President’s Message
“What a nice neighborhood!” It’s a compliment we hear frequently directed toward Beaumont-Wilshire. But what does it really mean? The fact is, “nice” means different things to different people depending on personal preferences in aesthetics, lifestyle, and ideology. Taken to the extreme, these differences involving taste, habit, and attitude can translate into acrimony within a neighborhood: i.e., one person’s paradigm of livability can become another’s living nightmare. Thankfully, people can and often do choose a more conciliatory path, agreeing to disagree on some issues, while collaborating to find common ground through rational discourse and creative compromise——an approach wholeheartedly endorsed and promoted by BWNA.
This theme of competing differences within a neighborhood was at the core of a Center Stage production that my wife and I attended recently. Part fictional satire, part historical drama, Clybourne Park tells the story of a suburban Chicago neighborhood over a 60-year period. Through a clever juxtaposition of dueling perspectives it begins within the home of 1950s residents and continues at a neighborhood meeting of modern-day residents with ties to the 1950s characters in the first act. Notwithstanding the rough language and exaggeratedly dysfunctional neighbors, the play effectively illustrates how difficult if not impossible communication can be when people talk past each other; absorbed in their own mindsets to the point of obliviousness to the concerns and interests of others. Walking out of the theater, it struck me how fortunate I am to live in the B-W neighborhood. And also how much a neighborhood can resemble an extended family in terms of proximity to each other, shared experiences, complexity of relationships, interdependence, and the never-ending process of learning to live together.
I think President Obama hit the nail on the head in his Jerusalem speech earlier this year when he urged Israelis and Palestinians to metaphorically walk in each other’s shoes— develop empathy for the other guy’s situation— a tactic that can be applied in neighborhood disputes as well. Take for example the issue of dogs on and off leashes. Local law requires that dogs should be leashed if they are not in an authorized dog run area (like the one in Wilshire Park). But any number of dog owners ignore the ordinance, and enforcement is rare. On the one side are dog owners contending that their dogs are obedient and can walk responsibly without a leash. On the other are residents who see their yards trampled through and pooped on and/or have their own leashed dogs accosted by unleashed ones. Most neighbors appear to be OK with the status quo, or at least reluctant to risk a feud over such a relatively minor issue in the big scheme of things. But letting resentment build up over a period of time is a recipe for bigger bones of contention (no pun intended) later on. And that’s where mutual understanding and dialogue factor in as important first steps in effecting beneficial change, with BWNA available to assist as facilitator.
BWNA’s bi-monthly meetings can serve as a forum for airing opinions and brainstorming strategies to mitigate problems. Another conduit for discussion of local topics is the writing of “Letters to the Board” for publication in this Newsletter. This occurred last year concerning the dog leashing controversy just alluded to. Positive or negative, we want to hear your concerns, because just as in an extended family, resolution of misunderstandings begins with open give & take.