Some of this is size of community. One of the things I find fascinating about living where I do (after previously living in suburban or urban settings) is that the local paper is really interesting. There's an online version, and you hear *everything* that's going on (because there just isn't that much news) with a side of additional commentary from gossip.
Or if not everything, at least a fairly wide subset of it. There are comment sections, and those are like comment sections on any other newspaper (which is to say, the comment quality is highly mixed indeed) but even those are informative (and it's rare you get more than 20 comments on a piece, so it's usually not that dire even when the quality's iffy or people are being very stuck on their particular POV.)
I also love the New England town government thing of Town Meeting, but that's something that doesn't always transplant well elsewhere. (Reminds me, I ought to go this year: I feel like I finally have enough of an idea about the town it'd be relevant.)
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Re: Growing the communities we yearn for
Date: 2013-07-25 11:49 am (UTC)Or if not everything, at least a fairly wide subset of it. There are comment sections, and those are like comment sections on any other newspaper (which is to say, the comment quality is highly mixed indeed) but even those are informative (and it's rare you get more than 20 comments on a piece, so it's usually not that dire even when the quality's iffy or people are being very stuck on their particular POV.)
I also love the New England town government thing of Town Meeting, but that's something that doesn't always transplant well elsewhere. (Reminds me, I ought to go this year: I feel like I finally have enough of an idea about the town it'd be relevant.)