Welcome Neighborday

Community connections

By Leah Etling on Apr 24, 2013 in News

Whether you live in an urban apartment building or on a quiet suburban street, we all have neighbors. The loveable Fred Rogers urged us to be good to them with his charming “Won’t you be my neighbor?” tune. No matter what generation you belong to, most of us know the lyrics to that one – and it never fails to remind me that it’s good to be neighborly.

On Saturday, it will indeed be a beautiful day to celebrate neighbors and neighborhoods everywhere. National Neighborhood Day takes place in September, but a new effort to celebrate neighbors, called Neighborday, is set for April 27.

An effort by Los Angeles-based GOOD magazine to encourage neighbors to meet, greet, and hang out more often, Neighborday celebration suggestions include hosting a potluck for your street, block or apartment hallway, knocking on a door and introducing yourself to a neighbor you’ve never met, or taking a tasty baked treat to the guy, gal, or family next door.

We’d broaden the concept to celebrate the neighborly connections that occur at any multifamily community, be it an apartment building, affordable or public housing development, senior, military, or student housing. This would be a perfect opportunity to use social media to share the concept of Neighborday with your residents.

GOOD suggests: “Whether it’s as simple as summoning the courage to ask the guy in apartment 3B what is name is…again, or as ambitious as coordinating a full-fledged block party replete with a mariachi band, bouncy castle, and street hockey tournament .. DO IT.”

It may be a little late to throw together a huge event, so here are a few suggestions about how you could simply celebrate Neighborday at your community.

–Use social media to get the word out. Tell your residents about what Neighborday is and encourage them to participate. Share links to relevant websites or even this article (there are some easy, snazzy share links on the left hand side of this page).

–Share tasty treats. Set up a simple coffee and bagel giveaway for Saturday morning or mid-afternoon milk and cookie snack station for Saturday afternoon. Encourage residents to come down for an hour and have a meet and greet.

–Volunteer. Find a local project with a non-profit in your community that needs some extra manpower and encourage your residents to participate this weekend.

–Encourage your staff to be good neighbors, too. Ask the on-duty office and maintenance staff at your property to spend a little extra time chatting with residents – on Saturday, and all year long.

How will you celebrate Neighborday? We’d love to hear your ideas for creating community connections!

And to get you in the neighborly spirit, here’s a classic video of Fred Rogers singing that wonderful childhood tune.