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Unhappy with what's going on in your neighborhood or community?
If you're like most people, you might attend a local government, non-profit or similar organization's meeting and may soon realize that the loudest voices at these meetings tend to have the fewest new ideas.
That was the experience of Jason Roberts, an IT consultant and bike advocate living in the historic Oak Cliff Community in Dallas, Texas. But rather than join the chorus of complainers, he took action. Working with a core team of about 10 people, Roberts co-founded Go Oak Cliff, a nonprofit news, advocacy, and quality of life organization focused on supporting and inspiring the local community. The group's projects involve everything from staging art exhibits to restoring an old local swimming hole that had been closed for over 40 years.
"Now the city is allowing us to create other things. They're giving us free range. We learned that city staff has piles of work to do. They're understaffed, and the work they are having to do is fixing a stoplight or drain. If we come to them as citizens and say 'make a walkable community,' they just scratch their heads. So if we create the work and present a plan they're particularly amenable because they want to succeed as well."
"It's easy to get hipsters out," continues Roberts. "But how to get oldsters playing chess and kids playing in fountains? If you can make something appealing to 5-year-olds and 95-year-olds, you're going to be successful.
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