Some thoughts on community

The Paris suburbs are supposed to be a nightmare of crime and desolation but not Puteaux the one I am staying in. Yes, it is working class and also multi-cultural. Women in African dress and long braid walk the same streets as veiled women. The number of shops with Arabic indicate enough of a population to support them. Oriental restaurants abound.

The City Hall is surrounded by fountains, flowers and playgrounds where mothers sit and watch their children slide and swing. The streets signs are not just the ubiquitous blue on the sides of buildings but are four-color artistic shields with a silhouette symbol perched on the top. Street lamps that could have been used for ornate gas lamps two centuries ago hang on curlicue wrought iron holders.

There are no lawns. Apartment houses are next to one families with no space in between so there is no chance to confuse this with America suburbia. Rentals and property purchases are on the low side by Paris standards.

There are many community activities. Last month a sports day drew 8000 residents. The police department is offering a solve-a-crime day. The school cooks have come up with a week of gourmet menus for the children that include things like lamb curry and duck salad.

The graffiti is minimal. What was there my last visit is gone and only one building is marked.

Why? Is it the obvious care given to the environment by the city officials? Is it the many activities for its citizens that bond a community together. I am sure if I lived here I would see that this suburb has problems like all others, but the young female mayor and her counsel have made this a pretty community with the word community being strong. I am not enough of a sociologist to preach when the flowers come in the crime goes down, but isn’t it possible when someone begins to take care of property and places that it will catch on the same way neighborhoods become downwardly mobile? Isn’t having communal places where mothers can meet while children play a way to break down barriers? And can you hate someone who’ve you tossed a ball to the Saturday before?

My daughter and I will spend Christmas here. I am already looking forward to some of the activities as well as the decorations. Last year’s theme were the Russian nesting dolls.
I am looking forward to this year's.