Skip to content
CityLab
Economy

The Strange Power of Weak Ties

It’s not hard to bond with people just like you. What Americans need are more connections to people who aren’t.
A lone runner in a Seattle waterfront neighborhood.
A lone runner in a Seattle waterfront neighborhood. Kevin Casey/Reuters

My wife and I are blessed to live in our neighborhood, a part of Seattle called Madrona that calls itself “The Peaceable Kingdom.” We live on a block with neighbors we love. We have potluck dinner parties every month. We share rides and tools. We exchange home repair know-how, pie crust recipes, general advice. We give and get the tomatoes from our gardens and the plums from our trees. We walk across the street just to visit.

It’s a little idyll of neighborliness. And if I’m honest about it, it’s also a little cocoon of homogeneity and privilege.