What is a Transition Neighborhood?

Any area within a larger city (like Boulder) that decides to undertake the Transition process of planning its independence from fossil fuels and creating resilience can be a Transition Neighborhood. The size of different neighborhoods vary, but the local initiative process seems to work best with groups of 15,000 or fewer people.

Why Transition Neighborhoods?

Sustainability and community resilience are easiest to understand and accomplish at smaller scales, and so is the process of transitioning to a better future. In neighborhoods people are better able to learn what’s happening, get involved, have their ideas heard, work together, and build the kind of community relationships that will make Transition not only easier, but more fun, diverse, and inclusive. No one can know better what a neighborhood has and needs than the people who live there, and the more different people with different perspectives try their hands at Transition, the more great ideas and experiments we will all have from which to learn.

How can I get involved?

To find out about the Transition process, read about it online or in the Transition Handbook (available at local bookstores, through Transition Boulder County, or the library), come to local awareness-raising events, watch some videos online, or join the Transition Colorado social network. Transition Initiators are also becoming active with the City’s ClimateSmart program.

To start a Transition Initiative in your neighborhood, you can follow the initiative process outlined in the Transition Primer or the Handbook. If you would like help, have questions, or would like to notify people that an initiative is starting in your neighborhood, please contact us.