A short guide on getting started in your community

Fired up to start making change in your community, but don’t know where to start? We wrote this short guide with 5 steps to get started, based on our own experience!

Talk to your neighbors!

You don’t need to join any group or have any official title to just start talking to your neighbors! Whether they are renters, property owners, single individuals, families — these are the people you’re close to who you can make change with. It all starts with a relationship. Meet your neighbors, introduce yourself, ask their names, and get to know them! Here are some Strong Towns ideas for forming relationships:

Drink your morning tea or coffee outside so you can have more chance encounters with neighbors.
Take the opportunity to share something – it can be small, like extra snacks left after a party, some baked goods, or lending a tool.
Invite them to join you at Sacramento Bike Party, a SABA social bike ride, 2nd Saturdays, concerts in the park, or any other event!
If your neighbors speak languages other than English, don’t disregard them. Making an effort to communicate goes a long way to build trust.

Join your neighborhood association

You might live in a neighborhood that has a neighborhood association. Neighborhood associations are groups of residents who come together to organize activities and advocate for a neighborhood. The association usually has regular meetings, whether monthly or quarterly. They may have elected leaders and membership dues.

Once created, neighborhood associations are also recognized by the City. City council members and officials may have long-standing relationships with the neighborhood association and feel accountable to them. Because of this, the leadership of the neighborhood association can be influential in pushing officials for change.

Furthermore, the neighborhood association can be a group for you to organize with to take matters into your own hands, such as fixing a broken park bench, organizing a tree-planting day, or planning a traffic calming mural.

Here is a List of Sacramento Neighborhood Associations. Start by seeing if your neighborhood has an association, and reach out to them to join! And you might even be inspired to run for a leadership seat.

Attend and make a public comment at a city council or commission meeting

All members of the public are invited to participate in legislative meetings. This can be a confusing and sometimes inaccessible process. However, it is really important for residents to make public comments and make their voices heard at these meetings. A sea of comments for or against a specific outcome will influence the City Council and it will hold them accountable to the decisions they make.

In the end, the City Council will only make decisions based on what they think is politically feasible. Strong SacTown advocates must be loud and vocal about what we want and believe!

See Public Participation and our blog post on How to make a public comment at a City meeting for more information.

Contact your city council member

Look up your City Council Member and reach out to them! Introduce yourself as a resident of their district and share what’s important to you. Ask for a meeting or ask them what is the next event they will be at so you can attend and meet them in-person. Remember: They were elected to serve you! They

Apply to join a local commission, your local neighborhood association, or a community group that’s making change!

All of these bodies are made up of residents like you! You can make change no matter what your affiliation is, but we can make our voices go farther when we’re part of groups, on local boards, or other bodies whose perspectives are specifically sought out by City Council.