Sometimes the best examples of community building don't look like community development at all. They look like cupcakes, swimming pools, quilts, volunteers, children blowing out birthday candles, and a giant American flag hanging from a fire truck. That is what happened this summer in Houston, Missouri, when the Community Betterment and Arts Council organized a birthday party at the Toni M. McKinney Municipal Pool as part of Houston's Show-Me America 250 celebration. More than 200 people of all ages attended. Two Houston Middle School Beta Club students dressed as Uncle Sam and Betsy Ross and greeted guests. There were 250 cupcakes, red-white-and-blue popsicles, prizes, commemorative coins and free admission provided by local businesses. The Houston Fire Department brought its ladder truck and helped with the ceremonial lighting of 250 candles. On the surface, it sounds like a fun community celebration. But I think something deeper was happening. Houston was building belongin...

In celebration of the United States 250th birthday this year, cities and states across the U.S. are planning events, festivals, and commemorations.  One city is offering a reminder that the most meaningful celebrations may not happen on a stage or in a stadium. They may happen on your street. In Philadelphia, leaders have announced an ambitious idea: host 250 block parties across the city to celebrate America’s 250th birthday. Instead of concentrating the celebration in one downtown event, they are spreading it across neighborhoods and inviting residents to gather with the people who live closest to them. It’s a simple idea. But it carries a profound lesson. Taking Celebration to the Street Too often, we think of civic life as something that happens somewhere else, like at city hall, major events, or on national stages. But the approach of Philadelphia, and many other American cities now, flips that thinking on its head. It says: "start where you live." When neighbors gather...

As America approaches its 250th birthday, many people are asking what kind of nation we want to become. Some are looking backward. Others are focused on the next election cycle. I find myself thinking further ahead. What is our dream for America at 300? What do we hope this country looks like when future generations celebrate the tricentennial in 2076? I won't be alive then, but I do still remember 1976! My answer to the question about America 300 may seem surprisingly simple:  I hope Americans know their neighbors. I hope children grow up on streets where adults know their names. I hope neighborhoods are filled with front porches, conversations, block gatherings, and acts of everyday kindness. I hope loneliness is less common because people have rediscovered the power of local relationships. I hope we become a nation where neighboring is not viewed as an unusual activity but as a normal part of citizenship. For years, I have studied neighboring and community connection. Again and ...