Thanks to everyone who took the time to follow the story about The Hoods and our response to it, we’ve had hundreds of new visitors to this site over the past 48 hours. We hope that it won’t be a one-off and that many of you will return to stay abreast of much less incendiary news about neighborhood developments and events.

Whether you agree with our point about The Hoods or not, we want to invite everyone with a stake in Emerson-Garfield to participate in our ongoing efforts to improve the neighborhood from the bottom up. Contrary to stereotype, Emerson-Garfield’s neighborhood council and planning committee aren’t a cabal of grumpy old men griping about kids on their lawn — the groups are diverse, they’re vibrant, they’re active, and they’re always looking for ways to become more of all those things.

Some of the biggest challenges we’ve historically faced are ignorance and apathy, but The Hoods has shown that people can become informed very quickly if the incentive is there, and that those people are anything but apathetic about their neighborhood.

So, where do we go from here?

Don’t limit your concern to a single of outburst of controversy. Don’t limit your comments to a single blog post. Don’t sour on an issue because of criticism. Instead, show up to neighborhood council and planning meetings. Speak your mind. Offer your input. Make suggestions for improvement. Help with the legwork. Because neither the individual councils nor The Hoods are the sole arbiters of what our neighborhoods are or what they can be. That takes all of us working in concert.

Here in Emerson-Garfield, there are two meetings this week that would welcome new faces, new voices, and new ideas:

• Neighborhood Planning, 6pm on Wednesday at Corbin Senior Center. This is an initiative that is working toward a documented vision that could guide the neighborhood for the next decade and beyond.
• Emerson-Garfield Neighborhood Council, 7pm on Wednesday at Corbin Senior Center. This focuses on practical issues and improvements such as crime updates, new playground equipment in the parks, and event planning.

If you’re fired up and live, work, or own property anywhere in Emerson-Garfield, we hope to see you at one or both of these meetings.