What makes a happy, functional community? The most basic building blocks of happiness are safety, shelter, decent food, and decent healthcare. Once these needs have been met, communities can move beyond to meet the more complex human needs. A community with good schools and literacy, diversity and culture, an outlet for arts, and public services are in the next steps toward a growing, thriving city. I was on a Mexico-bound flight recently (lucky me!) and stumbled upon an article in the inflight magazine titled “The Happiest Places in the World.” The article featured four locations: Arhus, Denmark; Monterey, Mexico; San Luis Obisbo, California; and Singapore. The article found it important to note that these places are all culturally quite different. What made these cities enjoyable places to live and their citizen’s so satisfied was based on the values of that culture, and this varied. What all communities had in common was a sense of connection to their community and that their values could be lived out vocationally and personally. I was glued to the article for the duration of the flight and I began thinking about DC in the context of what I had read. How could our community be improved and revitalized? What would make people that lived here happier? Here goes!
Arhus, Denmark is a city of 300,000 people. You can walk to the sea or the forest, and yet the city is still large enough to have museums, diverse culture, and an urban feel. People know their neighbors, volunteer in their community, and few have much more or much less than others. The key to this community‘s success is trust. People do business on the honor system and there is virtually no corruption among public officials. Everyone lives modestly, and there are few signs of higher class or lower class citizens. The citizens feel quite liberated through trust and spend much time enriching their lives through exercise, socializing, and independent study. The community as a whole is so well supported by each individual, that each individual in turn receives what they need from the community.
In steep contrast to Danish society, Singapore is a place of many rules. There are laws for everything, from things as small as chewing gum in public places or stepping in grass—and these small missteps have big consequences: heavy fines or public humiliation. Whereas the Danes value freedom and justice, Singaporeans value owning things: a nice house, car, and luxury items in excess. In order to achieve this, they have become a workaholic society. To our Western minds, these rules and regulations might not seem like happiness. But as a woman interviewed said, “The idea that American democracy is the only path to freedom is arrogant. I’d rather live in a place where it’s safe for my kids to play today than one where I can read Playboy tomorrow” (Buettner 73). And there lies the part we can all agree on: Singapore is clean and safe. People live in a compact area and know their neighbors quite well and get around with ease. Public transportation runs on time and efficiently, and police are available and respond quickly to emergencies. The community is there to provide support during hardship, and to celebrate achievements. The system is getting positive results.
In Monterey, citizens prioritize social life over workplace productivity. This is an example of a difference in values, and Mexicans in this city are quite satisfied with their freedoms and social life. Many things that Americans consider vital to happiness such as decent income and trust-worthy government, are not contributing factors to Monterey’s citizens’ happiness. Mexicans value free-time and simplicity as well as their tight-knit, supportive community. Monterey enjoys a higher quality of education and health care than much of Mexico, and its citizens have opportunities for mobility, making it a particularly enjoyable place.
Finally, San Luis Obisbo is a supportive community of diversity. Much of the population volunteers and the city is small and easily accessible by bike, walking, and public transportation. Few people commute more than 10 minutes. Pierre Rademaker, an interviewee, believes that the involvement in society can be attributed to this lack of commute, as people are not worn down, nor are people’s homes or work far disconnected from one another. Community members feel a sense of purpose and belonging; they feel they can make a difference. Many people also mention a certain sense of purpose and satisfaction with their jobs. Jobs are valued highly in American society, and people spend a good sum of time in the workplace, so this could directly affect one’s overall happiness. People also enjoy feeling safe and connected.
So what about DC? How can we revitalize and revamp our city and meet the needs of the citizens? These four places may all seem quite far away from one another and from DC, but the people in them all enjoyed a level of security and connectedness. All were close knit communities that had easy mobility, closeness and proximity to neighbors, and a place where their needs were being met. Good schools, access to healthcare, nutritious food and lifestyle resources, trust, diversity and culture, and safety played roles in the happiness and sustainability of the communities mentioned. DC has many well-paying, interesting jobs. It has access to parks and public recreational spaces, as well as social services and provisions for those in need.
To me, the deep class divide is a big deterer of an actualized community in DC. Some of our lowest income citizens are without the resources they need, such as grocery stores to buy healthy food and skills to get well-payed jobs. We’ve got diversity, but we don’t have trust. We’ve also got a high crime rate, a high illiteracy rate, and failing schools. What gives, DC? What these successful communites are modeling to us is what we’re missing—a certain connection and sense of purpose in the community. We can only get out what we put in, and right now, we’re letting huge portions of our population slip between the cracks. DC should be a place where all people can live out their vocation and values and find a role to play. By creating such a large divide and stigmatizing both poverty and wealth with particular status symbols, we are perpetuating a dissonance and disconnectedness. We don’t all need to be alike; we all need to be given individual purpose to become actualized—and to make our city thrive.
--Megan
