Building Community from Your Front Porch

“Hi, neighbor!” After work Michelle Colussi’s husband sits on the front steps, attracting visitors young and old. This bit of neighborliness encourages relationships which come in handy — like bailing out one another’s houses when the nearby creek flooded. Co-founder of Transition Victoria (BC), Michelle organized her neighbors to join in a five-week “Transition Street” initiative to discuss and improve household practices around conserving water, growing food, and reducing waste, energy and transport. She says we need projects at the street level on up to regional levels. We also need to shift values from the “I’ll take care of me” ethic to valuing cooperation and collaboration. Enjoy her heartfelt three-word song at the close. [communityrenewal.ca, resilientneighborhoods.ca].