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	NETWORKING - INPUT - COOPERATION - SUPPORT - QUALITY OF LIFE		PfCONA was formed in 1985 by Pflugerville residents who wanted to provide a forum for neighborhood groups to collectively air their concerns and work with the City Council to resolve problems. Its goal was to bring the community together. This goal continues today. Won't you join us in "building the community together?"
CONTENT	BOOKS YOU MAY WANT TO REVIEW: Turning to One Another...On Dialogue...The Argument Culture: Moving from Debate to Dialogue...The Influentials...Bowling Alone...Community and Quality of Life...From Neurons to Neighborhoods...Juvenile Crime, Juvenile Justice...		CONTACTS
COMMUNITY BUILDING PfCONA Volunteers PFCONA Tidbits E-News PfCONA Roundtables PfCONA Workgroups PfCONA Town Meetings Town Hall/Work Sessions RESOURCES City Council/Planning Parks and Recreation Justice Center/PPD PCDC PDPC/PDA Pf4 Chamber of Commerce PISD/PTOs/Boosters Library Fire Department Pflugerville Pflag Community Impact AFFILIATED NEIGHBORHOODS Member Listing How to Be a Member ABOUT US Past History PfCONA News Articles Purpose/Bylaws Meetings/Minutes Direction/Future Report Officers/Sponsors	BOOKS YOU MAY WANT TO REVIEW... *Making Places Special: Stories of Real Places Made Better by Planning* by Gene Bunnell (2002). Book description: Although good planning sometimes takes decades to bear fruit, the long-term quality and livability of communities should not be left to chance. The author visited and photographed each city and interviewed hundreds of planners, architects, elected officials, and citizens. Their first-person accounts and Bunnell's insightful narrative describe how planning helped to weave local geography, history, economy and society into a distinctive community fabric. The case studies will inspire planners and anyone who has faith that policy decisions based on solid planning can actually make places better. It's essential reading for planning commissioners, elected officials, and other community leaders who must consider the future impact of today's land and development decisions. Planning instructors will find its illustrated case studies and electronic format ideal for classroom presentations. *A Good Place to Live: Americas Last Migration* by Terry Pindell (1995). Book description: Terry Pindell wanted to find a good place to live, a place where community was still alive, public meeting places existed, social life wasn't relegated to home and office, and where cars and calendars didn't overwhelm the fabric of friendly interaction. And Pindell found he wasn't alone, that a wave of humanity (the title migration) was seeking quality living. So he spent a few years checking the 12 spots that had made it on most folks' short list, including Minneapolis, Seattle, Santa Fe, New Mexico, Napa, California, and Missoula, Montana, looking for a place to live in, not just visit. *Turning to One Another: Simple Conversations to Restore Hope to the Future* by Margaret Wheatley (2002). Book description: She says in her book, I believe we can change the world if we start listening to one another again...simple, truthful conversation where we each have a chance to speak, we each feel heard, and we each listen well. Human conversation is the most ancient and easiest way to cultivate the conditions for change--personal change, community and organizational change, planetary change. *On Dialogue* by David Bohm (1996). Book description: "During the past few decades, modern technology, with radio, television, air travel and satellites has woven a network of communications which puts each part of the world into almost instant contact with all the other parts. Yet, in spite of this world-wide system of linkages, there is, at every moment, a general feeling that communication is breaking down everywhere, on an unparalleled scale." The question of how we can communicate better is at the heart of On Dialogue. *The Argument Culture: Moving from Debate to Dialogue* by Deborah Tannen (1998). Book description: It is about a pervasive warlike atmosphere that makes us approach anything we need to accomplish as a fight between two opposing sides. It rests on the assumption that opposition is the best way to get anything done. Tannen shows how deeply entrenched this cultural tendency is, the forms it takes, and how it affects us every day--sometimes in useful ways, but often causing, rather than avoiding, damage. *The Influentials* by Ed Keller and John Berry. Book description: One American in ten tells the other nine how to vote, where to eat, where to vacation, and what to buy. They are the influentials. They're not necessarily the people you'd expect. They're not America's most affluent 10 percent or best-educated 10 percent. They are, however, the 10 percent of Americans most engaged in their local communities...and they wield a huge amount of influence within those communities. *Bowling Alone* by Robert D. Putnam. Book description: [Not saying this is the case in Pflugerville] Once we bowled in leagues, usually after work--but no longer. This seemingly small phenomenon symbolizes a significant social change. Putnam shows how we have become increasingly disconnected from one another and how social structures--whether they be the PTA, church, or political parties--have disintegrated.	Click here for free access to a 2002 book titled, Community and Quality of Life by the National Academy Press. See excerpt below: "Communities across the nation are faced with difficult and complex decisions about how to respond to change, plan sensibly, and improve the quality of life for all of their members...more and more, people demand a voice in what happens in their communities and an active role in deciding what, where, and how change occurs...This report focuses on the range of data needed by communities to plan and participate in decisions that affect the quality of life..." Click here for free access to a 2000 book titled, From Neurons to Neighborhoods: The Science of Early Childhood Development by the National Academy Press. See description below: The book presents the evidence about "brain wiring" and how kids learn to speak, think, and regulate their behavior. It examines the effect of the climate-family, child care, community-within which the child grows. Click here for free access to a 2001 book titled, Juvenile Crime, Juvenile Justice by the National Academy Press. See description below: Why do young people turn to delinquency? Juvenile Crime, Juvenile Justice presents what we know and what we urgently need to find out about contributing factors, ranging from prenatal care, differences in temperament, and family influences to the role of peer relationships, the impact of the school policies toward delinquency, and the broader influences of the neighborhood and community. Equally important, this book examines a range of solutions.	Click here to go to Officers/Advisors. PfCONA meets every second Monday, 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., at Pflugerville Justice Center Courtroom (unless otherwise specified) 2004 Schedule: January 12th February 9th March 8th April 12th May 10th June 14th July 12th August 9th September 13th October 11th November 8th December 13th
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