Joe Erpenbeck

Asset mapping is an intentional focus on the assets in a community. Many groups utilize this process to increase knowledge and pride, foster connections, address community issues and to build stronger neighbourhoods. Sometimes the map will be comprised of all ...

A month or two ago I started a version of the Neighbourhood Zoo that I call the Gifford Street Animals. It has been interesting to see kids and families interact with it each day. I often place a question with the animals to prompt conversations such as &#8220...

On a morning walk in St.Petersburg, Florida, I stopped by the baseball field where I knew there were games that included players who were all over 50 and some in the 60s, 70’s and 80s. I had visited years before and knew it was a place of radical hospita...

There are over 200 “Happiness” signs in trees all over St. Petersburg Florida. They are made of aluminum and fiberglass and placed up high. The creator of the signs believes words have energies and “happiness” resonates more than most. Recently...

There is a high glass ceiling in the atrium on the way to my neighbourhood grocery store. On one one side is a pharmacy and the other the grocery store. In the atrium are picnic tables, several large wooden stumps for people to sit and off to the side there is...

A group of neighbours gathered on a Wednesday evening after a storm had come through. The sun was returning and everyone formed small groups and announced what part of the Eagle Place community they were walking. They were all on the lookout. Everyone was look...

I was in Cincinnati the week prior to the Labor Day Holiday, or as some refer to it here, “Booms Day”. A local radio station has produced a 30 minute mammoth fireworks display on the Ohio River since 1977 along with a choreographed soundtrack. A week prior...

Across from St. Patricks Church in San Francisco is a beautiful park where there are gorgeous plants and the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Fountain. The park also faces the Museum of Modern Art. There is so much history and beauty, you could easily overl...

As I caught a glimpse of the workers moving high up on the severely slanted roof I thought of the line in a movie where the character says, “I have a unique set of skills.” These aerial climbers would be a super interesting conversation in respondi...

I visited a Farmers Market last week at The Underpass Park. This park was created 10 years ago and turned a blighted area under a highway overpass into a space for neighbours to gather, play or relax. There are basketball courts, lots of amazing art, a skatebo...