WHAT IS A COMMUNITY?

WHAT DO WE MEAN BY U NDERSTANDING AND

DESCRIBING THE COMMU NITY?
WHY MAKE THE EFFORT TO UNDERSTAND
AND DESCRIBE YOUR COMMUNITY?
WHOM SHOULD YOU CONTACT TO GATHER
INFORMATION?
HOW DO YOU GO ABOUT UNDERSTANDING
AND DESCRIBING THE COMMUNITY?

For those of us who work in community health and development,

it's important to understand community -- what a community is,
and the specific nature of the communities we work in. Anything
we do in a community requires us to be familiar with its people, its
issues, and its history. Carrying out an intervention or building a
coalition are far more likely to be successful if they are informed by
the culture of the community and an understanding of the
relationships among individuals and groups within it.
Taking the time and effort to understand your community well
before embarking on a community effort will pay off in the long
term. A good way to accomplish that is to create a community
description -- a record of your exploration and findings. It's a good
way to gain a comprehensive overview of the community -- what it
is now, what it's been in the past, and what it could be in the
future. In this section, we'll discuss how you might approach
examining the community in some detail and setting down your
findings in a community description.

WHAT IS A COMMUNITY?
While we traditionally think of a community as the people in a
given geographical location, the word can really refer to any group
sharing something in common. This may refer to smaller geographic
areas -- a neighborhood, a housing project or development, a rural
area -- or to a number of other possible communities within a larger,
geographically-defined community.
These are often defined by race or ethnicity, professional or
economic ties, religion, culture, or shared background or interest:

The Catholic community (or faith community, a term used to

refer to one or more congregations of a specific faith).
The arts community
The African American community
The education community
The business community
The homeless community
The gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender community
The medical community
The Haitian community
The elderly community

These various communities often overlap. An African American art

teacher, for example, might see herself (or be seen by others) as a
member of the African American, arts, and/or education
communities, as well as of a particular faith community. An Italian
woman may become an intensely involved member of the ethnic and
cultural community of her Nigerian husband. Whichever
community defines your work, you will want to get to know it
well.
WHAT DO WE MEAN BY
UNDERSTANDING AND DE SCRIBING THE
COMMUNITY?
Understanding the community entails understanding it in a number
of ways. Whether or not the community is defined geographically,
it still has a geographic context -- a setting that it exists in. Getting a
clear sense of this setting may be key to a full understanding of it.
At the same time, it's important to understand the specific
community you're concerned with. You have to get to know its
people -- their culture, their concerns, and relationships -- and to
develop your own relationships with them as well.
Physical aspects. Every community has a physical presence of
some sort, even if only one building. Most have a geographic
area or areas they are either defined by or attached to. It's
important to know the community's size and the look and feel
of its buildings, its topography (the lay of the land -- the hills,
valleys, rivers, roads, and other features you'd find on a map),
and each of its neighborhoods. Also important are how various
areas of the community differ from one another, and whether
your impression is one of clean, well-maintained houses and
streets, or one of shabbiness, dirt, and neglect.
If the community is one defined by its population, then its
physical properties are also defined by the population: where
they live, where they gather, the places that are important to
them. The characteristics of those places can tell you a great
deal about the people who make up the community. Their self-
image, many of their attitudes, and their aspirations are often
reflected in the places where they choose -- or are forced by
circumstance or discrimination -- to live, work, gather, and
play.

