Translations:Growing Local Communities/6/en

Size is also frequently misread as a measure of health. Larger gatherings can carry weaker ties; a group of eight people who know each other well may function as more of a community than a mailing list of three hundred. Growth, when it is discussed thoughtfully, tends to be framed as a question of depth as much as of numbers.

| Social=The emotional dimensions of local community building are substantial. For many adults, the desire to build something locally emerges after a period of isolation, a relocation, or the end of a long relationship. That motivation is understandable, but it can place considerable weight on early gatherings. When a first attempt draws few people, it may be experienced not as a scheduling problem but as a personal verdict.