Neighbors First

Photo by Nina Strehl on Unsplash‍

The homepage succinctly describes what its “Creating Great Places to Live” tagline really means in these words:

Beyond my front door is my Neighborhood. And those I encounter there are my Neighbors.

I have lived in many Neighborhoods. Six were great. I felt I belonged. And my Neighbors had my back.

A great Neighborhood is partly the work of a catalyst, someone who believes that “home” is an experience, not a structure.

An experience of belonging.

Neighborhoods with common areas have a homeowners’ association tasked with caring for the common areas. And owners are association members.

But in a great Neighborhood, they are -  first and foremost - Neighbors.

Migrating from the sometimes “Us vs. Them” experience of association membership to the “We before Me” experience commonly associated with a great Neighborhood takes time and effort.

It typically starts with the kind acts of the catalyst, which stirs Neighbors to do likewise. From the ensuing chain reaction, a shared understanding gradually emerges: That this is how life is lived in this Neighborhood of ours.

America’s Work is - and has always been - to form a more perfect union. We do this by loving our neighbor. And we start our work on the street where we live.

I care about Neighborhoods. And about how to make a Neighborhood great.

I care about WUCIOA, too, but as a means to that end, and not as an end unto itself.

The shared-assets Neighborhood is one in which the long-term care of common areas and amenities has - necessarily - been entrusted to an association whose membership is comprised of all who own homes in that Neighborhood. And, in the not-too-distant future, each such association in the State of Washington must operate in compliance with WUCIOA.

The choice you face is not whether you should comply with WUCIOA. That choice comes pre-installed in WUCIOA itself.

The real choice is whether, in the course of complying with WUCIOA, you will become a great Neighborhood.

Choose wisely — what your Neighbors will come to experience depends on it.