Book Review: "Love Our Cities" by Jeff Pishney

 

Jeff Pishney’s Love Our Cities is one of those rare books that does not merely inspire — it reorganizes how you think about community change. While many civic or church-based books focus on motivation, strategy, or theology, Pishney quietly does something more practical: he explains how a city can move from fragmented goodwill to coordinated action.

And he does it through a real story.

A Story That Starts Where Most Communities Actually Are

The book begins in Modesto, California, in the mid-2000s — a place facing problems familiar to nearly every American community: low trust in institutions, tension between churches and local government, nonprofits competing while needs remained unmet, disconnected neighborhoods, and duplication of services but little shared impact.

Instead of proposing a new program, Modesto leaders asked a better question: What if we stopped trying to grow our organizations and started trying to solve our city’s problems together?

That question launched what became Love Modesto, and eventually the broader Love Our Cities movement.

Pishney tells this origin story without exaggeration or hype. The power of the book comes from how ordinary the starting point feels — and how achievable the solution becomes.

The Core Insight: Replace Programs with Partnership

At the heart of the book is a deceptively simple shift: Organizations stop asking, “How do we expand what we do?” They start asking, “What does our city actually need?”

From that change, a new structure emerges — one that brings together churches, nonprofits, schools, police and city government, businesses, and residents.

Instead of parallel efforts, they share a service strategy.

The genius of Pishney’s writing is that he never presents this as theory. Each concept is grounded in how real people navigated trust, skepticism, and logistics.

The “Serve Day” — Visible Event, Invisible Transformation

Many readers might assume the movement is simply a large volunteer day.
Pishney carefully explains that the event is only the surface.

The process works in five deliberate steps:

1. Listen first — City leaders identify actual needs

2. Match needs to people — Volunteers adopt real problems

3. City invites participation — Government shifts from regulator to partner

4. Serve publicly together — Visible unity builds shared narrative

5. Continue relationships — Ongoing partnerships form afterward

The service day becomes not the goal — but the catalyst.

This distinction is one of the book’s strongest contributions. It reframes volunteering from activity to infrastructure.

What Made Modesto Different

Cities have hosted volunteer days for decades. Modesto changed the civic operating system.

Pishney highlights several breakthroughs. No organizational branding competition. Shared credit across sectors. Government viewing residents as partners. Churches shifting from attracting people to blessing place. Residents witnessing public unity.

The result was not just completed projects — it was a changed civic tone.

The Results: Cultural Before Measurable

The outcomes reported in cities using the model include more volunteers, stronger church-government relationships, reduced service duplication, new neighborhood connections, mentoring and school partnerships, and increased civic pride.

But Pishney makes an important observation: The biggest change was not what got done — it was how people talked about their community.

That insight elevates the book beyond a service manual. It becomes a study in civic psychology.

Why the Model Spread

The Love Our Cities framework expanded because it solved a universal problem:

Communities already have goodwill. They lack coordination.

Pishney demonstrates that service is not merely helpful — it is relational infrastructure. When people contribute together, trust forms faster than through messaging, policy debates, or promotional campaigns.

Why This Book Matters

At its core, Love Our Cities is not about volunteering, church outreach, or municipal programming. It is about rebuilding civic trust through shared action.

Instead of beginning with politics, opinions, or institutional agendas, the model begins with contribution — and contribution reshapes perception.

For anyone working in community development, local government, faith-based engagement, or neighborhood leadership, this book provides both vision and structure. It shows that collaboration is not a personality trait; it can be designed.

Final Thoughts

Jeff Pishney has written a book that feels both hopeful and practical — a rare combination in civic literature. He does not promise a perfect city. He offers a repeatable way for imperfect people and imperfect institutions to work together.

Love Our Cities shows how scattered goodwill becomes coordinated community impact — and how serving together can rebuild the social fabric of a place. This is not just a book you read. It is a framework you can use Monday morning.

See my interview of Jeff online now as part of Neighboring 101.

WRITTEN BY

David L. Burton

Take the Engaged Neighbor pledge and become part of a movement! The pledge outlines five categories and 20 principles to guide you toward becoming an engaged neighbor. Sign the pledge at https://nomoregoodneighbors.com. Individuals who take the pledge do get special invitations to future events online and in person. Contact the blog author, David L. Burton via email at dburton541@yahoo.com.