I don't stop by here enough :) Id love to brainstorm whenever, just let me know.

The other day it was the 4th, and I was walking the streets of downtown Bellevue, and I was happily surprised by the mass of people just standing around on street corners, parking lots, everywhere. Some where staring at the sky, others where just happening by, but for a moment it actually felt like a community. Most of the time people are just too busy with their day to day to stop and say hey, look at all these people. The holiday and the fireworks gave everyone a central focus, and with that came a unity that unfortunately doesn't seem to happen often enough.

Sure, you see it all the time at concerts and gatherings, but the effort to create those things, its just not self sustaining. To get something like that you need community centers, with purpose, purpose for everyone, every type. If theres something for everyone to do, a way for each individual to contribute what they have, all you need then is an open door that screams, come in side and help, and things will build themselves and expand naturally.

The key is starting off with something small and self sustaining, and allowing it to grow as the support arrives, but in a way that if the support temporarily leaves the system doesn't collapse due to strain. If you design something to require five supports to stand, and then one of them vanishes, the force on the remaining four increases, and makes them less likely to hold strong. But if you design something that can stand with only one support, then only having four left is just fine and dandy :)