Kari Sullivan

Neighbors talking… online.

When I first starting talking to people I met in Austin, they told me that they learned everything about their neighborhoods through email lists. I couldn’t believe that neighborhood email lists in Austin could be that active (the NYT had convinced me this was for Manhattan condo dwellers only). But I was proven wrong.

I just joined the neighborhood mailing list for the neighborhood I’ll be moving into, and it’s amazing. The number of members is nearing 1000, and everyone is really friendly and helpful. I’ve found out that I can have chickens in the city… or use a non profit car sharing service. Neighbors report on suspicious activity – and thank each other for little acts of kindness.

This is something my current neighborhood could have really used. Instead, I ended up living next to people who were scared of the world, obsessed with property values, and too cowardly to tell me they didn’t like the wild flowers growing in my yard (instead they called the city on me). A little more communication would have helped… or at least helped me know not to buy a house here. The funny thing is, I’m pretty sure my new neighborhood in Austin is safer and more likely to hold its value. And people there actually brag about not mowing their lawns!

Paul Graham is right, smart, internet savvy, progressive people need to stick together. There’s rapidly becoming two classes of people, like it or not.

I see the US fragmenting more every day: Those who are internet literate. Those who aren’t. Those who can converse rationally with their neighbors and build community. Those who are looking for neighborhood with big garages and “good schools.” Those who make a living from their intelligence. Those who think they deserve a certain sized paycheck. Those who don’t overextend themselves, leaving themselves resources to be creative and innovative. Those who buy into the “debt” culture at the expense of any sense of financial reality and personal sanity. Those who have tolerant, socially libertarian / liberal values. Those who want to go back in time, as far back as needed to put chastity belts on their daughters.

I spent four years living among the wrong class of people. And while most people online are like me, it’s still isolating to know your neighbors would vandalize your house if you put up a pro gay marriage sign.

I’m ready to start living among my peers again.