Building Community
There are many projects that can be used to build community in your neighborhood or town right now:
Community gardening: is one such project.
http://www.communitygarden.org/learn/starting-a-community-garden.php
http://www.ehow.com/how_2042619_start-community-vegetable-garden.html
Guerrilla Gardening:Another good idea for beautifying and foodifying your neighborhood
http://www.guerrillagardening.org/
Time Banks: One of the neatest ideas I’ve heard of to build and sustain community (and one alternative during collapse). One such bank:
http://www.hourexchangeportland.org/
From their FAQs page: “The concept is simple. You help a neighbor in need and earn one Service Hour for every hour offered. In exchange, you can spend your Hours on any of the hundreds of different services that members offer each other. Exchanging Services is about local individuals, organizations and businesses helping each other meet their needs cash free in one-to–one exchanges or in group projects. Members help rebuild and sustain neighborhood networks and strengthen community as a result of their activities.”
And a link to their links page: http://www.hourexchangeportland.org/Links.htm
Street Fairs:
http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2010/07/lents_ramona_street_fair_has_l.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dan-garodnick/making-street-fairs-more_b_746594.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/26/hester-street-fair-opens_n_550785.html#s84583
Neighborhood Garage Sales
http://housekeeping.about.com/cs/organizing101/a/orgnzngrgsale.htm
I wonder if a neighborhood couldn’t hold a “sale” where people bring items and receive credits in the amount they would have sold something for to “spend” on things others brought that the first person needs or wants. Sort of a cashless “garage sale”. Maybe this could be a way, in a collapse situation, to defuse haves vs. have-nots tensions that might build in a neighborhood where people are strapped for cash, but need things.
Larger Scale Projects your community may need to work together on in the coming days:
Biogas and power generation from wastewater treatment:
http://www.ctrade.org/CTRADEUSAID.pdf
Articles on large, community level water-harvesting projects
Urban Farming
http://theurbanfarmingguys.com/
these folks have lots of how-to videos for urban projects
The Conflicted Doomer 