The Sidewalks 2010 Urban Project ended yesterday after 6 weeks of life together in the Stevens neighborhood of Lancaster City. Nine college students spent their summers volunteering at several urban agencies, playing with kids, chatting with neighbors, and figuring out how to manage cooking and keeping up a house. Yesterday packed their bags, cleaned the house, and said goodbye to each other and to our neighbors.
What’s in a name? Why Sidewalks? I read an article in Newsweek a few years back entitled “Sidewalks make a neighborhood into a community.” That’s the inspiration; that’s the hope. We bring college students to live with us for a summer to learn how sidewalks perform that function. It is a little abstract–how could slabs of concrete create intimacy among strangers? And yet here in the city, in our neighborhood, that’s just what happens. The slabs of concrete lead the way from home to another, from one porch to another, from one meal to another. The slabs of concrete are linear parks where there are daily games of catch, opportunities to shoot hoops, linger in conversation, create art, jump rope, and on and on. In all these ways and so many more, simple slabs of concrete create a connection and wholeness between people that is elusive in many other settings.
So, come to the city, come experience these slabs of concrete that connect us to each other, these sidewalks that make our community. Come, and see how you might change.
