Neighbor Appreciation Day Records

Series

Identifier: 5751-11

Scope and Contents Note

Neighbor Appreciation Day started in Seattle in 1995 as an opportunity to recognize caring neighbors and help all neighbors get to know each other. Many neighborhoods organized activities such as block parties, award ceremonies, work parties, open houses, and potluck dinners. The Department of Neighborhoods organized a student art contest; winning entries were printed on greeting cards printed by the department. Neighbor Appreciation Day was celebrated in mid-February for many years but by 2021 was renamed Neighbor Day and scheduled in May. Records in this series include calendars of events, press releases, and samples of greeting cards, as well as student art and correspondence relating to the art contest.

Dates

Creation: 2002-2013

Creator

Seattle (Wash.). Dept. of Neighborhoods (Organization)

Conditions Governing Access

Records are open to the public.

Historical Note

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The Department of Neighborhoods was created in 1991 by consolidating staff from the Executive Department’s Citizens Service Bureau and Office of Neighborhoods, the Community Service Centers of the Department of Human Resources, and the Neighborhood Assistance Division of the Department of Community Development. The Office of Urban Conservation, the City’s historic preservation agency, was added in 1992. The following year, the department added a community development function by taking over projects in the Central Area, Southeast Seattle, and the Port of Seattle. In 1999, the Neighborhood Planning Office was abolished and its continuing functions were assumed by the Department of Neighborhoods. The Department’s mission is to bring local government closer to the citizens by maintaining a responsive presence in Seattle neighborhoods, by responding to citizen concerns and complaints, and providing a communications link for neighborhoods on City issues that will have an impact on them. The department operates the Neighborhood Service Centers (Little City Halls), administers the Neighborhood Matching Grant Program, staffs the Landmarks Preservation Board, and manages the P-Patch program.