* * The slide is from Carol Naughton from Purpose Built Communities. I watched a speech in 2025 where Carol Naughton, director of Purpose Built Communities in Atlanta, Georgia, used the term "neighborhoodist." It was the first time I had heard the term used, but the more I thought about it, the more I liked it! I want to be a neighborhoodist! But the question is how? Being a neighborhoodist means believing that real change starts right where you live. It’s the idea that strong neighborhoods are the key to solving many of our biggest problems. As our world grows more connected digitally, we must not forget the value of real, face-to-face relationships with the people next door. Neighborhoodists believe that strong communities, built on trust and care, can support people better than distant institutions ever could. Social problems like poverty, crime, poor education, and loneliness are often addressed with big, one-size-fits-all programs. But these programs don’t always work ...

A neighborhood is more than just a group of houses or streets. It’s a place where people live close to each other, share spaces, and often have things in common. A neighborhood can be as small as a block or as large as a few square miles. What makes it special is not the size or shape, but the people and the connections they have with one another. You might live in a neighborhood with sidewalks, streetlights, and playgrounds. Or your neighborhood might be rural, with wide-open spaces and farmland. Some neighborhoods are filled with businesses, schools, and parks. Others are quiet and mostly residential. No matter the layout, a neighborhood is defined by the people who live there and how they interact. So who is a neighbor? At the simplest level, a neighbor is someone who lives near you. It could be the person next door, across the street, or even someone a few houses down. But being a neighbor is about more than just living close by. It’s about how you treat the people around you. A...