A block basking in community pride

When ABC-TV's "Good Morning, America" went out looking for the "Best Block in America" was anyone really surprised the national television show would find the winner in our Chicago suburbs?

We weren't.

We, like the celebrated families of the Liberty Street area in West Dundee, have long known how good we have it in the towns and villages that host our homes and our neighbors. We may not entirely be able to share the boast of Lake Wobegon that "all the women are strong, all the men are good looking and all the children are above average." But we're sure that most are.

More to the point, most have access to great schools, exceptional recreation venues, effective local government, excellent police and fire protection and, most important of all, each other.

This overarching view of the role of "community" in defining a neighborhood echoed clearly in the comments quoted in Daily Herald staff writer Heather Linder's story this week about the honor in West Dundee.

"You know you can always depend on neighbors if you need anyone," said 47-year Liberty Street resident Betty Bradshaw. "It's not a noisy area but a very active one."

Bradshaw's neighbors say they pointedly pursue an atmosphere of television's ultimate iconic small town of Mayberry, displaying flags, nurturing gardens and working together to see that both their homes and neighbors are taken care of.

It's a marvelous way of life to celebrate, one that is repeated over and over throughout the suburbs. And one that not infrequently draws national attention to the area.

Naperville, for example, has won national recognition from CNN Money as one of the best places to live in America. In 2008, BusinessWeek magazine named Mount Prospect the "Best Place to Raise Your Kids." Elgin earned the title "All-America City" in 2002.

Of course, it's natural to hope that such recognition will translate into improved property values, and no doubt it helps. But it seems more likely that what really bolsters property values in suburban neighborhoods is not the occasional recognition they win from the outside but the day-to-day reputation they nurture through a consistent and earnest commitment to a high quality of life built more on the fellowship of friendly neighbors than mere material affluence.

"When you're doing it, it's just fun. You don't realize the effort that goes into it, but there's so many fantastic things everybody does," West Dundee resident Pam Griffin said.

So many fantastic things everybody does.

To be sure, picturesque tree-lined byways like those of historic Liberty Street are among the attractions of America's finest neighborhoods, but it's not the amenities of our towns that make us proud. It's the spirit of community out of which almost everything else desirable grows.