By Melissa Wagoner
When describing herself, Kate Pattison uses the word “neighborhoodian” – a term she coined because of her extreme passion for the place and people who compose the community around her.
“I take it as a very literal – ‘love your neighbors,’” she declared. “I need to live in the front yard.”
Pattison and her husband John moved to Silverton eight years ago because of the tight-knit community and the built environment they found.
“Built environment is where you develop a neighborhood and develop a downtown core. Whether there are sidewalks, wide curves – all of these things matter and affect whether people drive or walk. It’s places versus non-places.”
In Silverton, the Pattisons saw a vibrant built environment, one that had been around since the founding of the town. The business of joining the community and helping to develop it further was still of utmost interest to them. Then, in the spring of 2010, they stumbled upon a conference in Seattle called Inhabit, which changed everything.
“It’s all about the faith community being rooted in their local community and weaving a connection,” Pattison explained. “The whole idea is to go back to your place and take a posture of listening and get to know your neighbors.”
The Pattisons were so inspired by that first conference that they have continued to attend. John went on to write the book, Slow Church: Cultivating Community in the Patient Way of Jesus partly in response to what he has learned over the years and Kate became a member of the Parish Collective – the group that organizes the Inhabit conferences. But what the couple really longed for was to share the conference with others from their own community and thus inspire a neighborhoodian movement.
“All these years I’ve been bugging people to come,” Pattison laughed.
This past April she got her wish. She was joined by 12 fellow Silvertonians who were able to see first-hand what keeps the Pattisons coming back year after year.
“I realized all these other people care about their place as much as I do,” attendee John Friedrick – Pastor at Oak Street Church in Silverton – said.
Although the conference largely consists of individuals hailing from metropolitan areas, the Silverton group still found much that applied to their own corner of the map. One topic was affordable housing – an issue the Pattisons have had personal experience with and one they solved by moving in with two other families.
“Being a family who has very intentionally sought out living in Silverton for life – one of the things that makes it affordable is co-housing,” Pattison explained.
This kind of out-of-the-box problem solving and networking – referred to by Friedrick as “the creative imaginative” – was among the many themes of the conference. Friedrick explained that countless solutions – like co-housing – can appear, on the surface, as the answer to an economic problem but it solves more than money issues. It also creates connection within the community.
“We want all this space between us and our neighbors,” fellow attendee Hilary Dumitrescu said. “When we’re forced to live in proximity there’s a level of awareness that’s produced. People should live like this all the time.”
Creating a cohesive community was the overarching theme of the Inhabit Conference, and Friedrick learned the best way to begin is to banish fear.
“There’s a lot of fear of our neighbors,” he explained. “We lock our door – that’s the built environment. You don’t have to see your neighbors.”
Dumitrescu learned a good antidote is to nurture a culture of storytelling.
“Taking the time to talk to your neighbors and hear their stories,” she said. “You can’t hate someone if you know their story – their real story.”
Dumitrescu thinks part of the fear in her own community may come from the number of newcomers moving in.
“But I think it can grow with intention. We’re Silverton, that’s what we do.”
Dumitrescu suggested that viewing growth as a necessary part of creating a healthy community and a way of keeping the cost of housing affordable for all residents may help alleviate the fear of growth.
“People shy away from 60 units per acre,” she said, “but that supports buses. 80 units supports jobs. 30 units per acre lessens infrastructure.” Instead of limiting new residences, Dumitrescu suggested supporting the economy through higher wages that mirror the rising cost of housing.
Paul Mathae – another attendee and the owner of New Creations Sign – agreed, adding supporting budding entrepreneurs would also benefit the economy.
“The presenter said, ‘We don’t need more soup kitchens, we need to start thinking creatively on some practical ways of how to empower people,” he said.
Mathae immediately thought of the local churches, which sit – mostly unutilized – the majority of the week.
“That’s not good stewardship,” he said. “Would there be somebody who’s always wanted to start a dance studio? Could we empower people?”
Armed with a new way of looking at the built spaces around them the Inhabit attendees are ready to take creative imaginative action – especially Pattison, who has spent the past eight years doing what she was tasked at that first conference to do – observe and listen.
“I’m about ready to explode now because I’m ready to go,” she declared. “I finally think I can take steps forward.”
Pattison’s goal is to help the community come together in support of the schools, to begin developing the underutilized spaces and to help the local economy flourish. “There are people in every part of this community who care about this place – the people, the land, the food, the economy,” she said.
Dumitrescu agreed. “I just feel like we have such a wealth here in terms of community and love and charm and sweetness and if we come together with intention we can do something great.”
