What’s in a Neighbourhood?

Susan Swift

Gabriola Neighbourhoods Network Team

“Will you be my neighbor?” asked Fred Rogers on the old TV show, Mister Rogers Neighborhood. It turns out that getting to know your neighbor is a smart plan, not just a nostalgic image from the ‘good old days.’

Living on an island, it sometimes feels like we are all neighbours. Many areas are identified by a name, like Whalebone, Pat Burns, the ‘Seafood District,’ or Berry Point. But are they neighbourhoods? How big is a neighbourhood? These are some of the questions that a new initiative on the island is grappling with.

The possibilities for mutual aid and shared effort are endless. We used to borrow a cup of sugar or eggs for baking. But it can be lifesaving to actually know how to reach the people down your street or over the fence. If a loved one is having a heart attack or smoke is coming from an uninhabited lot, you can call 911. But when the power has been out for days or someone is too ill to go out for groceries, who will you call?

Sustainable Gabriola offers a $40 incentive to help in the formation of neighbourhood groups by supporting potlucks, block parties, or other neighbourhood initiatives.

They also host a web page to help people find and form neighbourhood groups.

The page is managed by the Climate-12 Gabriola Neighbourhoods Network team (GNN). According to Fay Weller, a GNN team member, “We believe that connecting neighbours is key to resilience.”

“Neighbourhoods are places for celebration as well as resource and information sharing,” she says.

“There are 20-plus organized neighbourhoods on Gabriola who have a designated contact person, some even have FaceBook pages.” 

Neighbours have worked together on special projects like getting a street paved and removing invasive species, as well as hosting presentations on FireSmart and evacuation routes, and ensuring that all households in an area are signed up for Voyent Alert.

Dr. Shirley Nicolson, Gabriola’s coordinator of Gabriola Emergency Support, talks about emergency preparedness at the McGillvary Loop neighbourhood barbeque in late August.  Photo: Greg Blee

As the island’s Emergency Support Services coordinator, Dr. Shirley Nicolson, brings the RDN’s Neighbourhood Emergency Preparedness Program (NEPP) to Gabriola.  According to Dr. Nicolson,

“Neighbours have been preparing to shelter in place for the past 15 years.” She notes that as people come and go, “it’s important that everyone schedule an annual get together to review plans and emergency resources.” 

Getting neighbors together for a meeting with Dr. Nicholson is a great way to jump-start a new neighbourhood group.

When new groups form, they prioritize their interests, such as helping each other plant trees or build compost, or keeping lists of generators and other tools, or where mobility-challenged seniors live.

Find out more at the Sustainable Gabriola website under Climate-12: “Neighbourhoods on Gabriola,” or write to: info@sustainablegabriola.ca