Sense of community...

I find it rather sad that it's hard to really become involved in the community where you live in, because most of the services you need are to be found outside the community.

There are a lot of people are against having shops, banks and other of the kind of business that people use on regular basis arguing that it would disturb the peace and quiet of the community. Which, they shouldn't since and should make life more practical having things like banks and small shops that carter to the needs of the necessities of each particular community.

By letting businesses that carter to these needs to operate at each community, many problems would be solve. Transportation would be easier, since people wouldn't need to move as far. Thus saving time and money, and freeing people to actually do more.

Security would be improved, since people living there would have a greater sense of ownership over the community. Also would foster better relationships of the people living there, since using the services that are offered on the shops that operate at the community would bring individuals with the same interests together. And since people would naturally gather on these centers, people would have reasons to get to know other and share common interests rather that going somewhere else to do so.

Of course there should be limits to what kind of businesses, and their size, should be allowed to establish within each community. These should be based on what they offered, and the size of the community in question.

But, saying that commerce shouldn't be allowed in residential areas is detrimental to them. We are social by nature, and having plazas and parks where people can gather, are essential to the health and wellbeing of the community at large. These places become integral parts of the community, since it gives the people living in them a place to come together to talk, exchange ideas, and simply feel that they belong to the community where they live.

If the people are given the chance to get to know the people living at the community where they live, they become closer to the community and have the sense of belonging and ownership. This has the effect of making people to take care of the community they live in.

Most of the crime we see, comes from the social disintegration that comes of not having the sense of belonging to a group that makes us want to be better. Or, not wanting to take place of where we live.

Let's give people the chance of being proud of the community where they live. This is a big step forward to solving many of the problems we have.