Triangle Communities (our map kind of looks like a triangle?!)

This is what I’ve been trying to describe to my friends…and I’ve finally put a name to it! Triangle Communities. “The smaller the triangle, the happier the human, as long as there is social interaction to be had.” “In many American cities, you can spend an hour or two travelling each side. You live in Pasadena (Arlington), work in North Hollywood (Capitol Hill), shop in the Valley (Georgetown). Where is your community?”

YES! YES! YES! And YES! It’s so true. And this is why I Choose Cheverly. Let’s take last weekend as an example. Saturday at 9:15, T-ball at Cheverly’s Town Park (I walked). Saturday at 10:30 I dropped by the Cheverly Community Market (I walked). Saturday at 11:30 I had my son’s 6^th Birthday party…thankful for my back yard so that the kids could play and throw water balloons. Again, no need to drive anywhere until 5:30 when I met my friends 2 miles down the road from Cheverly (a good 5 min drive) at an Ivy City Distillery. Was I stressed? No. Did I see a ton of friends? Yes. I saw friends at T-ball. I saw friends at the Market. I saw friends at the birthday party and also at the distillery. Were all these friends Cheverly residents? Yes. Is my triangle small? Yes. Did I have social interaction? Plenty. Almost too much J  “The smaller the triangle, the happier the human, as long as there is social interaction to be had.”

 In a canonical English village, or in a university town, the sides of that triangle are very short: a five-minute walk from one point to the next. In many American cities, you can spend an hour or two travelling each side. “You live in Pasadena, work in North Hollywood, shop in the Valley,” Putnam said. “Where is your community?” The smaller the triangle, the happier the human, as long as there is social interaction to be had. In that kind of life, you have a small refrigerator, because you can get to the store quickly and often. By this logic, the bigger the refrigerator, the lonelier the soul.