Empowerment and Helplessness

With the combination of economic downturn, financial bailouts, and rampant bankruptcies one begins to wonder, "What can individual communities do to regain control of their own destiny?"

As more and more cities, towns, and neighborhoods struggle with a sense of helplessness, are their any innovative tactics worth pursuing that may allow these places better control of their own futures? What can be done locally to ensure prosperity (or even survival) for these respective areas? More importantly, what actions can be made to empower citizens to be involved? Or are we simply stranded on a broken escalator... waiting for someone to come fix it? Share your ideas.

Dependency: Can it be a Metric for Interactive Communities?

An upcoming topic I want to tackle in our ever-evolving look at modern communities and personal philosophies is a concept in “dependency.” In many ways, I think one of the primary downfalls to the modern community is its inherent lack of dependency. Few things hinge on localized variables, and result in a very ageographic existence – with no direct tie to a specific “place.”

In so many ways, superlative conditions (“good” neighborhoods or “successful” lifestyles) center themselves around this idea of inclusion or privatization. The more things you can privatize – the higher up on the social ladder you are perceived (i.e. home office, home theater, home gym, etc.) – while shared or communal functions and realities are consider less desirable.

However, with the reemergence of communal mechanisms such as public transit and walkable communities into popular culture (and perhaps with some help for the proposed stimulus package), there seems to be a new interest in shifting this reality – but I was interested in what this group may have to say about such a thesis.

If communities must exists with citizens “depending on each other” to create a vibrant and interconnected environment – what steps need to be taken to make this transition? Furthermore, what does this imply sociologically, economically, or even architecturally? Or is this perception of independency simply irrefutable? Thoughts?