Transition Hoods

Transition street by street

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

Transition towns are all fine and good but in larger cities especially we must start neighborhood by neighborhood, street by street, and maybe even in towns in Britain in general.

While American towns are small and more often than not even not the size of an English village in Britain towns are different. The fact that it has worked for an entire town, as in the case of Totness in Devon with the entire council getting behind it is just an exception. In most places the approach will need to be much more local.

I am well aware of the fact that the Transition Town Movement came from Eire and Britain and that is was started in two entire towns but in general trying to look at entire towns is way too big a field.

More local areas already are the Transition Towns such as Brixton, Kingston-upon-Thames, Ealing, etc., which are, basically, London Boroughs.

However, I believe that we must look at smaller beginnings and more local areas still to get most, if not indeed all, people involved.

Streets and neighborhoods must be the starting level and even housing estates in many cases.

The problem with getting a good number of residents in a particular town involved can be a daunting task and the fact that it does not happen often leads to disappointment on the side of those that wish to see a Transition Town happening in their town.

Bringing Transition down to hood level (hood is an American slang abbreviation for neighborhood) can lead to much better results.

In many areas of Britain the hood could be based on the system of constitutional wards while in other areas it may have to be brought down to housing estate or street level.

Transition hoods will, I believe, lead to a much closer level of cooperation between residents and can lead to much more than just doing some “transition things”.

Such cooperation could lead to the residents and other stakeholders in a hood taking on a much greater ownership of everything, including caring for their streets, open spaces, parks, etc., (in conjunction with the council).

That is also, I think, what Transition is meant to be and those Transition Hoods will join together into the greater entity of the Transition Town in the end.

Street- and hood committees would then work in the finalized Transition Town to coordinate everything and to keep it local at the local level with also local at a slightly higher level of the town itself.

Just an idea and a dream...

© 2011