Every election season we hear politicians promise to invest in infrastructure. They talk about roads, bridges, water systems, broadband, and electrical grids. Those investments matter. Communities cannot thrive without them. But I wonder if we have overlooked another kind of infrastructure that may be just as important. It is the infrastructure of relationships. Think about your own neighborhood. If a storm knocked out the power tonight, who would you check on? If you had a medical emergency, which neighbor would notice something was wrong? If a new family moved in next door, who would introduce themselves first? These questions have very little to do with concrete or asphalt. They have everything to do with connection, belonging and community trust. For decades we have assumed that neighbor connectnos would simply happen on its own. Yet modern life has quietly worked against it. Longer commutes, busy schedules, garage doors that close with the push of a button, and digital entertainme...

  A read a book back in 2019 called the Turquoise Table and thought the answer for connecting residents in my neighborhood had been discovered! I got some grant monies and opened up applications for free picnic tables that would be painted Turquoise, for any neighbor willing to have one in their front yard.  Just like in the book, these additions to our infrastructure were going to become gathering spots. One family moved six months after getting one. Another family decided, after one summer, that they were too busy for a table. Another family has never used their table. And yet answer asked to have their table moved to the nearby park (where it is used regularly). The lesson for me: infrastructure does not create belonging by itself . It creates a place for belonging to happen and an opportunity but interaction (and impact) is still up to people. Those tables were never going to make a difference without neighbors willing to host events at them and use them on a very regular...