In shared neighborhood living, you get to live in your own house, but you have shared spaces, shared resources, and shared community experiences (e.g., co-housing, shared courtyards, common houses, community gardens, or clustered homes). It is not intended for continuous socializing; instead, it creates an environment where it is easier to find support and connect with others.
Shared neighborhood living may enhance daily life by helping to alleviate the sense of isolation we all experience at some point, help lower costs, and help create safer, more useful local environments for individuals at various points in their lives.
1. Increased Social Connections and Reduced Isolation
By using shared designs and shared routines as part of your daily routine, it is possible to naturally create opportunities to interact with others. As you continue to live in close proximity to one another, it becomes more probable that you will begin to recognize one another, develop trust, and be able to assist one another over time.
Shared neighborhood living can provide support in many ways, including:
- Casual socialization: Many of us experience casual conversations while walking, having dinner together, etc.
- Mutual support: We can help each other out with things like child care, running errands, or fixing a broken appliance.
- Belonging: We want to know that we belong to a local group.
- Health Benefits: Studies show that those with social connections have less stress and loneliness.
Isolation grows quietly for many of us, especially as we age, start new families, and/or work from home.
2. Cost Savings Through Resource Sharing
Many of us have household items that we rarely use, therefore, resource sharing provides an opportunity to gain access to what we need without the cost of purchasing items we would not otherwise use.
Examples of commonly used shared resources include:
- Tools and Equipment: ladders, drills, gardening tools, bicycles, etc.
- Spaces: guest room, workshop, study area, playground, etc.
- Services: shared maintenance services, or bulk purchasing.
- Energy and Infrastructure: community solar programs, shared heat, or water-saving technologies.
Resource sharing has several advantages including reduced financial burdens and less waste and storage requirements.
3. Safe Streets and Improved Daily Mobility
As more people reside in shared outdoor spaces, neighborhoods typically become perceived as safer. In addition, activity encourages physical mobility via walking/biking and informal supervision.
Improvements to quality of life typically occur due to:
- Natural “eyes on the street”: More neighbors observing potential issues early.
- Walkable Design: Neighborhoods are more walkable if they have shorter distances to reach the shared space.
- Family Friendly Design: Neighborhoods with courtyards and low-speed traffic areas promote children’s safety and freedom to play.
- Easy Access to Assistance: If someone has an emergency, there is someone nearby to lend assistance.
While Safety is related to surveillance, it is not solely based upon it. Instead, it is about being visible and responsible every day.
4. More Resilience During Difficult Times and Local Disruptions
The ability to deal with difficult times is improved in shared neighborhood living. The support system is close and can respond quickly to situations compared to support systems that are farther away.
Benefits of Resilience in shared neighborhood living include:
- Cross-age support: Residents at varying stages of life (older residents and new families) can help each other.
- Care-sharing: Coordinating rides, meals, or temporary caregiving.
- Problem Solving within a Community: Faster response and planning during storm or outage events.
- Stability: Developing strong bonds with your neighbors can significantly decrease the desire to relocate during a crisis.
Creating these types of communities is not automatic. The type of community that functions well is one with clear expectations, boundaries, and communication.
Conclusion
Shared Neighborhood Living has many benefits including improving our quality of life, by providing easy access to the connections, support, and practical resources that can make life easier. It helps to combat feelings of isolation, reduce waste through the sharing of resources, and can contribute to safer, more walkable local environments. In addition, it can enhance the resilience of its members by developing nearby networks that can respond to both the everyday challenges and disruptions that affect everyone.