Infrastructure. Roads, bridges, transportation (local public

transportation, airports, train lines), electricity, land line and
mobile telephone service, broadband service, and similar
 "basics" make up the infrastructure of the community, without
which it couldn't function.
Patterns of settlement, commerce, and industry. Where are
those physical spaces we've been discussing? Communities
reveal their character by where and how they create living and
working spaces. Where there are true slums -- substandard
housing in areas with few or no services that are the only
options for low-income people -- the value the larger
community places on those residents seems clear. Are heavy
industries located next to residential neighborhoods? If so, who
lives in those neighborhoods? Are some parts of the community
dangerous, either because of high crime and violence or because
of unsafe conditions in the built or natural environment?
Demographics. It's vital to understand who makes up the
community. Age, gender, race and ethnicity, marital status,
education, number of people in household, first language --
these and other statistics make up the demographic profile of
the population. When you put them together (e.g., the
education level of black women ages 18-24), it gives you a clear
picture of who community residents are.
History. The long-term history of the community can tell you
about community traditions, what the community is, or has
been, proud of, and what residents would prefer not to talk
about. Recent history can afford valuable information about
conflicts and factions within the community, important issues,
past and current relationships among key people and groups --
many of the factors that can trip up any effort before it starts if
you don't know about and address them.
Community leaders, formal and informal. Some community
leaders are elected or appointed -- mayors, city councilors,
directors of public works. Others are considered leaders
because of their activities or their positions in the community --
community activists, corporate CEO's, college presidents,
doctors, clergy. Still others are recognized as leaders because,
they are trusted for their proven integrity, courage, and/or
care for others and the good of the community.
 Community culture, formal and informal. This covers the
spoken and unspoken rules and traditions by which the
community lives. It can include everything from community
events and slogans -- the blessing of the fishing fleet, the
"Artichoke Capital of the World" -- to norms of behavior --
turning a blind eye to alcohol abuse or domestic violence -- to
patterns of discrimination and exercise of power.
Understanding the culture and how it developed can be crucial,
especially if that's what you're attempting to change.
Existing groups. Most communities have an array of groups
and organizations of different kinds -- service clubs (Lions,
Rotary, etc.), faith groups, youth organizations, sports teams
and clubs, groups formed around shared interests, the boards
of community-wide organizations (the YMCA, the symphony,
United Way), as well as groups devoted to self-help, advocacy,
and activism. Knowing of the existence and importance of each
of these groups can pave the way for alliances or for
understanding opposition.
Existing institutions. Every community has institutions that
are important to it, and that have more or less credibility with
residents. Colleges and universities, libraries, religious
institutions, hospitals -- all of these and many others can
occupy important places in the community. It's important to
know what they are, who represents them, and what influence
they wield.
Economics. Who are the major employers in the community?
What, if any, business or industry is the community's base?
Who, if anyone, exercises economic power? How is wealth
distributed? Would you characterize the community as poor,
working, class, middle class, or affluent? What are the
economic prospects of the population in general and/or the
population you're concerned with?
Government/Politics. Understanding the structure of
community government is obviously important. Some
communities may have strong mayors and weak city councils,
others the opposite. Still other communities may have no
mayor at all, but only a town manager, or may have a different
 form of government entirely. Whatever the government
structure, where does political power lie? Understanding
where the real power is can be the difference between a
successful effort and a vain one.
Social structure. Many aspects of social structure are
integrated into other areas -- relationships, politics, economics -
- but there are also the questions of how people in the
community relate to one another on a daily basis, how
problems are (or aren't) resolved, who socializes or does
business with whom, etc. This area also includes perceptions
and symbols of status and respect, and whether status carries
entitlement or responsibility (or both).
Attitudes and values. Again, much of this area may be covered
by investigation into others, particularly culture. What does
the community care about, and what does it ignore? What are
residents' assumptions about the proper way to behave, to
dress, to do business, to treat others? Is there widely accepted
discrimination against one or more groups by the majority or
by those in power? What are the norms for interaction among
those who with different opinions or different backgrounds?

We'll discuss all of these aspects of community in greater detail

later in the section.
There are obviously many more aspects of community that can be
explored, such as health or education. The assumption here is that
as part of an assessment, you'll aim for a general understanding of
the community, as described in this section, and also assess, with a
narrower focus, the specific aspects you're interested in.
Once you've explored the relevant areas of the community, you'll
have the information to create a community description. Depending
on your needs and information, this description might be anything
from a two-or three-page outline to an in-depth portrait of the
community that extends to tens of pages and includes charts,
graphs, photographs, and other elements. The point of doing it is to
have a picture of the community at a particular point in time that
you can use to provide a context for your community assessment
and to see the results of whatever actions you take to bring about
change.
A community description can be as creative as you're capable of
making it. It can be written as a story, can incorporate photos and
commentary from community residents (see Photovoice), can be
done online and include audio and video, etc. The more interesting
the description is, the more people are likely to actually read it.

