I think it's very important that we think about social standards. I was raised in a west coast city, and I am always surprised when I go back to that city, to witness the social dynamics which are there. I was raised in a relatively wealthy suburb, and went to highschool in the poorer african american neighborhood in the inner city. Given it was so long ago for me, and I have grown so much and changed... I am dumbstruck when I see that there is still this barrier between the brown and the beige people in that city. The problem seems to arise out of the fact that the african americans are more gregarious, and outgoing than their attitude... and the ethnically european folks love their walled gardens. So there are two different sets of criteria - and neither set of people really ever live up to the standards of the other folks.

It's also interesting to see the attitude people have towards the neighborhood I grew up in as a child. People view that rich suburb as being "snobbish." "Snobbery" is a fascinating word. There really is no substance to the concept... it's a word that has to do with a stereotype of folks who live in neatly trimmed, relatively well off communities. The secret to such a happy community is not the money that's there - but instead, it's the fact that people keep themselves and eachother to a certain level of social standards. Outsiders are very much averse to this practice. In most of that metropolis, people have a very profound ethic that one should leave one's neighbors alone to do whatever they wish, however they wish to do it.

It's clear which neighborhoods have the better standard of living. And I really am always quizzical about the "cold" attitude of the european americans in the houses gridded throughout the main portion of that city. They're not happy in their lives. They don't smile at their neighbors when they pass them on the street. They live with eyesores two blocks away where businesses refuse to maintain their property properly.

If people want to have a decent quality of life, they have to be engaged with their neighborhood. They need to have a neighborhood coalition. They need to meet regularly to discuss the concerns that homeowners and renters have. They need to be cohesive as a community. There needs to be enough trust in the neighborhood, that people feel free to smile at children who are passing by on their way home from school.