Old North neighborhood, St. Louis

This blog, What's New in Old North, covers a particular revitalizing neighborhood undergoing in St. Louis. The blog is interesting in how it shows activists doing stuff in a concerted way to better their neighborhood.

One of the entries says:

One distinguishing characteristic of a healthy and sustainable neighborhood is that the residents don't just sit around and wait for other people to come in and fix things for them; residents of these neighborhoods pitch in and work with their neighbors to make their communities what they want it to be.

Interestingly enough, yesterday I went to GMU in Arlington to read a book, Access to Destinations. (Unfortunately just as I finished 4.5 hours of note writing from this and two other books I lost everything I wrote...). One of the papers, discussing the agglomeration benefits of complete places--more places to visit, more things to do, getting around through a variety of modes, not necessarily requiring a car--mentions that many people are fine with the things are in places that might be (in my words) "less complete." This makes it hard for people with different ideas about the future to build consensus.

Change is hard.
Change is contentious.
Not everyone agrees.