WHY MAKE THE EFFORT TO

UNDERSTAND AND DESCR IBE YOUR
COMMUNITY?
You may at this point be thinking, "Can't I work effectively within
this community without gathering all this information?" Perhaps,
if it's a community you're already familiar with, and really know it
well. If you're new to the community, or an outsider, however, it's a
different story. Not having the proper background information on
your community may not seem like a big deal until you
unintentionally find yourself on one side of a bitter divide, or get
involved in an issue without knowing about its long and tangled
history.
SOME ADVANTAGES TO TAKING THE TIME TO
UNDERSTAND THE COMMUNITY AND CREATE A
COMMUNITY DESCRIPTION INCLUDE:
Gaining a general idea, even before an assessment, of the
community's strengths and the challenges it faces.
Capturing unspoken, influential rules and norms. For example,
if people are divided and angry about a particular issue, your
information might show you an event in the community's
history that explains their strong emotions on that subject.
Getting a feel for the attitudes and opinions of the community
when you're starting work on an initiative.
Ensuring the security of your organization's staff and
participants. There may be neighborhoods where staff
members or participants should be accompanied by others in
 order to be safe, at least at night. Knowing the character of
various areas and the invisible borders that exist among
various groups and neighborhoods can be extremely important
for the physical safety of those working and living in the
community.
Having enough familiarity with the community to allow you to
converse intelligently with residents about community issues,
personalities and geography. Knowing that you've taken the
time and effort to get to know them and their environment can
help you to establish trust with community members. That can
make both a community assessment and any actions and
activities that result from it easier to conduct.
Being able to talk convincingly with the media about the
community.
Being able to share information with other organizations or
coalitions that work in the community so that you can
collaborate or so that everyone's work can benefit.
Providing background and justification for grant proposals.
Knowing the context of the community so that you can tailor
interventions and programs to its norms and culture, and
increase your chances of success.

WHEN SHOULD YOU MAKE AN EFFORT

TO UNDERSTAND AND DE SCRIBE THE
COMMUNITY?
When you're about to launch a community assessment. The
first step is to get a clear sense of the community, before more
specifically assessing the area(s) you're interested in.
When you're new to a community and want to be well informed
before beginning your work. If you've just started working in a
community -- even if it's work you've been doing for years -- you
will probably find that taking the time to write a community
description enriches your work.
When you've been working in a community for any length of
time and want to take stock. Communities are complex,
constantly-changing entities. By periodically stopping to write
 a detailed description of your community, you can assess what
approaches have worked and what haven't; new needs that
have developed over time and old concerns that no longer
require your effort and energy; and other information to help
you better do your work.
When you're feeling like you're stuck in a rut and need a fresh
perspective. Organizations have to remain dynamic in order to
keep moving forward. Reexamining the community -- or
perhaps examining it carefully for the first time -- can infuse an
organization with new ideas and new purpose.
When you're considering introducing a new initiative or
program and want to assess its possible success.Aside from
when you first come to a community, this is probably the most
vital time to do a community description.
When a funder asks you to, often as part of a funding proposal.

While researching and writing a community description can take

time, your work can almost always benefit from the information
you gather.

WHOM SHOULD YOU CONT ACT TO

GATHER INFORMATION?
Much of your best and most interesting information may come from
community members with no particular credentials except
that they're part of the community. It's especially important to get
the perspective of those who often don't have a voice in community
decisions and politics -- low-income people, immigrants, and others
who are often kept out of the community discussion. In addition,
however, there are some specific people that it might be important
to talk to. They're the individuals in key positions, or those who are
trusted by a large part of the community or by a particular
population. In a typical community, they might include:

Elected officials
Community planners and development officers
Chiefs of police
School superintendents, principals, and teachers
 Directors or staff of health and human service organizations
Health professionals
Clergy
Community activists
Housing advocates
Presidents or chairs of civic or service clubs -- Chamber of
Commerce, veterans' organizations, Lions, Rotary, etc.
People without titles, but identified by others as "community
leaders"
Owners or CEO's of large businesses (these may be local or may
be large corporations with local branches)

HOW DO YOU GO ABOUT

UNDERSTANDING AND DE SCRIBING THE
COMMUNITY?
GENERAL GUIDELINES
To begin, let's look at some basic principles to keep in mind.

