Local community facts for kids
A local community is a group of people living in the same location. The group has common and shared values. The groups are larger than a household.
The word "community" comes from the Old French word "communité". This came from the Latin word "communitas" (cum, "with/together" + munus, "gift"), a broad term for fellowship or organized society.
A sense of community refers to the way people see the connections within the group, shared responsibility, and common goals.
Benefits of local community
The author Robert Putnam refers to the value which comes from social networks as social capital in his book Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community. He writes that social capital "makes an enormous difference in our lives". If social capital is lacking, economic wealth would be minimized.
- Employment
Putnam reported that many studies have shown that job satisfaction is higher if there is social connection in the workplace. He writes that "people with friends at work are happier at work." And that "social networks provide people with advice, a bonus, a promotion, and other strategic information, and letters of recommendation."
Community engagement counteracts the most negative attributes of poverty and a high amount of social capital has been shown to reduce crime.
- Local community and health
"Social connectedness matters to our lives in the most profound way." -Robert Putnam.
Robert Putnam reports, in the chapter Health and Happiness from his book Bowling Alone, that recent public research shows social connection impacts all areas of human health, this includes psychological and physical aspects of human health. Putnam says "...beyond a doubt that social connectedness is one of the most powerful determinates of our well being." In particular, face to face connections have have greater impact on people then non-face to face relationships.
Social relationships can decrease the likelihood of catching seasonal viruses, having heart attacks, strokes, cancer, depression, and premature death of all sorts.
There are online initiatives to improve local community's like LOCAL (www.localchange.com).
Local economy
According to Washington state's Sustain South Sound organization, the top ten reasons to buy locally are:
- To strengthen local economy
- Increase jobs: Small local businesses are the largest employer nationally in the United States of America.
- Encourage local prosperity
- Reduce environmental impact: Local purchases require less transportation. This means contributing less to greenhouse gas emissions, sprawl, congestion, habitat loss and pollution.
- Support community groups
- Keep your community unique: Where we shop, where we eat and have fun—all of it makes our community home.
- Get better service: Local businesses often hire people with a better understanding of the products they are selling and take more time to get to know customers.
- Invest in community: Local businesses are owned by people who live in the community, are less likely to leave, and are more invested in the community's future.
- Put your taxes to good use: Local businesses in town centers require comparatively little infrastructure investment and make more efficient use of public services as compared to nationally owned stores entering the community.
- Buy what you want, not what someone wants you to buy: A multitude of small businesses, each selecting products based not on a national sales plan but on their own interests and the needs of their local customers, guarantees a much broader range of product choices.
- A Guide to Community Visioning; Hands-On Information For Local Communities. Oregon Visions Project.
Related pages
See also
In Spanish: Comunidad local para niños
