Comments on: Community-driven vs. driven Communities

By: Online London - 2009/05/10 - From My Bottom Step

Online London - 2009/05/10 - From My Bottom Step — Sun, 10 May 2009 11:25:55 +0000

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By: James Shelley

James Shelley — Fri, 08 May 2009 16:52:24 +0000

Great articulation. I’m part of a “community garden” this summer, which is certainly not a “garden community” — the expressed and overt reason we are doing it is to hang out and, quite frankly, gardening is just an excuse to do it. (Evidenced by the fact we have no clue what we are doing!)

That said, I also think there is a balance. Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote that “A person who loves community tends to destroy it. But a person who loves people creates community wherever he goes.” I propose that whatever we do (work, school, hobbies, etc) should not just be a context for “building community” but rather a platform for learning how to love others.

Love is, by nature (or at least in my definition) self-sacrificial, contrasted to the temptation to seek community for selfish reasons. Yes: community is give-and-take, we need it, as a fundamental part of our communal DNA as humans, but the irony is that it follows the emptying of ourselves into others rather than the receiving of ‘community’ into our lives. At least this is how I interpret Bonhoeffer’s quote above (which rattled my preconceived notions of ‘community’ when I first came across it).

By: Karolijn

Karolijn — Mon, 04 May 2009 17:53:50 +0000

It’s interesting you mention that James. When I wrote this post, I was thinking of smaller communities: Two churches, a music-scene community, and two professional-networking groups specifically. It’s interesting how, by generalizing it’s being taken in a much broader sense.

But I think that’s okay….I envision the ideal community-driven-communities as existing inside one another instead of separate from another.

I wonder which comes first.

By: James

James — Mon, 04 May 2009 14:42:45 +0000

Thanks for the great post. After returning to London after 11 years on Vancouver Island I can definitely say that the community-driven community is a tough one to find here.

there are pockets for sure, but as far as a city-wide feeling of civic identity is concerned – the forest city’s leaves have fallen.

i also think you’ve got a whole other post in there about “culture” vs “cultures” around here.

thanks for the insight!

By: Matt A.

Matt A. — Sun, 03 May 2009 16:58:07 +0000

“Community driven communities are more of a country, with a hodgepodge of citizens that may be different but they all share a common identity. That identity leads to specific issues and interests the citizens may share together but the community always comes before the issue or interest.”

You’ve totally hit the nail on the head …..I too grew up with a community-driven mentality (although Hamilton is a much bigger city).

There is always a sense that what people do in their work and/or recreation contributes to or detracts from the city in some way…..

in London there’s no sense of real pride in what you’re doing or where you’re living.

Of course, there are individual exceptions to this rule, but they are few and far between.