“It seems to me that in the end it is the kind of lighter touch social relationship signaled by the notion of «friend» that probably has most to offer cities in making them resilient.”
(Nigel Thrift, 2004)
I quickly learned an expression when I moved here: to get “plugged in.” It means to network & participate in what other people are doing in the city. As a metaphor, it sounds odd, & maybe a little off-putting at first, but very soon it loses its ‘Matrixian’ overtones & starts to make much sense.
Meeting folx up to all kinds of good really does feel like patching into the collective buzz & hum of social endeavor that is a city. You feed off of their energy & begin to (re)generate at capacities you’d long thought you’d maxed out.
It’s a quality that I’ve not felt everywhere, which is not to say that it’s nowhere to be found but here. I do notice it, however, without judgement.
That’s another expression I’ve picked up here, btw.