block does not require hard labor, and it does not take many hours to pick up the trash and weeds. It takes even less time when the whole community is involved. In addition to the enjoyment that clean parks and streets offer everyone, the person involved in the process of cleaning gets a sense of pride for himself and his community. Another way to add to the community perfection is to paint the houses and fences.

Rik Adamski states that community is also about the interaction between people and the feeling of belonging. Therefore, efforts must be made toward bringing the community together through different activities. For example, “chair bombing” (sort of tailgating in a city’s interior) in parking spots or on the sidewalks is one of the activities that unites citizens and let them enjoy their cities while listening to the music, cooking food, and relaxing.



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Tailgating, music events, and other activities in the city may increase the number of tourists to this city and raise the sale taxes. A good example of this is a New Your city. The residents of NY asked their authorities to give them permission to enjoy Broadway and close the road for traffic. If NYC had decided to study the effect of this action on the traffic in NY, they would have spent millions of dollars. Instead, people received permission to organize different events on Broadway. The result was tremendous. More tourists were attracted to NYC. The city itself benefited from the sale taxes. Surprisingly, the traffic was improved as well.

 

The example with NY is an indicator that no one has to wait to enjoy his city, his community, and time with his friends. There is no such thing as complaining about the lack of resources. Rik Adamski encourages people to take action today to improve their communities as responsible citizens.