When people talk about Olds being a connected community, it’s usually in reference to its one-gigabyte fibre optic network.
Well move over fast internet, that moniker also applies to the social fabric of our community which is getting stronger thanks to the Great Neighbours program.
And like fast internet, it too has the potential to entice people and companies to move here.
Great Neighbours is a Town of Olds initiative that helps neighbours get to know one another through things like simple suggestions for how to connect with people on your street and making hosting a block party easy.
Gone are the days in many towns when everyone on a street knew everyone else.
Gone are the days too in many towns, when a youth playing hooky from school may have gotten a talking to from an alert neighbourhood resident or a group of residents got together to bring food to an ailing neighbour. Or, heaven forbid people said hi to the people they pass on the street or are able to tell police their neighbours’ names when calling in suspicious activity at their home.
The Great Neighbours initiative was started last year and had immediate success in teaching people how to get back to the basics of being neighbourly on a grand scale.
The town began encouraging people to have block parties, complete with a town-supplied trailer full of hotdogs, games and staff to help -- for free.
The only thing people had to bring was a salad or dessert for fellow attendees and a willingness to connect with people they live near.
The impact of getting 30 or 40 people together from the same street stretches years past the initial gathering.
A neighbourhood in which people know one another decreases isolation and increases security and safety, says Heather Dixon, a Town of Olds community facilitator.
There is general agreement that people who live in a place where neighbours know each other, help each other and trust each other have a greater sense of personal safety.
And a sense of personal safety has been intrinsically linked to a sense of well-being.
So by 30, 40, or 50 people at a time, Olds neighbourhoods are becoming more socially connected, making our entire town a better place to live.
This aspect of being a connected community may not make international headlines like our one-gig broadband did, but it is just as important.