Be prepared to learn from the community. Assume that you

have a lot to learn, and approach the process with an open
mind. Listen to what people have to say. Observe carefully.
Take notes -- you can use them later to generate new questions
or to help answer old ones.
Be aware that people's speech, thoughts, and actions are not
always rational. Their attitudes and behavior are often best
understood in the context of their history, social relations, and
culture. Race relations in the U.S., for example, can't be
understood without knowing some of the historical context --
the history of slavery, Jim Crow laws, and the work of Martin
Luther King and the Civil Rights Movement.
Don't assume that the information people give you is
necessarily accurate. There are a number of reasons why
informants may tell you things that are inaccurate. People's
perceptions don't always reflect reality, but are colored instead
by what they think or what they think they know. In
 addition, some may intentionally exaggerate or downplay
particular conditions or issues for their own purposes or for
what they see as the greater good. (The Chamber of Commerce
or local government officials might try to make economic
conditions look better than they are in the hopes of attracting
new business to the community, for instance.) Others may
simply be mistaken about what they tell you -- the
geographical boundaries of a particular neighborhood, for
example, or the year of an important event. Get information,
particularly on issues, conditions, and relationships from many
sources if you can. As time goes on, you'll learn who the always-
reliable sources are.
Beware of activities that may change people's behavior. It's
well known that people (and animals as well) can change their
normal behavior as a result of knowing they're being studied.
Neighborhood residents may clean up their yards if they're
aware that someone is taking the measure of the neighborhood.
Community members may try to appear as they wish to be
seen, rather than as they really are, if they know you're
watching. To the extent that you can, try not to do anything
that will change the way people go about their daily business
or express themselves. That usually means being as unobtrusive
as possible -- not being obvious about taking pictures or making
notes, for instance. In some circumstances, it could mean trying
to gain trust and insight through participant observation.

Participant observation is a technique that anthropologists use. It

entails becoming part of another culture, both to keep people in it
from being influenced by your presence and to understand it from
the inside. Some researchers believe it addresses the problem of
changing the culture by studying it, and others believe that it
makes the problem worse.

Take advantage of the information and facilities that help

shape the world of those who have lived in the community for
a long time. Read the local newspaper (and the alternative
paper, too, if there is one), listen to local radio, watch local TV,
listen to conversation in cafes and bars, in barbershops and
 beauty shops. You can learn a great deal about a community by
immersing yourself in its internal communication. The
Chamber of Commerce will usually have a list of area
businesses and organizations, along with their contact people,
which should give you both points of contact and a sense of
who the people are that you might want to get in touch with.
Go to the library -- local librarians are often treasure troves of
information, and their professional goal is to spread it around.
Check out bulletin boards at supermarkets and laundromats.
Even graffiti can be a valuable source of information about
community issues.
Network, network, network. Every contact you make in the
community has the potential to lead you to more contacts.
Whether you're talking to official or unofficial community
leaders or to people you just met on the street, always ask who
else they would recommend that you talk to and whether you
can use their names when you contact those people.
Establishing relationships with a variety of community
members is probably the most important thing you can do to
ensure that you'll be able to get the information you need, and
that you'll have support for working in the community when
you finish your assessment and begin your effort.

GATHERING INFORMATION
To find out about various aspects of the community, you'll need a
number of different methods of gathering information. We've
already discussed some of them, and many of the remaining sections
of this chapter deal with them, because they're the same methods
you'll use in doing a full community assessment. Here, we'll simply
list them, with short explanations and links to sections where you
can get more information about each.

Public records and archives. These include local, state, and

federal government statistics and records, newspaper archives,
and the records of other organizations that they're willing to
share. Many of the public documents are available at public
and/or university libraries and on line at government websites.
 Most communities have their own websites, which often
contain valuable information as well.
Individual and group interviews. Interviews can range from
casual conversations in a cafe to structured formal interviews
in which the interviewer asks the same specific questions of a
number of carefully chosen key informants. They can be
conducted with individuals or groups, in all kinds of different
places and circumstances. They're often the best sources of
information, but they're also time-consuming and involve
finding the right people and convincing them to consent to be
interviewed, as well as finding (and sometimes training) good
interviewers.

Interviews may include enlisting as sources of information others

who've spent time learning about the community. University
researchers, staff and administrators of health and human service
organizations, and activists may all have done considerable work to
understand the character and inner workings of the community.
Take advantage of their findings if you can. It may save you many
hours of effort.

