Creating a sense of community

I was chatting with an old neighbor yesterday about working with online (virtual) communities when a light clicked on about creating a sense of community.  If we can create a sense of community in a virtual environment, why can’t we create a sense of community where there is real community which is a condominium community? 

If you lived in a planned community then you will know what I am about to write is 100% the case and that is we are quickly losing the sense of community.  People are going about their day to day lives and ignoring what is happening to their left and right. 

A planned community can have a host of benefits, including security, sharing, personal support, and networking.  Yet in today’s environment we probably can’t answer a single question about our neighbors other than possibly how many people live in the unit and what their gender is.  Chances are these same people are pouring their hearts out to strangers online in a social network.

So the question is can we merge the two environments and bring the sense of community back to our condominiums through our own social network?  I believe it is worth a try.