We choose to focus our "places" project change event to be close to home. As a matter of fact, in the same neighborhood. We recently moved into a duplex in a neighborhood mixed with homeowners and rental properties. Within the first few months, it became clear that the neighborhood had very little sense of community. Since they didn't seem to be acquainted and we didn't know any one either, we thought our recent move could be a good excuse to have a meet and greet. Our intentions were to know at least the names and faces of the people living around us. We also hoped to portray an open door policy so that the neighbors around us would know that we are willing to lend a hand when needed.

We made fliers inviting the residents on our street to a front yard barbecue. Then went door to door handing out the fliers and introducing ourselves for the first time. By the day of the barbecue, it seemed there was already a heightened chemistry that was only build upon at the potluck. We had a turnout of 45 people throughout the five hours. The majority of the people had never met any of their neighbors. The longest residents had lived in the cul-de-sac for seven years and were meeting their neighbors for the first time that day. We were one of three families that had move in with in the last two months. We finally got to meet the man we share our duplex with and his son. Families brought their kids and the kids began playing together and didn't want to leave. Everyone brought a dish to contribute and we all learned so much. One family that didn't stay because English is not their first language, several families didn't eat the hotdogs because they are Jewish and another family announced they bought a house and were moving. Although the majority of the evening was spent in conversation, getting to know the neighbors around us, we also took down contact information in case we wanted to organize future events such as a spring clean or neighborhood watch. We talked about what suspicious activity might look like and what to do in the event of an emergency. It was so cool to see relationships forming from just this one first encounter. We are excited to see what is in store for the future.