Surveys. There are various types of surveys. They can be

written or oral, conducted with a selected small group --
usually a randomized sample that represents a larger
population -- or with as many community members as possible.
They can be sent through the mail, administered over the
phone or in person, or given to specific groups (school classes,
faith congregations, the Rotary Club). They're often fairly
short, and ask for answers that are either yes-no, or that rate
the survey-taker's opinion of a number of possibilities
(typically on a scale that represents "agree strongly" to
"disagree strongly" or "very favorable" to "very unfavorable.")
Surveys can, however, be much more comprehensive, with
many questions, and can ask for more complex answers.
Direct or participant observation. Often the best way to find
out about the community is simply to observe. You can observe
physical features, conditions in various areas, the interactions
of people in different neighborhoods and circumstances, the
 amount of traffic, commercial activity, how people use various
facilities and spaces, or the evidence of previous events or
decisions. Participant observation means becoming part of the
group or scene you're observing, so that you can see it from the
inside.

Observation can take many forms. In addition to simply going to a

place and taking notes on what you see, you might use other
techniques -- Photovoice, video, audio, simple photographs,
drawings, etc. Don't limit the ways in which you can record your
observations and impressions.
UNDERSTANDING THE CO MMUNITY
Now let's consider what you might examine to understand and
describe the community. You won't necessarily look for this
information in the order given here, although it's a good idea to
start with the first two.
The community's physical characteristics.
Get a map of the community and drive and/or walk around. (If the
community isn't defined by geography, note and observe the areas
where its members live, work, and gather.) Observe both the built
and the natural environment. In the built environment, some things
to pay attention to are:

The age, architecture, and condition of housing and other

buildings. Some shabby or poorly-maintained housing may
occupy good buildings that could be fixed up, for example --
that's important to know. Is there substandard housing in the
community? Look for new construction, and new
developments, and take note of where they are, and whether
they're replacing existing housing or businesses or adding to it.
(You might want to find out more about these. Are they
controversial? Was there opposition to them, and how was it
resolved? Does the community offer incentives to developers,
and, if so, for what?) Is housing separated by income or other
factors, so that all low-income residents, for instance, or all
 North African immigrants seem to live in one area away from
others? Are buildings generally in good condition, or are they
dirty and run-down? Are there buildings that look like they
might have historic significance, and are they kept up? Are
most buildings accessible to people with disabilities?
Commercial areas. Are there stores and other businesses in
walking distance of residential areas or of public
transportation for most members of the community? Do
commercial buildings present windows and displays or blank
walls to pedestrians? Is there foot traffic and activity in
commercial areas, or do they seem deserted? Is there a good mix
of local businesses, or nothing but chain stores? Are there
theaters, places to hear music, a variety of restaurants, and
other types of entertainment? Do many buildings include
public spaces -- indoor or outdoor plazas where people can sit,
for example? In general, are commercial areas and buildings
attractive and well-maintained?
The types and location of industrial facilities. What kind of
industry exists in the community? Does it seem to have a lot of
environmental impact -- noise, air or water pollution, smells,
heavy traffic? Is it located close to residential areas, and, if so,
who lives there? Is there some effort to make industrial
facilities attractive -- landscaping, murals or imaginative color
schemes on the outside, etc?
Infrastructure. What condition are streets in? Do most streets,
at least in residential and commercial areas, have sidewalks?
Bike lanes? Are pedestrians shielded from traffic by trees, grass
strips, and/or plantings? Are roads adequate for the traffic
they bear? Are there foot bridges across busy highways and
railroad tracks, or do they separate areas of the community
and pose dangers for pedestrians? Is there adequate public
transportation, with facilities for people with physical
disabilities? Does it reach all areas of the community? Can most
people gain access to the Internet if they have the equipment
(i.e., computers or properly equipped cell phones)?
This is a topic that is ripe for examination. In many rural areas,
particularly in developing countries, but often in the developed
world as well, there is very little infrastructure. Roads and bridges
may be impassable at certain (or most) times of year, phone service
and TV reception nonexistent, Internet access a distant dream.
Public transportation in many places, if it exists at all, may take the
form of a pickup truck or 20-year-old van that takes as many
passengers as can squeeze into or onto the bed, passenger
compartment, and roof. Is any of this on the government's or
anyone else's radar as a situation that needs to be addressed? What
is the general policy about services to rural and/or poor
populations? Answers to these and similar questions may both
explain the situation (and the attitudes of the local population) and
highlight a number of possible courses of action.
In the category of natural features, we can include both areas that
have been largely left to nature, and "natural" spaces created by
human intervention.

