There are few left who can claim not to feel the strain of the economic recession. Even if you are not affected personally, it’s hard to find a community that hasn’t started to crumble under the pressure. But as the recession drags on, communities are beginning to take their future into their own hands.
Peter Block calls this community restoration life-giving, and recently discussed the issue with Axiom News in the article “Communities Restoring Themselves” about restoration in Dayton, Ohio. Restoration does not mean going back and repairing old buildings, Peter says communities like Dayton are restoring in the sense of “creating aliveness where routine and predictability have taken over.”
And Peter is not surprised that this restoration began as a result of the recession. “Hard times give us another view of reality and another view of community accountability….I think it’s going to happen more.”
Read more about Peter’s ideas on community in the Axiom News article “Communities Restoring Themselves.” Or check out our upcoming Community and Transformation: Beyond Reform in Health and Education, coming up on October 10-11, 2012 in Red Bank, New Jersey.
