A "Lansdale Meet Your Neighbors" event.
Social media is a beautiful thing when it is used for the purpose of uniting community members and bringing neighbors together. That is the idea behind Lansdale Meet Your Neighbors, a Facebook group started in October 2017 to help Lansdale residents create relationships with each other while supporting local businesses.
Professional photographer and group creator Kristen Kidd was inspired to create the group when she saw a post on the Citizens for the Revitalization of Lansdale Facebook group and she felt like it was something she would be able to manage in her schedule.
“I was inspired to start the group because I think that when we sit across from our neighbors, our greater selves rise and we appeal to the better versions of ourselves,” Kidd said. “The inspiration [was] creating an environment in which community members just sit across from each other and just have fun”
For Nate Bergey, a member of the group who attended his first meetup in July, this could not be truer.
“The group allows people to rebuild in-person community in a way that pairs technological advances with genuine connections,” he said. “It’s the best use of social media, to bring people closer together and foster understanding.”
Each month, Kidd makes a poll of where group members would like to meet and what days and times work best for them. The first meetup was held at Round Guys on a Monday, but weekends seem to work best for many people.
“The way that I tackled it is thinking about Main Street first and thinking of the borough of Lansdale first and then branching out from there,” Kidd said.
Kidd tries to mix up the dates and times. She also tries to vary the location each month so that more local businesses get exposure, though Round Guys and Stove and Tap were both frequented twice. At the moment, the meetups are at businesses that are food and drink oriented, but Kidd is looking to branch out to other local businesses as well.
Bergey echoes that the group is helping him to be more connected to the Lansdale community and its businesses.
“It’s reinvigorated my desire to invest in the local community and building relationships locally,” he said.
Aside from the in-person meetups, Kidd also posts open-ended discussion questions on the Facebook group to engage members and to start conversations.
“The conversations that have come from it have just been amazing,” Kidd said. She said that people talk about personal topics such as mental and physical health, employment aspirations and other personal journeys.
“This is a place of positivity and affirmation,” Kidd said. “That doesn’t mean we can’t disagree, but there’s a big difference between disagreeing and judging or negativity.”
See also:
Community Rallies to Aid Local Family in Need
Crackerjack Clean-Up Crew Spruces up Downtown Lansdale
Facebook Group Unites Lansdale in Search for Rocks