Topography. An area's topography is the shape of its landscape.

Is the community largely hilly, largely flat, or does it
incorporate areas of both? Is water -- rivers, creeks, lakes and
ponds, canals, seashore -- a noticeable or important part of the
physical character of the community? Who lives in what areas
of the community?
Open space and greenery. Is there open space scattered
throughout the community, or is it limited to one or a few
areas? How much open space is there? Is it mostly man-made
(parks, commons, campuses, sports fields), or is there
wilderness or semi-wilderness? Does the community give the
impression of being green and leafy, with lots of trees and
grass, or is it mostly concrete or dirt?
Air and water. Is the air reasonably clear and clean, or is there
a blanket of smog? Does the air generally smell fresh, or are
there industrial or other unpleasant odors? Do rivers, lakes, or
other bodies of water appear clean? Do they seem to be used for
recreation (boating, swimming, fishing)?
There is an overlap between the community's physical and social
characteristics. Does the lay of the land make it difficult to get from
one part of the community to another? (Biking, or in some cases
even walking, is difficult in San Francisco, for example, because of
the length and steepness of the hills.) Are there clear social
divisions that mirror the landscape -- all the fancy houses in the
hills, all the low-income housing in the flats, for instance?
Studying the physical layout of the community will serve you not
only as information, but as a guide for finding your way around,
knowing what people are talking about when they refer to various
areas and neighborhoods, and gaining a sense of the living
conditions of any populations you're concerned with.
Community demographics.
Demographics are the facts about the population that you can find
from census data and other similar statistical information. Some
things you might like to know, besides the number of people in the
community:

Gender
Racial and ethnic background
Age. Numbers and percentages of the population in various age
groups
Marital status
Family size
Education
Income
Employment - Both the numbers of people employed full and
part-time, and the numbers of people in various types of work
Location - Knowing which groups live in which neighborhoods
or areas can help to recruit participants in a potential effort or
to decide where to target activities

In the U.S., most of this and other demographic information is

available from the U.S. Census, from state and local government
websites, or from other government agencies. Depending on what
issues and countries you're concerned with, some sources of
information might be the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services, similar websites in
other countries, and the various agencies of the United Nations.
On many of these websites, notably the U.S. Census, various
categories can be combined, so that you can, for example, find out
the income levels in your community for African American women
aged 25-34 with a high school education. If the website won't do it
for you, it's fairly easy to trace the patterns yourself, thus giving
you a much clearer picture of who community residents are and
what their lives might be like.
Another extremely useful resource is County Health Rankings &
Roadmaps, which provides rankings for nearly every county in the
nation. The County Health Rankings model includes four types of
health factors: health behaviors, clinical care, social and economic,
and the physical environment. The County Health Rankings
illustrate what we know when it comes to whats making people
sick or healthy, and the new County Health Roadmaps show what
we can do to create healthier places to live, learn, work and play.
These reports can help community leaders see that our
environment influences how healthy we are and how long we live,
and even what parts of our environment are most influential.
Community history.
This can be a complex topic. The "standard" history -- when the
community was founded and by whom, how long it has existed,
how people lived there in the past, its major sources of work, etc. --
can often be found in the local library or newspaper archives, or
even in books or articles written for a larger audience. The less
comfortable parts of that history, especially recent history --
discrimination, conflict, economic and/or political domination by a
small group -- are may not be included, and are more likely to be
found by talking to activists, journalists, and others who are
concerned with those issues. You might also gain information by
reading between the lines of old newspaper articles and tracking
down people who were part of past conflicts or events.
If this all sounds a lot like investigative reporting, that's because it
is. You may not have the time or skills to do much of it, but talking
to activists and journalists about recent history can be crucial.
Stepping into a community with an intervention or initiative
without understanding the dynamics of community history can be a
recipe for failure.
Community government and politics.
There are a number of ways to learn about the structure and
operation of local government:

Go to open meetings of the city council, town boards, board of

selectmen, or other bodies, as well as to public forums on
proposed actions, laws, and regulations. Such meetings will be
announced in the local paper.

