Neighbourhoods: More on neighbouring and recession

Thursday, 21 July 2011

More on neighbouring and recession

Here's more tentative support for the argument that economic hardship is stimulating neighbourliness. The Co-op has published a press release (but as yet no report or data) on another survey of neighbourliness following their 2010 report which I blogged a year ago.

They suggest that people are helping their neighbours more,

with increasing numbers looking after pets or plants (32% up from 23%), fetching shopping (15% up from 6%) and accepting mail or parcels (73% up fro 63%).

At the same time, they note an increase in the number of people reporting problems with their neighbours.

To me it seems a bit too simplistic to associate slight reported changes in neighbouring with the recession - especially when we don't know what the questions were - without also taking account of other forces and changes like localism, the decline of trust in large institutions, and networked support.

21 Jul 2011 15:45:35 | Neighbourhood relations

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On being neighbourly(TM) I've just been glancing through the About page for Hey Neighbor, which describes itself as 'a network for trusted neighbor connections and collaboration.' I'm expecting some interesting examples to build up. But what's this? - 'MicroFavor™ simply means "a small favor"– the kind of favors neighbors might ask of one another. Help move a couch, borrow a truck, pick up the mail for someone who's away, or share a ride. It's up to you and your neighbors to decide how you can help each other.' I guess I'm a bit naive with this kind of thing. Does the 'TM' mean that someone has trademarked the term 'Microfavor'? And am I in breach, in that last sentence? (It was accidentally re-spelled by my computer, yer honour, there should be a 'u' in there). As ever I'm stilled in admiration for the way the American system can push the limits of self-parody. Do me a macrofavour.

Covered in roses I like this example of a public record of pre-Olympic demolition in north east London, captured by Hugh Flouch. One of the boards proclaims simply: 'When they knocked down the flats I sat on the roof of my house to get a good look. My hustband covered in [sic] roses so they don't get covered in dust.'