Connected Community

Neighborhoods hold more capability than most people realize. This book shows readers how to locate the skills, knowledge, and resources already present on their own streets and bring them together into a community that is lively, happy, and welcoming. People are living longer, yet many feel more cut off from one another than ever, and that isolation takes a toll on both mind and body. Faced with large problems such as poverty, racism, and climate change, many want a practical step they can take themselves. The authors suggest that some of the answers may be found only a few doors away.

John McKnight helped originate asset-based community development, an approach centered on identifying and using the resources, abilities, and life experience that already exist within a neighborhood. Together with his longtime collaborator Cormac Russell, he explains how any person can recognize this overlooked potential and build ties with the people nearby. The result, they argue, can be communities that are healthier, safer, greener, more prosperous, and more welcoming.

Drawing on many examples from around the world, the authors encourage readers to look closely at their own communities and discover what is valuable there. The book guides readers toward acting on what they already sense to be true: being a good neighbor is not an optional extra but a core part of a rewarding life, and a strong force for renewing and changing a community.