In most of the U.S., these meetings are public by state law, and must
be announced in specific ways at least two days ahead.

Community bylaws and regulations are often available at the

public library.
Make an appointment to talk to one or more local government
officials. Many hold regular office hours, and might actually
take pleasure in explaining the workings of the local
government.
Talk to community activists for a view of how the government
actually operates, as opposed to how it's supposed to operate.
Read the local newspaper every day.

Reading the newspaper every day is a good idea in general if you're

trying to learn about the community. It will not only have stories
about how the community operates, but will give you a sense of
what's important to its readers, what kinds of activities the
community engages in and views as significant, what the police do --
a picture of a large part of community life. Real estate ads will tell
you about property values and the demand for housing, ads for
services can help you identify the major businesses in town, and the
ages and education levels of the people in the marriage and birth
announcements can speak volumes about community values.
Newspaper archives can also reveal the stories that help you
understand the emotions still surrounding events and issues that
don't seem current. The newspaper is an enormous reservoir of
both direct and between-the-lines information.
As we all know, government isn't only about the rules and
structures that hold it together. It's about people and their
interactions...politics, in other words. The political climate,
culture, and assumptions in a particular community often depend
more on who elected and appointed officials are than on the limits
or duties of their offices.
The politics of many communities embody the ideal of government
working for the public good. In other communities, politics takes a
back seat to economics, and politicians listen largely to those with
economic power -- the CEO's, owners, and directors of large
businesses and institutions. In still others, the emphasis is on
power itself, so that political decisions are made specifically to keep
a particular party, group, or individual in control.
Obviously, only in the first case is the public well served. In the
other situations, fairness and equity tend to go out the window and
decisions favor the powerful. Understanding the politics of the
community -- who has power, who the power brokers are, who
actually influences the setting of policy, how decisions are made
and by whom, how much difference public opinion makes -- is
fundamental to an understanding of the community as a whole.
There's no formal way to get this information. Government officials
may have very different interpretations of the political scene than
activists or other community members. You'll have to talk to a
variety of people, take a good look at recent political controversies
and decisions (here's where newspaper archives can come in
handy), and juggle some contradicting stories to get at the reality.
Institutions.
Community institutions, unless they are dysfunctional, can
generally be viewed as assets. Finding them should be easy: as
mentioned above, the Chamber of Commerce will probably have a
list of them, the library will probably have one as well, the local
newspaper will often list them, and they'll be in the phone book.
They cover the spectrum of community life, including:

Offices of local, state, and federal government agencies

(Welfare, Dept. of Agriculture, Office of Immigration, etc.)
Public libraries.
Religious institutions. Churches, synagogues, mosques.
Cultural institutions. Museums, theaters, concert halls, etc.
and the companies they support. These may also encompass
community theater and music companies run and staffed by
community volunteer boards and performers.
Community centers. Community centers may provide athletic,
cultural, social, and other (yoga, support groups) activities for
a variety of ages.
YMCA's and similar institutions.
Senior centers.
Hospitals and public health services.
Colleges and universities.
Public and private schools.
Public sports facilities. These might be both facilities for the
direct use of the public -- community pools and athletic fields,
for example -- or stadiums and arena where school, college, or
professional teams play as entertainment.

Groups and organizations.

