No matter what our role is within the multi-family industry, there is always one word which is used more than any other; “community.” Some of us own communities, some of us develop communities, some of us design communities and others of us lease or operate them. And chances are that many of us live in an apartment, condominium or townhome community as well. So then why is it that there is so little ‘community’ in our communities?

When it comes down to this failure’s root cause, it can really only be one of two choices;

a.       Either the management team does not expend their energies in a manner that creates a welcoming and vibrant atmosphere that encourages interaction, or

b.      The developer did not guide the design in a manner that supports congregation.

Now because I am an owner and developer by trade and not a manager, my expertise is limited when it comes to the nuance of property management. I am positive that I undervalue the challenges of those on the front lines. But where I do have some insights is on the development side of the industry.

I have mentioned in multiple other essays that the developer has become effectively a highly functioning project manager. We have lost our intellectual curiosity about how folks ‘actually’ live. We have lessened our study of the ways that neighborhoods, communities and cities are formed, only to concentrate on sharpening our excel acumen and expand our address book of consultants. Instead, we generally hire a series of experts (who really aren’t that expert at all) to tell us the things that we should already understand intimately ourselves.

The problem begins with site selection. If we continue to choose assemblages because a broker was able to get a listing, then we will continue to fail. I argue for the Story Approach which basically states that if a specific property has an easy and obviously compelling story, then you are half-way there. If you have to work to weave your tale about why this should be built and what it should be- then move on. There’s too much good dirt out there, and just because something if buildable or financeable does not mean that you should undertake the project.

The second thing to do is to throw out that canned program and start from scratch. We all have our checklist of boxes that we think we need to locate somewhere in the project in order to be successful…they’re mostly crap. The business center with its printer and free computers is a dinosaur. That is going to be a great and revolutionary amenity 20 years ago. If you can, find a reason to dump the community gym…we all already belong to one anyway. If we do find that they make sense in our community, integrate them together in a way that will encourage people to congregate. And don’t get me started on the theatre room… With just those three as our primary amenities, we have simply created a series of unrelated boxes, each of which is too small to ever facilitate any form of community. Community only occurs at the confluence of space and purpose. Our task is to create the space and management’s job is to facilitate the purpose.

The amenities that we build will only ever have any value to the resident if it actually helps them achieve their goals. If we want our communities to be more than one in name only, we must understand how our residents actually want to live and then facilitate their goals. The other option is to throw in the towel and quit calling them communities. What do you think?