What We’re Watching: Happy

By Stephanie South, Program Associate, AASCU

After recently reading The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin (highly recommend by the way), I have found myself a bit preoccupied with research on the subject of happiness. My quest for more information and a lack of cable led me to the documentary section on Netflix, which I am nearly convinced is going to ruin the productivity of my twenties.

Anyway, it was on the Netflix app that I digitally stumbled upon Happy—a documentary film that takes the viewer, per IMDB, on a journey from the swamps of Louisiana to the slums of Kolkata in search of what really makes people happy. Although the stories of and interviews with the individuals living in these various locations, along with insight from leading scientists on happiness research (that sounds like a fun job), make the film worth viewing, those of you whose pulses quicken at all things civic may draw an additional smile from it.

As Happy explores the secrets behind our most valued emotion, a family living in a co-housing community in Denmark shares their experiences with it and the joy derived from it. Very Bowling Alone, I would imagine most of you will nod your head in agreement with the family about the importance of community and place to our emotional and civic health.

So if you find yourself with some down time this weekend, give Happy a try (and then get off Netflix and go read a book–that was mainly a note to self).

🙂

Poverty and Place: “What Works” (and the technology that doesn’t)

By Stephanie South, Program Associate, AASCU

Although I believe deeply in the community that can be found via public transit, I generally associate Union Station in Washington, DC as a place for commuters and taxi cabs. However, on December 4, my favorite train station surprised me as it played host to an entirely different community and a conversation about what can be done to improve neighborhoods across the country.

Presented by the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, the Low Income Investment Fund, and the Citi Foundation, Investing in What Works for America’s Communities brought the nation’s top community and economic development experts, analysts, financiers, researchers, philanthropists, and public policymakers to the Columbus Club at Union Station to share lessons they’ve learned about what the sectors can do to build and sustain communities that prosper.

There were many things to be taken away from this event, but the most prominent is perhaps a contradiction to what I said in a recent blog post.

According to Angela Blanchard, president and CEO of Neighborhood Centers, Inc., place will always matter.

Why?

Because as human beings, we need connectedness and closeness—the things you get from place.

“There is no app for that,” said Blanchard during a panel called, “Ideas that Work.” “You cannot get a hug from a device.”

In addition to Blanchard’s insight about place, some of her colleagues had equally important and insightful points during their respective panels, mainly concerning the necessity of taking a regional approach to community problems.

Peter Edelman, co-director of the Center on Poverty, Inequality, & Public Policy at Georgetown University, agreed with Blanchard’s prioritization of place—poverty is indeed connected to it. Edelman is an advocate of the theory that local problems need local solutions; he said that local civic leadership is needed within neighborhoods because you can’t make change from downtown. However, he also believes that because community problems are largely economic, you have to look beyond the “four corners” of the neighborhood; jobs are in the region.

To read more of the ideas showcased, I suggest checking out the event party favor—a book entitled, Investing in What Works for America’s Communities: Essays on People, Place, & Purpose (2012).

You may find that I was wrong and Blanchard is right—maybe there is not an app for everything these days.