I enjoy reading books by authors about improving communities. These authors typically invoke the importance of improving the built environment, adding more cultural amenities, increasing economic development, and preserving the natural ecosystem. However, an author from St. Petersburg, Peter Kageyama, wrote several books on additionally developing a “love” for the community (city). His book is entitled "For The Love of Cities".
At the risk of sounding trite, Kageyama says, “I think we need to start thinking about how we make our cities more lovable.” He advocates for deepening our relationships with our cities. Peter explains that there are levels of commitment and passion for places. He utilizes a bell curve called the “Continuum of Engagement” to explain the levels of commitment. They include these terms: Hostile, Angry, Detached, Bored, Neutral, Curious, Engaged, Committed, and Love.
It is easy to find examples of those hostile to our community. They might be criminals, robbers, arsonists, etc., committing harm to people and assets. Those with anger might include people making untoward social media posts, threatening lawsuits, or sending hostile emails. The detached could possibly be those who continually throw litter on rights-of-way. People in the neutral category are likely those who never get engaged in community events. This group of neutral citizens is certainly by far the largest number. And understandingly there are times in people’s lives when we all must be more concerned with pressing family, health, or work-related matters. The curious are like me when I travel for a day to other small cities simply to experience their main street improvements. Engaged would be folks belonging to civic clubs, PTAs, HOAs, etc. The committed are those who serve in leadership for any community, school, professional, or neighborhood organization. Those that love is a brand-new category for me to contemplate. Who are they? What do they do?
John Howkins, author of the Creative Economy, along with writers Richard Florida and Charles Landry recommend materials about developing creativity, the economy, and deepening the overall love for the community. I cannot wait to read one of their books. Howkins noted lovable cities “provide me with opportunities to be part of a community and to enjoy and discover myself, which is close to my feelings of love.” These feelings reflect intimate, personal connections to relatively small things, which then create the conditions for an emotional connection. Engagement now reflects an intimate or personal connection.
Love could be seen in all the historical displays and artifacts I placed in school lobbies as I served on the Orange County School Board. Truly, I enjoyed beautifying and making a sense of the place in the new schools. I commissioned paintings, murals, researched and wrote school histories, wrote the Ahapopka Badge Program, and inspired the Clay Springs PTA placing a concrete bear at the school.
The author explains that for a municipality, fixing potholes is the functional equivalence of giving your spouse a fire extinguisher for their birthday. While fixing potholes or having a fire extinguisher is the meat and potatoes of local government and home safety, it does nothing to create affection or even gratitude. The notable exception would be Jackie Martin. After I had public works fix the potholes in front of his house, he was ecstatic.
Seriously though, Kageyama opines that no one falls in love with a place because of “maintenance” issues. We fall in love with a place because of some emotional connection or seemingly something that makes us smile or speaks to our hearts.
All of us are somewhere on Kageyama’s continuum of engagement. Leaders who recognize this in their residents can develop strategies and tactics to engage residents to love their community.
Kageyama describes ways to make communities interesting and lovable. The best part is ideas do not have to cost a lot of money. What they do require, however, is insight and sensitivity. Leaders must seek to build emotional connections between citizens and their community if they want it to grow and thrive.
