Start Building Community Connection Foundations
We know that ‘placemaking’ ~ improving the area we work, shop, socialise and live in ~ has enormous benefits, for business and the economy, for the environment (sometimes), for family and children (sometimes) but also, and perhaps more importantly, for our health.
We know (don’t we?) that when we improve the community structures, the support networks and the built environment that surrounds us, our health improves. Not just our mental health but our physical health too. Check out the well-documented findings from the study on the population of Roseto in Pennsylvania, also detailed in the introduction to Malcolm Gladwell’s book Outliers. For the benefit of our health as humans we need to feel connected and part of a community. We need space for multigenerational interactions. Placemaking should include opportunities for enhancing community well-being through providing space for connection.
Independent retailers, the cornerstones of our high streets, provide this connection to ‘place’. As a beacon of familiarity and safety, they foster beautiful connections with their local customers and are often why people visit a town. We love it when we are remembered; ‘hello Sally’, ‘it’s nice to see you again’. We feel seen and valued. They create clubs, hold events or workshops, provide spaces to be together, to share a common outlook or hobby and are generally ok with being the listening ear, to call in for a chat with, (even though there is no intention to buy *eyeroll* lol) But isn’t that terrible, that these shops are sometimes the only link for some people to a friendly face and a chat on a stroll around town.
If we want to create meaningful connections and a healthy community (on all levels), starting with a foundation of beautiful Independents is the way forward. We need to create opportunities to encourage and enable new retail owners to start up and provide support for existing retailers (who have survived all manner of challenges) as the ‘placemaking’ and changes happen around them.
If you are a Council, BID, or committed group of individuals supporting our high streets and want to explore the options for supporting your independents, drop me a message, let’s chat. x