Reply #7: The only time I've seen that kind of community interaction first hand

[Speck Tater]

was after my first divorce when I was broke and had to live in the poorest part of town for a couple years. It was a true community. Everybody knew all their neighbors and we all helped each other with everything from babysitting to shopping to auto repair, and people got together in front yards to BBQ and chat and exchange local gossip and news. Later, when I got back on my feet financially and moved to a "nicer" neighborhood, it wasn't a "neighborhood" at all, just a collection of hermetically sealed houses. In retrospect I was much happier living in the "slums".