Walk a dog. You'll meet your neighbors, get to know them... It's a great starting point.

not allowed a dog where i live want to do things on a bigger scale fetes car boots gala days community groups just dont know hwere to start

not at all easy, nevagiveup. My own town is in a stae of change (not for the best right now) where there have been a lot of new people come in and rather than assimilate themselves into what was a strong community they have 'taken over' by joining community councils, etc.

Do you have a good local newspaper? Get them onside - they could run a story about what you want to achieve and ask for other like-minded people to contact you. Or, perhaps they would publish your letter outlining the same thing?

And, LLL, you are right that dog owners tend to chat with each other but they are not the majority in most communities.

Keep us posted, nevagiveup!

hmm, you living in a big city or town ? and do you mean the feeling of belonging or the interactions?

the feeling is easy...well, takes a change of perspective but its mainly about seeing past people's differences and noticing the common factors, which at the end reduces the entire human race to a community and that feeling of being part of a community and warmth towards others, which in turn causes warmth to be felt from others, is always there.

as for interactions, its worth asking your local council about community groups around you can get involved in. there is also always the volunteering opportunities to be found in local charities, non-profit organizations and not sure about where you are but you can even volunteer for emergency services, which are all great ways to get involved in your local community.

in terms of reliability of this advice - i'm very good at the first aspect but (partly as a result) very bad at the second but i think its pretty accurate.

i have since joined a community group and im working at getting some community groups up and running to help people interact better and i m doing voluntary work in local garden centre so im starting to feel bit better but i think the sense of commmunity i had as a child is lost forever shame but true

have an easter egg hunt get all the parents involved....community bonfire..in Nov. of course...etc etc

I moved into a very nice neighborhood a couple years ago. We have a neighborhood association...which is not just about watching home values.

I'm lucky. Block parties.....

Well thru this neighborhood I've learned there are other places around town which have n'hood associations. And city hall sponsors a committee with representatives from all the neighborhoods.

I didn't know about all this during the first 20 years I was in this town. If where you are has even a little bit of it, that might be a place to start. ---And "Area 10" is here (Indiana); it is for over-55-yr-old ppl. But is interested in community in general. If there is something like that where you, they might give you some ideas.

oops,am in library & getting timed out,
--Caleb