Living in a place like East New York requires developing coping strategies, and for many residents, the more vulnerable older and younger ones in particular, the key is to find safe havens. As on every other Thursday morning this spring, today nine middle-aged and elderly residents who might otherwise stay home alone will gather in the basement of the neighborhood’s most heavily used public amenity, the New Lots branch library. The Concord Handbook: How to Build Social Capital Across Communities,” (tiny.cc/uclasocialcapital): A handbook created by the UCLA School of Public Policy and Social Research, outlining design principles that effective organizations have used in “creating ‘bridging social capital’—the human and organizational resources that span social differences.” This is a resource for organizations and others interested in implementing strategies that successfully bring differing groups together across communities. He has a strange obsession with Silicon Valley. I’m not sure it deserves as much attention as it gets in the book.

In Palaces for the People, Klinenberg draws on extensive research spanning his academic career to highlight the importance of social infrastructure—“physical places or organizations that shape the way people interact” (5). Further, he contends that as “societies around the world are becoming more fragmented, divided, and conflicted” (8), social infrastructure, which is often overlooked in favor of spending initiatives on “critical infrastructure” (transit, communications, electrical systems, etc.), could play a crucial role in repairing our ever-widening divisions.

Last on

Public libraries are largely funded by local tax revenues; their operations are overseen by a publicly-appointed board. There is considerable variation in the level and type of state tax support. Federal support is small in terms of dollars, but is strategically important for the development of tech-based processing networks and distribution of information. Public libraries are a public expense accepted by the large majority of American taxpayers, Republican and Democrat. And that left me on high alert for the handful of "this happens on both sides" and "polarization" comments throughout the book. There aren't even that many, but enough to chip away at my confidence in the sociological rigor of his conclusions. Like there's a great discussion of online spaces for marginalized folks to find each other, followed by simple praise for Nextdoor bringing neighbors together with zero mention of that platform's well known racism. Or a chapter about the market of ideas on a college campus, with a mention of "both sides" lamenting "inhospitality to debate" as if radical conservatives aren't showing up on campuses and using "debate" to create a truly dangerous atmosphere for queer, trans, and immigrant students. Klinenberg, a professor of sociology at New York University, examines how our social structures--from the library to schools to community gardens--can help mitigate problems and challenges of our divided civic life. He posits that neighborhoods, regardless of economic or over-all social standing, which have strong social infrastructure do better at taking care of one another when crises strike and also do better at resisting crime and other negative social impacts. Eric Klineberg is a Professor of Sociology at NYU and an author of several books. Palaces for People is how Andrew Carnegie described free public libraries when he generously donated funds to build over 2800 libraries across the nation. Form small research teams and list examples of social infrastructure in your community. Start with those places that Klinenberg directly identifies, such as parks, libraries, universities, etc., but also expand your scope to include any other “physical places or organizations that shape the way people interact” (5). Discuss the effectiveness of each in terms of both engaging the community and encouraging a sense of community. Take into account in your discussion societal problems that your community specifically faces, and create a presentation illustrating how social infrastructure could be improved, or implemented, to better serve the needs of your community.

Trying to engineer hot weather out of existence rather than adjust our culture of consumption for the age of climate change is one of our biggest environmental blind spots. If you can’t stand the heat, you should know that blasting the AC will ultimately make us all even hotter. Let’s put our air conditioners on ice before it’s too late. I didn't think that I could dislike a book as much as I dislike THIS book, but yes, I really disliked this book. Wonderful ideas and some really interesting points but I do not trust ANY book which talks about race and sociology without talking about white privilege and white supremacy. Correct me if I'm wrong but it seems this man wrote an entire book about community while NOT ONCE naming white supremacy.Today, the word “infrastructure” usually makes us think of what engineers and policy makers refer to as hard or physical in­frastructure: large-scale systems for transit, electricity, gas, oil, food, finance, sewage, water, heat, communications, and storm protection. Sometimes experts call these systems the “critical in­frastructure,” because policy makers perceive them to be essential for functioning societies. […]“Infrastructure” is not a term conventionally used to describe the underpinnings of social life. But this is a consequential over­sight, because the built environment—and not just cultural preferences or the existence of voluntary organizations—influences the breadth and depth of our associations. If states and societies do not recognize social infrastructure and how it works, they will fail to see a powerful way to promote civic engagement and social interaction, both within communities and across group lines. The team’s confidence is soaring when the second match gets going, but it doesn’t take long to see that Cypress Hills is for real. The opponents go first and it’s a strike. Jesse responds with a strike of her own. Then Cypress Hills rolls another, and Terry makes fish lips, popping her eyes in disbelief. Suhir makes a spare. New Lots is in it. But then Cypress gets a turkey, three strikes in a row, and Terry is incredulous. “There’s some funny business going on here!” she insists. “That’s Walter,” the Cypress Hills librarian. “I know that’s Walter. I’ma call him out.” If America appears fractured at the national level, the author suggests, it can be mended at the local one. This is an engrossing, timely, hopeful read, nothing less than a new lens through which to view the world and its current conflicts.” — Booklist (starred) The United States invests far more in disaster recovery than in preparing for disasters by designing and creating more resilient buildings and infrastructure. As a consequence, we are trapped in a cycle of repeatedly rebuilding shoddy systems in predictably dangerous places. The community room serves many purposes: theater, classroom, art studio, civic hall. But this morning two staff members, Terry and Christine, will transform it into something unusual: a virtual bowling alley. They’ve arrived early to set up a flat screen television, link an Xbox to the Internet, clear out a play space, and assemble two rows of portable chairs. It’s opening day of the Library Lanes Bowling League, a new program that encourages older patrons in twelve libraries in Brooklyn to join local teams and compete against neighboring branches. Nine people at New Lots signed up to play, and after weeks of practice, they’re about to take on Brownsville and Cypress Hills.

