Director's Report

It's been a good week in Greater Lauraville where all grass is green, the trees stand a little taller, and the smiles on faces a little brighter. We've been pulling together letters and feedback in support of our Main Street application, we've been working on the chronic crime issues on Harford Road (especially at Moravia and Harford), and we've been working to build a common understanding of such resources as the list serve. Honestly, I love my job!

Through all of this effort I've come to see the work of the Neighborhoods of Greater Lauraville, Inc. as a key component of the community commons - as important to shared community life as Herring Run Park, the local schools, and the Lauraville Business District. And, to continue the on-going on-line conversation I want to use the nogli-news Google Group as an example of this thinking. I believe that the list serve is very much a community common that list members care for as much as other concrete community resources. Often I find that the same people who regularly pick up trash in Herring Run Park, maintain the playground at Garrett Heights, and consciously support local businesses are the same people who tend to the community life on the list. I think all of you deserve credit for what you have created in Greater Lauraville. Thank you.

As I let my thoughts tilt and swirl around the topic of community, shared resources, and public commons I find myself increasingly seeing our work as creating an intentional community within the mainstream of society. I would imagine that many Greater Lauravillians are familiar with intentional communities - for those not familiar, I'll define. From the official Intentional Communities website www.ic.org  we have:

Intentional Community is an inclusive term for ecovillages, cohousing, residential land trusts, communes, student co-ops, urban housing cooperatives, alternative communities, and other projects where people strive together with a common vision.

I think the key phrase here is "where people strive together with a common vision." Striving together- being brave enough to raise concerns, and open enough to have an answer better than the one you originally intended, and always focused on the wellbeing of your neighbor. I know these are lofty thoughts, and this is the first time I'm sharing with you in this way. But, it's been a long year with many gains and a lot more work ahead of us. This kind of sharing feeds me, and I'm hoping it strikes a cord in you.

Have I struck something in you? Do you, at some level not quite conscious, feel that you are a part of some larger vision as a resident of Greater Lauraville? Do you find yourself making choices differently because you are a part of this community? I could write pages about the beauty I see in you and your choices: how the Red Canoe is the 'common room' of our community, and the park our