By Allyson Brunette

Picture this: You’re visiting a new city on a Saturday afternoon. It’s drizzling as you park downtown, scan a QR code, and pay for your parking spot on your phone. You’re rushing, and you forget you drove your significant other’s car that day. You entered the wrong license plate. Hours later, you return to a bright red parking violation notice on your windshield. A $35 fine. Another QR code to pay. No phone number listed.

You search for the city’s number. An automated message answers. The website offers an AI chatbot. No human, and no way for you to explain your honest mistake. You’ll have to wait until Monday, with your frustration building.

Nothing in this experience was broken. It worked exactly as designed — prioritizing efficiency over connection.

A simple misunderstanding now has 48 hours to fester, eroding trust in the municipality, and amplifying frustration in the process. The customer isn’t mad about policy — they’re frustrated that no human connection was available when they needed it.

More efficiency, fewer connections

In the last 30 years, our society has transformed in countless ways:

• Gathering spaces like bowling alleys, social clubs, roller rinks, and malls have disappeared.
• Transactions have become increasingly contactless.
• Technology has enabled hybrid work and blurred the lines between home and work.
• Kids have 25% less unstructured free time than they did 40 years ago.

At the same time, social connections have thinned. Gallup reports that the percentage of Americans with 10 or more friends has dropped from 30% to 13%, while those reporting no friends has increased from 3% to 12%. Social disconnectedness has been named a public health crisis, impacting all socioeconomic groups, but elders and youth at the highest levels.

Bonding vs. bridging social capital

Nearly every local government I’ve worked with in recent years shares the same concerns: low participation beyond social media, rising incivility, and increasing threats to the safety of staff and elected officials.

When we force interactions to occur online or on social media, we emphasize bonding social capital. This form of social capital draws us toward people who share our sentiments, backgrounds, and beliefs. You don’t get to self-select your circle in many offline spaces. Shared, in-person spaces help us develop bridging social capital, where we forge stronger social ties across diverse groups. The person in your bowling league may have a very different lifestyle or set of values. But by coming together every week, you quietly build trust and bridging social capital.

We want elected officials and staff to feel safe. We want community members to share their perspectives respectfully. And, we want residents to assume good intentions when decisions are made.

If we want to hear from more voices in local government, we must expand how and where engagement happens. Social media and in-person meetings are part of the equation, but they cannot be the entire solution. Meetings draw the same voices. Livestreams increase access, but not dialogue. Comment threads often amplify polarization.

A new framework is needed.

The People-Places-Purpose framework

There are still places in your community where people connect across demographic lines. The People-Places-Purpose framework offers a way to evaluate engagement efforts through a lens specific to your community.

This isn’t a product to purchase or a subscription to renew. It’s a practical lens city leaders can take home and apply in their communities immediately.

By intentionally taking inventory of the people missing from the conversation, the places where they gather, and the motivating purpose for them to engage, cities can uncover opportunities hidden in plain sight to connect with residents in a more approachable way.

It may feel a little old school — not outdated, but vintage.

Trust is rarely built at the podium. It’s built in everyday moments where people feel comfortable and heard. Consider these questions.

People

• Who are we missing from engagement?
• Who feels left out of decisions?
• Who only engages online?

Places

• Where do people already gather?
• Where are spaces that are accessible and low-barrier?
• Where does the setting level the power dynamic?

Purpose

• Why does this issue affect them directly?
• Why is their participation meaningful?
• Why would this engagement feel worthwhile?

You may be thinking: Why is this our responsibility? Our mandate is to provide infrastructure and public safety. But, if not local governments, then who?

If we want to live in communities where neighbors look out for one another, where something deeper than a zip code connects residents, we must invest not only in infrastructure, but also in spaces that make connection possible. Convenience has made our lives easier, but connection makes communities stronger.

Allyson Brunette is a consultant, coach, and speaker (allysonbrunette.com).