Soul of the Community

Why do we live where we live? This is a question that any proud Buffalonian can easily answer. It's also a question that the Knight Foundation's "Soul of the Community" project is attempting to answer. The Knight Foundation focuses on promoting journalism and community revitalization. One of its many initiatives was to commission the Gallup Organization to help them figure out what community characteristics create greater attachment to a community. After polling close to 43,000 people Knight produced a list of key drivers that affect attachment. Most of these drivers were to be expected. Things like the economy, education system, and safety were high on most people's lists when it comes to choosing a home base. This is not surprising given that jobs, schools, and crime are three things that define the quality of our cities. These also happen to be three areas that people tend to list when they discuss Buffalo's shortcomings.

The surprising part of  "Soul of the Community" is that these three qualities were not the most commonly listed drivers. Neither was a community's leadership/government. The top three drivers for attachment turned out to be...

1. Social Offerings - "opportunities for social interaction and citizen caring"
2. Openness/welcomeness - "how welcoming the community is to different people"
3. Aesthetics - "physical beauty and green spaces"

Not the most pragmatic list of urban qualities, but one that can give us a window into the minds of both current and potential Buffalonians. Though we  must continue to work on improving our local economy, schools, and crime prevention programs, we also need to focus some of the "touchy feely" aspects of our city. We might want to take stock of how we are doing in these areas when compared to cities across the U.S. and the world. How do our social offerings compare to Pittsburgh, Raleigh, and even Beihai, China (our 4 a.m. bar closing time might help us here). How open are we to "outsiders", whether they are from across town, across national borders, or across racial, socioeconomic, or sexual orientation barriers? How pretty are we (Olmstead parks plus 1 point, vacant buildings minus 1 point).

Once we have some empirical evidence regarding local perceptions of these qualities we could start to craft plans for improving in these areas. Knight Foundation consultant Katherine Loflin suggests that there are concrete things that communities can do to improve perceptions, such as widening sidewalks, improving/creating tree canopies, and improving transportation to entertainment venues. She also seems to suggest that there can be a difference between reality and perception that can be exploited by communities to increase attachment (e.g. when the economy is bad cities can promote "staycations" by marketing little known local attractions, thereby increasing attachment and stimulating the economy by keeping tourism dollars local). This "perception gap" might also point to the need for rebranding a community, but that is a topic for a future post. Loflin also makes the claim that young people today often "pick a place first, and then try to figure out the job". This would seem to lend some credibility to the oft-maligned theories of Richard Florida, who claims that cities should do everything in their power to attract people that he characterizes as the "creative class".

There are some fascinating implications to be explored when we start to consider how all of the drivers identified in the Knight study interact. For instance, how does the social capital present in a community effect other drivers such as civic involvement? This is one question that ReBuffalo.com will hopefully provide some answers to, as the site will attempt to increase both social capital and civic involvement. If these two drivers are mutually reinforcing, then ReBuffalo.com can increase both at the same time while facilitating new projects and partnerships across the many boundaries that divide us. If it turns out that the two are completely unrelated, well, let's not think about that right now. As a friend of mine once said about a project he was working on, "It might not work, but it will work."

Together We Can ReBuffalo

For many years Buffalonians have wondered when their hometown would finally shed all the negative stereotypes and very real problems that have plagued us. Anyone who has ever resided in Western New York, and many who live outside of our region know them: "Rust Belt", "Snow Belt", poverty, vacant housing, etc. The list is long, but those of us who know Buffalo also know why we choose to be here, because that list is even longer: "City of Good Neighbors", "Blue Collar Work Ethic", "Sports Town", historic architecture, art, culture, great neighborhoods, etc.

With so much going for us and so many people who are passionate about our city how is it possible that we have been facing some of the same challenges for so long? Many have addressed this question, with brilliant answers that point to economics, politics, culture, and other factors. Though all of these factors undoubtedly have played a roll, my favorite answer to this question points a finger at a lack of collaboration. For many decades Buffalonians and Western New Yorkers have found too little common ground from which to take on the challenges facing our region.

If it is a lack of collaboration between citizens, government, businesses, and local organizations that is holding us back, then we Buffalonians have two directions to choose from. We can either continue to follow our countless individual agendas or we can get serious about finding common ground. We can continue to focus on our problems or we can turn the challenges we face into opportunities for new and innovative solutions. As Jack from the TV series Lost used to say, "if we can't live together, we're going to die alone."

The purpose of his blog, and of the ReBuffalo.com website that is currently in development, is to facilitate new and innovative community projects that will improve the quality of life of everyone who calls themselves a Buffalonian, whether they happen to live within the city limits or in the burbs. The ReBuffalo.com website, once it is launched, will be kind of like Match.com (the online dating site), but for community projects and collective action. It will allow individuals and groups to find common interests, ideas, and projects and develop action plans for taking these projects from the drawing board to the community. It will give businesses and foundations the opportunity to find ideas and projects that they would like help fund, and it will provide non-profit organizations with more volunteers to assist them with their ongoing efforts. ReBuffalo.com will facilitate community revitalization through online collaboration that leads to real world progress.

The ReBuffalo blog will complement the ReBuffalo.com website by providing examples of innovative urban projects that are happening in Buffalo and throughout the world. My hope is that the examples provided in this blog will inspire ideas, plans, and projects in Buffalo and show that real progress is possible when we choose to put aside differences to find common ground. I hope that you enjoy the blog, and I hope that you will join me as together we ReBuffalo.