Block Party
“We make the city better one block at a time, and it starts on your own street.”
Practice
Create a team. Find three households to share the work of organizing and hosting.
Go door-to-door. Gather signatures for permits and give a printed invitation with the date and time.
Get permits. Apply for the permit from the city to close the street. It’s worth the work.
Make a plan. Organize the music, games, tables, seating, food, and shade.
Make it memorable. The Flower Street block party ends with a glow stick parade.
The Kallander family attended their first Flower Street block party before they closed on the sale of their home in the Lakewood neighborhood. That first block party began to build a foundation of community and connection with their neighbors. The next summer, the neighbors who had lived on the block since 1956, passed the baton to Karin Kallander and two other families to organize the party. For the last 16 years, at the end of every August, there is a beautiful block party on Flower Street.
A block party is a unique neighborhood event. It’s a moment where the street is closed and front yards, driveways, and sidewalks merge into a shared, communal space. It reshapes the physical space between homes, and in doing so, reshapes how we see the people and place around us.
The ingredients for a good block party aren’t complicated. The recipe is surprisingly straightforward: "Music, food, games, a closed street...and shade," Melissa Reed shared. She hosted a block party on her street in Virginia Village for 4 years. A block party requires intentionality and invitation.
Block parties need multiple people to become a reality, the work of organizing a block party needs to be shared. "There has to be more than one family," Karin advised. "You need at least three families on board to do the work, or you will burn out.” The collaborative approach not only lightens the load, but it creates the sense of community a block party aims to build. Melissa said encouragingly, “Create the space. Once you’ve done that, the party takes care of itself.”
The first step in securing a city permit to close the street is gathering signatures. The necessary work of getting signatures for the permit serves a hidden purpose. As Melissa discovered, "Walking door to door on your block to get signatures is in itself a good activity because I got to meet every neighbor." When she experienced initial rejection to participation, she learned perseverance pays off. Neighbors who initially declined later became regular participants.
The outcomes of a block party are far more than an individual event. Karin reflected, "It's the intangibles of everybody coming together. It is a way of knowing people and knowing people's needs." The connections that begin at a block party transform into practical care throughout the year. Perhaps the most powerful outcome is the deep love for the neighbors and neighborhood. "Nobody wants to leave Flower Street," Karin shares. "We considered moving to a new house for 5 years, but we can't move because it’s not easy to find neighbors like this!"
Helping host a block party is a practice that requires collaborative effort. The reward is an opportunity to watch a street become a beloved community.
Thank you to Karin Kallander and Melissa Reed for their conversations and contributions to this article.
