Do you think of your neighborhood as an extension of your home? Just like your house, your neighborhood is a place to gather with friends and family. It’s where you can get inspired by your surroundings. It’s where you spend moments, whether fleeting or long-term, that create memories.
You should put the same pride, love and respect into your neighborhood as you do the four walls in which you live because it’s not just a zip code, it’s your community!
There are numerous ways you can improve your neighborhood, but we’ve narrowed it down to five activities. Not only will these beautify your residence, but they will bring people together to help make your neighborhood a community.
Pro tip: When sprucing up public areas, be sure to get approvals from your local governance. Once you get the ‘OK,’ contact local businesses to see if they’re willing to contribute in-kind donations or offer discounts for the neighborhood initiatives. Teamwork makes the dream work!
- Have a Green Thumb: Gather your family and neighbors and plan a day to freshen up a local park or sidewalks by planting flowers. You can make a whole afternoon out of it with packed lunches, frisbees and music for when volunteers need a break.
- Build Bird Houses: Build or paint birdhouses to place in your yard or around the community. You can get creative with different colors and shapes and hanging versus standing houses. These will not only provide birds safe places to live and build their nests, but they will give nature lovers the chance to catch glimpses of their favorite flying creatures.
- Coordinate a Trash Fishing Contest: Sounds gross, but hear us out. You can make it a fun competition with your family or friends to see who can collect the most trash from your local pond, lake or river. The fish will thank you for it!
- Plan a Painting Party: Make your neighborhood more inviting by coordinating a painting party where community members can upgrade various structures: public bathroom walls, park benches, mailboxes, among others. Allow kids to get involved as well. In the end, the community will produce something you’re all proud of.
- Make Your Front Yard the Backyard: Nowadays, more people use front yards as a storybook cover for their homes and reserve backyards for solo relaxing and intimate gatherings. While there’s nothing wrong with this, it does reduce the amount of interactions we have with neighbors. If you have a space in the front yard, spend more time out there – whether you’re reading, enjoying a refreshment or barbequing. Looking to make home improvements? Add a porch or bench to your front yard to better connect with those who live nearby.