The Daily Score

1. First, a snow day does increase social capital, especially if it occurs as a not-quite-disastrous but still localizing event. Eg, there aren’t severe power outages, and people can drive if they really, really wanted to but the incentive is strong to stay in the ‘hood and try other forms of transport, such as sledding, skiing, walking, and transit.

In addition, snow dramatically reshapes the landscape to one where pedestrians literally rule the roads--the boundaries between road and sidewalk are blurred and the critical mass, for once, is walkers (plus some sledders and skiers). (See Hugeasscity's take on how snow helps people rediscover their legs.) This makes for a situation where you have all kinds of casual interactions with community members, which are exactly the kind that build social capital over time. (Having the big snow take place the Sunday before Christmas helps.)

And, because in a place like western Washington, this much snowfall is such an unusual, shared event, you automatically have a conversation starter for those interactions. People are snowboarding in the streets! Even normal encounters like going to the grocery have gone up a notch on the social capital scale. Folks take a little more time to ask their cashier how they’re doing, and to appreciate that they made it into work.

Perhaps it makes our communities a bit more like a "slow town."

So while snow days make feet (and skis) a more viable form of transport, it can also exacerbate your 'hood's “unwalkability.” My husband’s parents, for example, are in their 70s and live in a house on a steep hill in Portland, Oregon, several miles from any kind of store. They were house-bound for a week before they finally convinced a taxi to come anywhere near their house. And they, of course, can afford a taxi. What about the folks who can’t?

As for us, our neighborhood is fairly bus-able and (mostly) bikable, but it’s at least a mile walk to any kind of grocery store or basic services. Not that’s it been a problem—we’ve been enjoying walking for our food for a few days now. But if we were older, less able, or lived a bit farther out, it would be a different story. Snow can also expose flaws in infrastructure priorities, as Bus Chick points out in her post on the icy-sidewalk issue. 

It's interesting to consider how this all plays out in a true disaster situation, where we not only can't go far but are without power, heat, etc. My hunch is that that's when we really capitalize on the social capital that's been built over time. (My new goal is to start investing now.)

Those are my theories—based on several days of un-scientific observation. What are yours?

P.S. It’s also intriguing to think about other unusual, shared events that have upped the social capital quotient. A certain recent historic election comes to mind. So does the Red Sox winning the World Series. And so on. But it’s hard to beat snow for the local angle. 

a few years ago--scroll down to the bottom for the social capital section.

Photo credits: First photo (of Ballard farmers market) by Eric de Place; others by me.