Where I'm from now, the city encourages really strong neighborhood associations, and city council members--even the mayor--sometimes have lots of experience on the most local level, the neighborhood, before they run for office. Even county officials sometimes start out this way. It seems to make the city more responsive to residents' concerns, although things still don't always go the way residents wish them to.
Still, the neighborhoods are given enough respect that the Mayor and the head of the county commissioners both declared yesterday "Neighborhood University Day" in honor of the neighborhood associations and WIN, the overall non-profit that most of the associations are incorporated under. WIN sponsors Neighborhood University each year, with lots of workshops about evevrything from how to start a community garden to how to prevent crime, how to start a newsletter to how to deal with gangs, how to find the best healthcare to how to run effective neighborhood meetings. It's really a wonderful opportunity.
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