In times of crises, people tend to come together. That’s certainly been true over the past year. The coronavirus pandemic meant we all had to look out for one another a little bit more than usual, and we did. Especially, closer to home. In fact, according to one recent analysis, the pandemic led to an immediate uptick in neighborhood outreach. We started relying more on the people in our own communities for everything from picking up prescriptions to walking dogs and letting each other know where supplies that had suddenly become scarce were still in stock. The increase in neighborhood engagement wasn’t just in certain locations or among certain demographics, either. It was widespread, from urban centers to rural areas and among the young and old. It was so widespread that 75 percent of surveyed neighbors said they had recently been the recipient of a random act of kindness. In short, we’ve all become a bit more neighborly in the past year – and that’s good news, because good neighbors make for safer, happier neighborhoods. (source)
