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Stoop Coffee: A simple idea transformed my neighborhood
401–410 of 517 posts
Re: Stoop Coffee: A simple idea transformed my neighborhood
#402Earlier quoted context omitted.
Same, but I think it really depends on the design on the neighborhood, regardless of if it's a city or a suburb. When I lived in "Brownstone Brooklyn" I had a stoop and would often hang out on it, as is common in neighborhoods with this feature. I knew tons of my neighbors, people would stop and talk to each other, etc. When I moved to Williamsburg years ago, that stopped. There are stairs that lead to my apartment,…
I think another part of neighborhood design that influences this feeling is how walkable a neighborhood is — anecdotally, I feel like I've had way more run-ins and conversations with neighbors when I've lived in places that had grocery stores and coffee shops within walking distance, as opposed to when I've been in neighborhoods that required driving 10-15 mins to get to anything.
For sure, walkability is an important factor. Although I think even with that it depends on what sort of shops are within walking distance.
Years ago my current neighborhood of Williamsburg had mostly local shops -- a locally owned grocery store or two, cafes, bagel shops, bookstores, pharmacies, bodegas, etc. Now it's mainly a corporate wasteland -- Whole Foods, Apple, Sephora, Hermes, Chanel, North Face, Trader Joes, etc etc. By all measures I live in one of the most walkable parts of the most walkable city in the country, but as this corporate takeover has happened the small third spaces are dying or have fully died out (depending on the block). And I find that the feeling of community really has evaporated as that process has unfolded over the past 15-20 years.
Re: Stoop Coffee: A simple idea transformed my neighborhood
#403This rules. I want to do it, but I know I can't personally, because I'm not awake at the hour people normally want coffee. Maybe I can figure out stoop whiskey. Another thing that works for meeting and talking to your neighbors, and has the benefit of attaching you to people who live blocks away from you and not just the people you see getting into the car every morning, is local politics. I've met more people being…
> Maybe I can figure out stoop whiskey.
You can figure it out. You’ll also figure out how much you actually want to do it vs. how much you like the idea of doing it.
Re: Stoop Coffee: A simple idea transformed my neighborhood
#404Re: Stoop Coffee: A simple idea transformed my neighborhood
#405How do ppl do this if they have a 9-5?
At 6pm? At 7pm? At 8 am?
Re: Stoop Coffee: A simple idea transformed my neighborhood
#406Really heart warming story. My 2 cents: The group is at a critical point now, having ~100 Whatsapp members. From what I've seen this creates a chilling effect where you inevitably end up with cliques and social cooling. No new members will feel like they can actually send a message into a 100+ person group, while the old guard starts to use it as a notification board, rather than a real chat. Eventually, newer member…
This seems unnecessarily harsh toward people who like to travel.
It’s harsh to be removed from a group chat around an event that you don’t attend monthly?
What would be your personal threshold for non-harsh?
Re: Stoop Coffee: A simple idea transformed my neighborhood
#407This is cool, it reminds me of some events in my home state.
One is called Porch fest, and it is city-wide event: https://www.carmelporchfest.org/faq
Another is a community event in South Bend, IN where people collectively organized a big art/music event in backyards, that spread and covered a fairly large area. I think it was originally back yards, then someone with a large wooded property moved the event there, as it grew too large? https://www.instagram.com/yart_southbend
Also reminded of porch hangouts that happened by necessity during covid to allow socializing while masked/outdoors to reduce risk of larger groups of people gathering indoors.
Re: Stoop Coffee: A simple idea transformed my neighborhood
#408> my husband Tyler and I wanted that sense of community that feels like it’s only possible in the suburbs, but we believed we could achieve this while living in San Francisco. This genuinely threw me because in my experience the suburbs are the antithesis of this, just lots of people occupying neighboring space and rarely talking to each other. Still, a heartwarming story all the same. And yes, this is _exactly_ what…
>just lots of people occupying neighboring space and rarely talking to each other. This is a bitter stereotype that is leveled against both city-dwellers and suburb-dwellers, and, like many stereotypes, has some truth to it in both cases, but amounts to uncalled-for negativity. Some people don't want to interact with their neighbors, regardless of whether they live in a city or a suburb. Others are sociable with thei…
In reality, many criticisms of suburbia are simply criticisms of HOAs
Re: Stoop Coffee: A simple idea transformed my neighborhood
#409Ha, never knew the Dutch word 'stoep' had an English equivalent in 'stoop'!
Introduced into English most likely through Nieuw Amsterdam / New York.
Re: Stoop Coffee: A simple idea transformed my neighborhood
#410They discovered sipping espresso with friends and neighbors. Weird. But Substack gained some clicks I guess.