San Francisco has many vibrant neighborhoods with active neighborhood groups. There are also thousands of residents who don’t know their neighbors. Do you wish you knew more of your actual neighbors, but not sure how to get started? We’re compiling resources for individuals who want to step up and be block leaders in their neighborhoods. Call them aspiring block leaders, or block leader curious. :)

FIVE THINGS YOU CAN DO RIGHT NOW TO MEET YOUR NEIGHBORS

Go outside.
Spend some time outside in your neighborhood. Walking, gardening, reading, or drinking your coffee outside are all ways that neighbors can bump into each other. Wave hello, and see if you start to recognize some faces!
Knock on a neighbor's door, or leave them a note.
If you’re comfortable knocking on doors, go for it. Some easy conversation starters: Bringing over extra baked goods, complimenting their garden, or asking their recommendations for a plumber. If you’re hesitant to show up unannounced, leave them a note (maybe with some baked goods?)
Ask one neighbor for their thoughts on the neighborhood.
Which neighbors do they know? How do neighbors communicate about emergencies? Has there ever been a block social event -- and if not, would they want there to be?
Start a group chat.
Start a WhatsApp/Signal/groupchat group for your block. Drop a flyer at every house with a QR code to join the WhatsApp group. Invite new neighbors when they move in by stopping by and knocking on their door/leaving the flyer.
Get together.
Organize a block get-together, whether you call it a potluck, a casual hang, or a mini block party. Invite your neighbors to hang out on the sidewalk or in the backyard of a central home. Here’s a sample flyer you can edit in google docs! And here’s a photo of the one Josh used in the Outer Sunset.

OVERVIEW

This resource page serves as an introduction for San Francisco residents who are interested in getting to know their neighbors. They may never have spoken to anyone in their building or on their block, and they’re curious to change that. We are using SF Good Neighbor Week as an opportunity to help these aspiring block leaders first and foremost get to know their next door neighbors.

Getting Started - Some inspo from San Francisco

Stoop Coffee: How a Simple Idea Transformed My Neighborhood

Check out this blog post about a couple living in Mission Dolores who met their neighbors and built a connected community, starting by having coffee on the sidewalk in front of their house regularly.

Coffee and donuts in the driveway

Josh Nesbit wanted to get to know his neighbors in the Outer Sunset and decided to have everyone meet on the sidewalk for donuts and coffee. He printed out little flyers and slipped them into mailboxes and under doors a month before, and 25 neighbors showed up!

How a Noe Valley resident turned her neighbors into friends

Laura Carlson organized a block social hour on the sidewalk in Noe Valley by knocking on doors and passing out flyers. More social hours were planned and it paid off quickly as more and more neighbors met each other.

Crème brûlée man’s free pancake party was not about pancakes

Coming out of COVID, the simple act of making on the sidewalk for free brought the neighbors out and built community.

Getting more involved in San Francisco

Once you know some of your neighbors, many organizations in San Francisco will support you in getting more involved.

Community Streets SF

Reach out to Community Streets for help organizing a block party or advocating for your public spaces.

Civic Joy Fund

An organization that does city cleanups on the weekend and provides some grants for neighborhood block parties upon application.

National and international resources you can use in San Francisco

Get to know your neighbors.

National Good Neighbor Day has a great resource page for individuals who want to get to know their neighbors. That includes the 8 Front Door Challenge.

Assess your block.

Community Works published this Strong Neighborhood Scorecard you can use to get important conversations started with your neighbors.

Host a long table.

There are several national organizations that support long tables in public spaces. These include Table Together, Longer Tables, the Longest Table, and Mile Long Table. Note that San Francisco now has a chapter of The Longest Table.

Host a public living room.

Camarados is a great UK-based organization that will mail a Public Living Room in a box to your home so you can start hosting events in public spaces. Julia Gitis has one if you want to borrow hers.

Apply to these community building programs to be in a cohort with block leaders nationwide.

Neighborhood Village Project
An organization specializing in supporting motivated individuals to starte their own local neighborhood communities. A few people in San Francisco- including Julia Gitis and Laura Carlson- have gone through the program. Apply to an upcoming batch to help you with connecting your neighborhood.

VillageCo Builders
Non-profit with a Builders program that assists individuals in establishing or growing their local neighborhood communities. So far one person in San Francisco, Julia Gitis, has gone through the program.

Some inspo from other cities

Warm Cookies of the Revolution
An innovative organization in Denver that runs joyful regular programming to increase neighborhood connectivity.

Building neighborhood communities and Turning Neighborhoods into Communities
Two posts about examples of neighborhood communities being cultivated successfully in locations like Manhattan, Boulder CO, Beaconsfield Australia, and Santa Monica CA.

How a Delco ‘curbside happy hour’ changed Lansdowne lives for the better
Simple example of neighbors sitting outside, being visible and welcoming, and connecting with neighbors regularly.

(Video) Take a street and build a community: Shani Graham at TEDxPerth (2014)
Shani Graham talks about her experience and philosophies around building neighborhood communities.

(Video) Resilience in turbulent times? The answer is community. | Shani Graham | TEDxPerth (2023)
Story about the beginnings of a "exclusively inclusive" neighborhood community called West Beacy Bunch in Beaconsfield, Australia.

(Video) Started during pandemic, neighborhood driveway cocktail hour continues (Gulf Coast News)
Heartwarming story of a group of neighbors in Ft. Myers who met each other through driveway cocktails during COVID and continue to hang outside almost nightly.