What is community?

I apologize for the length and the rambling... I am processing as I write, as usual.

I have been blessed enough to somehow end up living in a place where an element of community exists like I've never before experienced. I understand what the word "neighbor" can really mean. A couple of years ago, I found myself drawn to a group of wonderful people within my church...many of whom lived in or around the Vine City neighborhood. I learned a lot about community in an urban environment from these people and our relationships. I saw in the local children a sense of both extreme need and extreme hope. Over a year after my involvement with Vine City began, I ended up in the relatively nearby urban neighborhood of Adair Park. Honestly, I didn't think I would end up enjoying life in an "area of transition" in an urban neighborhood. Sometimes, I love being wrong...I could not have been more wrong about this place.

Vine City, where it all began for me.

Almost a year has passed, and for the first time in my adult life, I want to commit to something...to stick around for the long haul, if that is where God is calling me. I find myself caring about things that I spent most of my 28 years overlooking. Just a few years ago, had I driven into this neighborhood, I would have probably made sure my doors were locked, and rushed to get the heck out of here. Now, however, having become a part of this place, I can see that there is so much more than meets the eye. In the past couple of weeks, I have had multiple opportunities to get to know more neighbors in Adair Park than ever before. Oh my gosh, these people are wonderful!

Within a day or two of moving in, I met my next door neighbors, and we have only gotten to know each other more as time has gone by. I have one neighbor who is a great handyman to have around and another neighbor who knows everyone and everything about everyone...and he also recognizes if someone or something is out of place. If one of the empty houses on the street has a broken window or something wrong, neighbors fix it. I can't even begin to explain the joy I have felt this past weekend getting to know even more of my neighbors from all of the surrounding blocks. They are so amazing, and with every conversation and every moment becoming acquainted with them, I want even more to be a permanent part of this place.

A place where I can play with frisbee with the dog (or the neighbor's dog can play with my dog)

I've discovered that a lot of the empty houses in this neighborhood (and many like it) are just owned by investors who don't care about the community. They pay cash for the houses and only sell them for cash, but they do nothing with the properties...they don't care. As I've been house-hunting, it has pained me to see how many of these amazing historical houses are neglected by distant owners. The more I learn, the more it makes me want to be a part of the change. The quote, "be the change you want to see in the world," has always seemed kind of cheesy to me. However, I think I'm beginning to understand it. This weekend I spoke with young couples, families, homeowners and fellow house-hunters...there's a passion that exists within these people that I cannot describe. To want to be a part of changing a community for the better is one thing, but to choose to live and invest one's own life within the community as a step toward change is entirely different.

There's a great couple who live by the park, and they've begun reaching out the children in the area. Over time they've even developed a bike shop, where the kids can work to earn a bike...amazing. I can't come close to scratching the surface of all they've done here and are continuing to do... this is community. I met a woman who has lived in this neighborhood for her entire life...through ups and downs, decade after decade. She and I probably talked for an hour about the importance of preserving the history that exists here...the architecture and the world created as a result of the architecture. By that I mean the front-porch lifestyle. Most of these 80-year-old (and older) Craftsman houses have deep, welcoming front porches. Throughout the years, front porch neighborhoods have had an advantage above every other type of neighborhood, I think.

A view from the front porch...

Simply spending time on front porches since I've lived here, I have made new friends, laughed for hours with neighbors, felt safe and at home as people I didn't yet know stopped to say hi and introduce themselves, and I've begun to build relationships that I know would not exist without the framework of the front porch lifestyle. The architecture in this neighborhood (and many like it) provides potential for more than almost any suburban neighborhood can provide. The suburbs aren't bad, don't get me wrong. There just something magical about a street lined with nearly-century-old houses, many of which have been renovated to reveal their original splendor and detail...people on the porch waving as you pass. I think the biggest element of magic that I feel is to know that this exists here in Atlanta...2 miles from the bustling downtown. I am pretty sure that I never believed this could exist until I lived it.

I know that the opinions of a lot of people are not very positive when it comes to urban neighborhoods. I see it in their eyes when I mention where I live. I see it in the building tension when they realize that I chose it and I love it. Though, I think what gets to me the most is the, "oh, it's so wonderful that you are doing that," which I typically take to mean, "you must be crazy, you'll probably end up dead, but I guess that's the nature of some charity work." This isn't charity...this is a lifestyle. This is a lifestyle of wanting to create a better community by literally investing in it myself...that way I can't cut bait and run if the neighborhood doesn't go the route I want it to. It means that I have to be willing to be a part of the change for myself and for every single person who is now living here and who will one day come across this neighborhood.

I grew up in suburban south Georgia. When I came to Atlanta, I was naive almost to the point of pure ignorance. Even at Tech as I took classes about Atlanta's history and historical architecture, I was hesitant to change my opinion of "inner city." I don't know how it happened, and I don't even know when it happened. All I know is that becoming a part of this neighborhood has been one of those experiences that from the outside looking in, it may not make any sense, but from the inside looking out, I cannot imagine anything better.

Yes, there is crime in Atlanta. There is crime in and around this neighborhood. However, there is also crime in Buckhead (remember when an entire street of bars was shut down b/c of all the shootings?)...there is crime in the Highlands and in Grant Park (where the houses cost way more than in this area)...there is crime, it exists everywhere. If you want to live in an urban environment, whether in a loft in the city or a house in a neighborhood, you have to accept that crime will not just disappear overnight. However, by building a true community within these neighborhoods, crime can be driven away and changed. It can happen anywhere, and if we live our lives trying to avoid every risk, life really isn't being lived.

So, I make jokes about living in the 'hood. I pretend that comments about my neighborhood, and choices I've made regarding it, don't bother me. However, imagine if I mocked your home...this is my home. These people are my neighbors. I don't care what my neighbors look like or what their life choices have been. If they are here because they care to be neighbors and build community, I am pleased. None of that other stuff matters...black, white, Asian, Latino, straight, gay, male, female, family, or single people. They are my neighbors...this is my community. This community and all the others like it are gifts from God.

To consider moving here permanently is not a decision I made in effort to be charitable or to be "on mission" in an urban (a.k.a. "at-risk") environment, though I do feel as if God handed me this opportunity for some reason beyond what I can now see. I am actually being quite selfish. I like it here, so I want to be here and make it better so that I can continue to feel safe here. I feel like the growing community and relationships here are just icing on the cake.