Briefly, what I would suggest is that communities take seriously their efficacy here: that they're not victims of larger social forces, but that communities can effect change themselves. If one of the changes they want to effect is to bring about a stronger feeling of unity or sense of common belonging in their community, large or small, this is something they can do.
Now, is there federal help available? Well, there's a myriad of programs to which they could apply for funding, but I think the important point is that even a city as large as Toronto is able to take it upon itself to declare that diversity is its strength and to act on that, and in my view and the view of the researchers at Metropolis, with a lot of success.
This same sort of attitude could be taken in very small communities just as well. But what is very important for this particular topic is that we all recognize how mobile people are, how many options people have, and how well acquainted they are with those options.
There is a certain competition here for workers, and urbanization is winning that competition right now. The efficacy that's in communities needs to be accepted, realized, and acted upon.
