Speaking of neighborhood boundaries, last month I had a spirited discussion on Facebook regarding the neighborhood email list and who should be allowed to subscribe. I’m one of two moderators of the list, where basically I help people subscribe and unsubscribe. Generally I sign up anyone who politely asks, though I do try to weed out spammers and the like.
Unlike other nearby neighborhood lists, I don’t try to enforce a residency requirement. This was put to the test when I got a friendly request to subscribe from one of the postal carriers who works our neighborhood. He doesn’t really live here, so do I sign him up?
I was leaning towards approving him but ran it by my Facebook friends, who provided some wise counsel, both pro and con. Ultimately I decided that if someone serves the neighborhood every day and takes the initiative to learn about the neighborhood email list, I should help make that connection. Plus, with many of us gone from our homes during the day it helps to have an extra set of eyes watching for us. I figured there isn’t much that a mailman doesn’t already know about a neighborhood (or couldn’t find out), so there isn’t much if any risk. The positives outweigh the negatives.
In some nearby neighborhoods this would never fly. That’s fine with me, to each his own. My many years of community involvement has shown me, though, that every new connection builds the community’s strength.