Place-based interventions are far more likely to succeed than people-based ones. What if vacant property received the attention that, for decades, has been showered on petty crime? I took a star off because I found the text somewhat rambling and roundabout. I thought it would be much more useful to divide chapters by type of institution, so those reading for institutional purposes could easily find what they're looking for. I did see an indication that the finished copy will have an index, so that should help. I don’t know why Klinenberg bothers with a pretence of political neutrality. Yes, he wants to appeal to readers of every political persuasion, but come on – it’s pretty obvious who he votes for, and who most readers would vote for. He does a disservice to his subject and his readers by pretending that both Democrats and Republicans care equally about funding social infrastructure. Reading Palaces for the People is an amazing experience. As an architect, I know very well the importance of building civic places: concert halls, libraries, museums, universities, public parks, all places open and accessible, where people can get together and share experiences. To create good places for people is essential, and this is what I share with Klinenberg: We both believe that beauty, this kind of beauty, can save the world.” Today, our communities are full of children whose future, like Jelani's, will be formed in the places where they go to learn about themselves and the world they'll inherit. They deserve palaces. Whether they get them is up to us.”At a time when polarization is weakening our democracy, Eric Klinenberg takes us on a tour of the physical spaces that bind us together and form the basis of civic life. We care about each other because we bump up against one another in a community garden or on the playground or at the library. These are not virtual experiences; they’re real ones, and they’re essential to our future. This wonderful book shows us how democracies thrive.” —Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt, authors of How Democracies Die Klinenberg imparts an impassioned and inspiring message about the need to shore up American society with places that will build community by bringing people together. The book meanders somewhat, though, and always seems to return to what becomes almost a refrain: "like, for example, libraries." Timely and important, a delightful, insightful, irreverent work . . . Should be required reading." — The Christian Science Monitor Klinenberg is a professor of sociology and the director of the Institute for Public Knowledge at New York University. He coined the term “social infrastructure” to describe the libraries, day-care centers, bookstores, coffee shops, and community gardens that shape our face-to-face interactions, and he has been exploring it for decades—ever since his landmark study of Chicago during the 1995 heat wave. He was the research director for the Obama administration’s Rebuild by Design project, where he worked to integrate social infrastructure into post–Hurricane Sandy rebuilding plans. In PALACES FOR THE PEOPLE, he applies this deep knowledge, stemming from years of both research and application, to diverse communities and challenges around the globe—from Singapore to Brazil and from East New York to Silicon Valley—to show how interactive physical spaces are combating some of the most profound problems of our time.

The aim of this sweeping work is to popularize the notion of ‘social infrastructure’—the ‘physical places and organizations that shape the way people interact’. . . . Here, drawing on research in urban planning, behavioral economics, and environmental psychology, as well as on his own fieldwork from around the world, [Eric Klinenberg] posits that a community’s resilience correlates strongly with the robustness of its social infrastructure. The numerous case studies add up to a plea for more investment in the spaces and institutions (parks, libraries, childcare centers) that foster mutual support in civic life.” — The New Yorker Deliciously hilarious. If you care about people and enjoy a good laugh, I politely encourage you to read this book. Immediately." How Was Life report looks at other factors contributing to, or harming, global #wellbeing over the last 200 years.

Broadcasts

Few modern social infrastructures are natural, however, and in densely populated areas even beaches and forests require careful engineering and management to meet human needs. This means that all social infrastructure requires investment, whether for de­velopment or upkeep, and when we fail to build and maintain it, the material foundations of our social and civic life erode. modern infrastructure—for reliable power, clean water, fast transit, affordable food, and resilient structures—has done more to improve public health than any other modern intervention, including scientific medicine”