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Comment by willmeyers | Hacker News Reader

Pick up litter around your block. Smile and wave to neighbors. Become active in and or donate to community projects. Spread a general sense of kindness and support to others near you. These are the smallest and easiest things you can do that'll have an impact on people.

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In addition to being a quality human in these ways, I'd recommend googling "tactical urbanism." That means: do quick, low-cost interventions in your neighbourhood, like painting a mural on the street, building flower boxes, or creating a pocket park. (Should probably get permission, but for some things, just do it). This all helps attract people to the street and builds a sense of ownership, which encourages folks to make more improvements, creating self-reinforcing momentum. All this reduces local crime, both because of eyes-on-the-street and because it creates a feeling that people are paying attention and care about the place.

If you have abandoned commercial spaces, put art up in the empty windows to reduce the feeling that a place has been abandoned. If your streets feel dangerous because of traffic, work with local leaders to get approval for making low-cost changes to make it safer. For example, you can create sidewalk bumpouts using simple flower boxes. Talk to local lenders about what they can do to help local businesses get off the ground.

Be warned that if all this is successful, it risks leading to a big jump in housing prices, i.e., gentrification. Keep in mind that "gentrification" also tends to make local residents wealthier — it's not as simple as the usual picture in which locals are simply pushed out. However, it is important to start thinking now about solutions, because this will lead to some push-back. Ideally, the city or nonprofits should buy land now while property values are cheap to create housing trusts for low-income residents. This will always be a tough issue though.

There is a lot of small actions you can take locally to shift the momentum of your community. Lots of people have done it — you can do it.

Source: I'm an urban planner.

I could give you my email address if you would like to discuss further. There is lots of good research on all of this.

I'm not OP, but just bought a house in Golden, CO, and looking to do the same kind of things. Would you be willing to share your email address? My email is in my profile.

> Keep in mind that "gentrification" also tends to make local residents wealthier — it's not as simple as the usual picture in which locals are simply pushed out.

I'm genuinely curious to see your sources on this -- isn't displacement of original residents the primary definition of gentrification?

Not everyone is renting in the gentrified areas. If you own, your equity goes up in value.

But all you can do with that is take out debt or move away. In the mean time, your property taxes go up

The problem at the core of gentrification is that when people do end up moving away, those formal and informal networks which helped them all get by are torn into pieces. The problem at the core of uncompromising anti-gentrification is that without growth, the city will stagnate or decay, without any of the money that could make things better (both on an individual level and from the perspective of the city budget.)

Managing this is hard, and will expose a politician to the realities of messy tradeoffs. It's far harder to find the political will to make something work, and much more convenient to shout either "Progress!" or "Oppression!" and make hard problems harder.

In addition to increased equity, I’d argue original residents also have an opportunity to take advantage of the increase in commerce with increased foot traffic to existing businesses or creating and supporting new businesses.

Is there any evidence that putting art in empty windows actually helps? i see that a lot and I always find it kind of beseeching. Similarly my neighborhood has been putting up murals as an attempt to spur business development and it feels like I'm being sold on the neighborhood all the time.

here's a particularly egregious example: https://doc-0s-ak-mymaps.googleusercontent.com/untrusted/hos...

It's frustrating that graffiti is seen so negatively. of course I'm against vandalism and it certainly doesn't belong on building facades but I'd take a wall of mediocre graffiti that's constantly refreshed over a business development funded mural any day. at least graffiti is honest

your shorturl doesn't seem to work

oh thank you - here's the full URL https://doc-0s-ak-mymaps.googleusercontent.com/untrusted/hos...

I know someone who has a great position at a well known financial firm. He had the cops called on him twice (he ends up taking long conference calls in his car outside).

The first time the cop was apologetic.

The second time the same cop recognizes him and says, "Dude, you have got to get to know your neighbors. Pie goes a long way."

Calls in cars are a nuisance. They are extremely loud for some reason in a way that music rarely is, piercing through a car's exterior.

Wait, he was just taking phone calls in a parked car? Is there something objectionable with that?

If my neighbors called the police on me for that, my first thought wouldn't be to bake pie for them.

If he was anything like the ones that sit in their car in my neighborhood, he probably also kept the car running. I wouldn’t call the cops, but I’ve pecked on a few windows asking them to turn it off. (Plus, I’d be genuinely shocked if a Redmond, WA cop actually showed up for something that didn’t involve blood or gunshots.)

Funny anecdote, two friends and I were sitting in a car in Eastern Europe in a rich neighbourhood (pretty much only VIPs and foreigners lived there).

We had some business with an army officer and he was busy with something so we had to wait.

About 20 minutes after we parked, an American woman comes and asks us what we're doing here and whether we need help.

That was weird because no one in our country does this, everyone minds their own business.

She did accept my explanation, but I had a feeling if we didn't move from there 10 minutes later she would've called the police on us :D

I (an American man) would probably have asked if you needed help but would never have called the cops. Long road trips are common in the US, so if someone is sitting in a car for a while my first reaction is "Maybe they're lost and the battery on their phone ran out. Should I ask if they need help with directions?"

Yeah, but this was in the city center, albeit on a pretty quiet street (surrounded by embassies and various government buildings). She seemed to want us gone more than helping us. I don't blame her, 3 people just sitting, talking in an Opel Omega is pretty suspicious by western standards :D

That behavior is not not (double negative intended) stereotypical for the kind of American woman who have the money to be able to travel internationally.

I think -- and I know as much about it as you do now -- from the neighbor's perspective it looks like: some stranger is outside my neighbor's (your) house in a car for hours. Is he casing the place? Why is he on the phone? Is he a lookout?

>Smile and wave to neighbors.

Yes. Increase "social capital."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_capital

I like to think of this as having a tremendous ripple effect - when I smile and thank the postman, he smiles at the next person he sees and maybe they're nice to the worker in the drive through at the restaurant, who goes home 1% less frustrated to their family.

Probably a bit overstated in that example, but if you walk around doing it consistently, I think that on average you're still making a small difference, while fighting apathy and politics of hate.

> Social capital

Interesting, I've always used this phrase to mean "I have a certain amount of energy to spend at a social event before having to go home and recharge." Example: "I spent all my social capital visiting my wife's parents yesterday, can we move game night to tomorrow night?"

TIL the phrase already has an actual meaning- one that's different. Thank you!

I echo this. I read someplace (can't recall now where) that once people see other trash in an area they are more likely to litter there themselves. Few people want to be the first to litter in the park, but if it is full of litter then who cares right?

I think you're remembering the broken windows theory [0], is that right? The a theory that visible signs of crime, anti-social behavior, and civil disorder create an urban environment that encourages further crime and disorder.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broken_windows_theory

sounds like it :-)

This is the correct answer. Lead by example, start a movement and the political solutions will follow.

Love this. As the cliché goes, "be the change you want to see." Thanks!

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