Communities

I've been doing a lot of thinking lately about the idea of what encompasses a community.

What are the elements needed to establish and grow a community? Not a town, but a COMMUNITY. A town is where people live, a community is where people interact and establish links and bonds to others.

I guess part of why I have been thinking of this is when we moved from our old neighborhood, our new neighborhood is not as interactive and connected. How do we change that? It seemed to happen pretty easy in the old neighborhood--the houses are small and pretty close together. There was also a higher percentage of older, retired people or people who were at home and available to interact.

I guess where you live does not have to define whether you have a community or not. Some of the blogs I read have people that get together for meals and events and they build community that way. I think as humans, we are more dependent on interaction than we want to admit. Humans need contact and connection with others. However getting a community together is a little intimidating. What do you do when a community member causes problems or gossips. How does a community stay strong during inevitable stress points? What are the rules of community?

What is your definition of community?