In the old days, people living in a barangay met and socialized at the corner barbershop or sari-sari store. For big events like fiestas or Lenten or Christmas celebrations, people congregated at the church plaza or blocked off their main street to party. Even today, this custom holds true in the small provincial towns and barrios. When the practice is retained in an urban center, it is considered quaint and charming.
More recently, in many areas, barangay halls or covered courts have been the site of gatherings for basketball league games, community singing or beauty competitions, local political rallies, and other such activities. Today, even in the smaller subdivisions, one of the basic amenities and initial come-ons is the village clubhouse, no matter how bare or gaudy it may be. It seems that people just need a place to relax away but near enough from home, a place to pass the time with co-residents, a place to celebrate as a community. Apparently, the more relaxed residents feel about the communal area (enough for them to be able to saunter in wearing their most casual clothes and slippers), the more involved neighbors are in community life. People must experience some degree of being close to home, yet able to interact with neighbors, but with the assurance that they can still go back to their privacy whenever they want it. A community venue answers this natural requisite and developers have not been slow in responding to this palpable need.
Through the years, community gathering places have been improved and re-engineered, designed and renovated to suit the residents’ taste and inclination. Subdivision development has reached new heights in the last few years compared to the epitome of subdivision style of the 80’s. Back then, living in style meant residences in the posh villages of Greenhills, Valle Verde, or Dasmarinas, with a nearby sports club to fill one’s days. Nowadays, aside from the minimum requirements imposed by the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board (HLURB) regarding open spaces, developers are going the extra mile in offering increasingly attractive features.
For instance, in the Ayala Westgrove Heights
In the coming years, we can only expect more real estate developers to offer better and better options for subdivision living. Common spaces, such as parks, chapels, and clubs, will have to be more suited to the homeowners’ wants and needs. In communities farther from city hubs, commercial areas could be provided to ease residents’ travel time. In subdivisions targeted for young families, nursery and elementary schools must be planned. In older communities, specialist clinics could be ideal. But in every development, planners must consider not just the individual family that moves in, but also the community of families that will arise. If the vision is towards a warm and friendly community, there must be infrastructure to support this. Families cannot just get to know each other in the streets; the environment must encourage the camaraderie. There ought to be places to connect with neighbors, pleasant, inviting settings where social bridges can be built, collective walls torn down. Then, friendships begin and Community prospers.
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