Participation, Community, and Public Policy in a Virginia Suburb

This book challenges the conventional wisdom about participation in American communities through the story of Pimmit Hills, Virginia. It shows how every community is the sum of different types of participation. Its proximity to Washington, D.C. meant its residents had front-row seats to the creation of policies that continue to shape America.

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Participation, Community, and Public Policy in a Virginia Suburb: Of Our Own Making challenges the conventional wisdom that we can diagnose the vitality of modern American communities using just the few participation trends routinely tracked in social research, such as voting or volunteering. Through the story of Pimmit Hills, Virginia, author Patricia Donahue shows that a community is really the sum of numerous types of participation, and that analyzing a greater variety of activities can help us better understand any community. Pimmit Hills was one of the first federally-financed subdivisions built for World War II veterans, and the residents’ stories will be familiar to the millions who grew up in middle-class suburbs. At the same time, its proximity to Washington, D.C., gave these residents front-row seats to—and sometimes supporting roles in—the launch of national policies that continue to shape America today.