The groups and organizations that exist in the community, and
their relative prestige and importance in community life, can
convey valuable clues to the community's assumptions and
attitudes. To some extent, you can find them in the same ways that
you can find institutions, but the less formal ones you may be more
likely to learn about through interviews and conversations.
These groups can fall into a number of categories:
 Health and human service organizations. Known on the world
stage as NGO's (Non-Governmental Organizations), these are
the organizations that work largely with low-income people
and populations at risk. They encompass free or sliding-scale
health clinics, family planning programs, mental health
centers, food pantries, homeless shelters, teen parent
programs, youth outreach organizations, violence prevention
programs, etc.
Advocacy organizations. These may also provide services, but
generally in the form of legal help or advocacy with agencies to
protect the rights of specific groups or to push for the
provision of specific services. By and large, they advocate for
recognition and services for populations with particular
characteristics, or for more attention to be paid to particular
issues.
Service clubs. Lions, Rotary, Kiwanis, Elks, Masons, etc.
Veterans' organizations. In the U.S., the American Legion and
the Veterans of Foreign Wars are the major veterans'
organizations, but many communities may have others as well.
Chamber of Commerce and other business organizations. Some
of these may be oriented toward specific types of businesses,
while others, like the Chamber, are more general.
Groups connected to institutions. Church youth or Bible study
groups, school clubs, university student groups (e.g., Foreign
Students' Association, community service groups).
Trade unions. These may be local, or branches of national or
international unions.
Sports clubs or leagues. Enthusiasts of many sports organize
local leagues that hold regular competitions, and that may
compete as well with teams from other communities. In many
rural areas, Fish and Game clubs may function as informal
community centers.
Informal groups. Book clubs, garden clubs, parents' groups, etc.
Economics/employment.
Some of the information about economic issues can be found in
public records, but some will come from interviews or
conversations with business people, government officials, and
activists, and some from observation. It's fairly easy to notice if one
huge industrial plant dominates a community, for example, or if
every third building appears to be a construction company. There
are a number of questions you might ask yourself and others to help
you understand the community's economic base and situation: What
is the anchor of the community's tax base? Who are the major
employers? Does the community have a particular business or
business/industry category that underlies most of the jobs? Are
there lots of locally-owned businesses and industries, or are most
parts of larger corporations headquartered elsewhere? Are there
corporate headquarters in the community? Is there a good deal of
office space, and is it empty or occupied? Is there new development,
and is the community attracting new business? What is the
unemployment rate?
Social structure.
This may be the most difficult aspect of the community to
understand, since it incorporates most of the others we've
discussed, and is usually unspoken. People's answers to questions
about it may ignore important points, either because they seem
obvious to those who've lived with them for all or most of their
lives, or because those things "just aren't talked about." Distrust or
actual discrimination aimed at particular groups -- based on race,
class, economics, or all three -- may be glossed over or never
mentioned. The question of who wields the real power in the
community is another that may rarely be answered, or at least not
answered in the same way by a majority of community members.
It's likely that it will take a number of conversations, some careful
observation and some intuition as well to gain a real sense of the
community's social structure.
DESCRIBING THE COMMUNITY
Once you've gathered the information you need, the next step is
describing the community. This is not really separate from
understanding the community: in the process of organizing and
writing down your information, you'll be able to see better how it
fits together, and can gain greater understanding.
There are many ways you can create a description of the
community. The most obvious is simply to organize, record, and
comment on your information by category: physical description,
government, institutions, etc. You can comment about what has
changed in the community over time, what has stayed the same, and
where you think the community might be going. You might also
include an analysis of how the various categories interact, and how
that all comes together to form the community that exists. That
will give you and anyone else interested a reasonably clear and
objective description of the community, as well as a sense of how
you see it.
For a fuller picture, you could add photographs of some of the
locations, people, conditions, or interactions you describe (perhaps
as a Photovoice project), as well as charts or graphs of demographic
or statistical information. For even more detail, you might compose
a portrait in words of the community, using quotes from interviews
and stories of community history to bring the description to life.
Given the availability of technology, you don't have to limit
yourself to any specific format. Computers allow you to easily
combine various media -- photos, graphics, animation, text, and
audio, for example. The description could add in or take the form
of a video that includes a tour of the community, statements from
and/or interviews with various community members (with their
permission, of course), an audio voice-over, maps, etc. A video or a
more text-based description -- or both -- could then be posted to a
website where it would be available to anyone interested.
Once you have a description put together, you might want to show
it to some of the community members you talked to in the course of
exploring the community. They can suggest other things you might
include, correct errors of fact, and react to what they consider the
accuracy or inaccuracy of your portrait and analysis of their
community. With this feedback, you can then create a final version
to use and to show to anyone interested. The point is to get as
informative and accurate a picture of the community as possible
that will serve as a basis for community assessment and any effort
that grows out of it.
The last word here is that this shouldn't be the last community
description you'll ever do. Communities reinvent themselves
constantly, as new buildings and developments are put up and old
ones torn down, as businesses move in and out, as populations shift
-- both within the community and as people and groups move in and
out -- and as economic, social, and political conditions change. You
have to keep up with those changes, and that means updating your
community description regularly. As with most of the rest of the
community building work described in the Community Tool Box,
the work of understanding and describing the community is
ongoing, for as long as you remain committed to the community
itself.