This weekend I had a garage sale, which was an enlightening experience for me in more ways than one. Well, maybe enlightening isn’t the best use of words, but it was interesting to say the least. The whole concept of the garage sale is really a strange one when you take the time to think about it. OK, so let me see: I will take all my unwanted junk, used clothes and useless things and lay it all out on my grass so that others can come, rummage through it, and buy items for a fraction of their original cost.
I didn’t understand what would sell, and that people would go crazy for used CDs and VHS tapes, and not for $100 shirts from BCBG. I was actually scoffed at for suggesting that someone buy a very nice black dress for the price of $2. TWO DOLLARS?! People go out there expecting to pay little to nothing, and at the end of the day, sometimes the fact they are willing to take the junk away is worth more than the obscene discount they are getting. All in all, I think I made $150, which sounded pretty good until I realized I had spent about 8 hours getting ready for this thing and sitting outside. But then again, they did take the junk out of my house; I keep forgetting.
However, the great thing about the whole experience was that I met neighbors because I was out in the front yard instead of in the house or enclosed in my own backyard. Neighbors I had never met before spent time with me sitting and talking about the neighborhood—talking about who they know, who lives where, when the next event will take place—and I realized that I never have had the chance to do that. Have our neighborhoods changed so much that we can’t find any semblance of community anymore?
I know that houses used to be built with front porches, and people stayed in touch by walking by and having conversations about their families and other people in the neighborhood. Kids played in the streets or at neighbors’ houses and were always in front. But something has fundamentally changed and we all seem to keep to ourselves now. There are neighbors I have never even seen, let alone talked to on my street. Is that just the way of the world or is there something we can do to get a little of the 1950’s back to our neighborhoods, and live in real communities in San Jose?
Single Gal:
There are plenty of neighborhoods in San Jose which remain “real communities” with a semblance of the 1950s ambiance you pine for. Indeed, one of the great things about San Jose is just what great neighborhoods it has. More than anything else I think this accounts for the remarkably low crime rate here for such a large city. It also makes San Jose a wonderful place to live and the envy of anyone who visits from elsewhere and is hosted by a resident (instead of staying in a downtown hotel and dining in Santana Row.)
“Neighborhood” is an elastic term that can refer to a couple blocks or 100+ blocks (such as is claimed by my Northside Neighborhood Assn., of which I’m past president and still a boardmember), but regardless of how you define it, I know a great many of my neighbors (and consider many of them good friends). I also know residents from around downtown for whom our connection is that we are active in our neighborhoods.
I’ve never hosted a garage sale, but I’ve attended others, and I also keep up with my neighbors in front yards, at kitchen tables following un-announced visits, at the corner store, at neighborhood BBQs and National Nights Out, in dinner partys and outings to new restaurants, and of course at neighborhood association meetings and on the neighborhood email listserve. Sure, some of this is because I’m a neighborhood activist, but, like anything else, you get out of your neighborhood what you put into it.
I would venture to say that, on balance, San Jose has the best and healthiest neighborhoods of any large city in the country. Our public officials can take a small measure of credit through programs like the Strong Neighborhoods Initiative, but the lion’s share of the credit goes to the good people of San Jose.
Thank You Single Gal,
Very Refreshing Thoughts!
The Village Black Smith
SG: Your epiphany about the strange lack of community and neighborly interaction isn’t unique to San Jose—it’s a phenom even people in dense big cities experience. Urban planners and anthropologists often point out the following when discusisng this modern ‘atomization.’
* TV and computers and indoor-based entertainment
* Oversubscribed kids
* Kids no longer going to same n’hood schools
* decentralized shopping patterns (no n’hood downtown)
But most of all,it comes down to:
* PEOPLE DRIVE EVERYWHERE.
Driving alienates you from your natural surroundings and from other people.
N’hood garage sales, walklling the dog, Community Agriculture, local farmer’s markets, strolling to the corner store, street bbq’s, bake sales, garden equipment sharing, tree planting—the list could go on, but they all share a common trait: You’re not in a hurtling pile of steel and exploding petroleum. Consider a car-free weekend every week. You’ll be surprised what you discover.
SG.
Good post today. All positive thoughts. I love garage sales. Saturday I bought a pair of Bushnell binoculars for 5 dollars w/case.
I usually see families with small children that appear to be lower income class buying clothes for the kiddos. All very interesting.
Hi Single Gal,
I enjoyed reading your thoughts about the neighborhood garage sale and I think you’re right on about how nice it is to get to know those around us. It reminds me of some words of wisdom I heard—about how, in a really big disaster, neighbors will probably have to depend on each other for a few days until things get back up and running. Certainly something to ponder.
And yes, each time we have a neighborhood event it builds a little more of what I like to call community camaraderie, and that’s what makes neighborhoods great.
(BTW, I too enjoyed talking to the neighbors while selling stuff on Saturday.
You met P E O P L E with DNA culture Heritage it was live you had a cross-section of American
economy.The MIND people psychology they perform on stage in your real estate you had to take them for face value. You laugh you smile you ignore you watch you mostly had fun that you had Macy on your lawn and no body paid attention to your past spending pattern. You live the moment and perhaps found new friends and build a better relations with people you wouldn’t other wise I think. Great Job Lady! you gave to whom it concern and saw its value into the eyes and soul of that person or little person a change of heart.