Rob Erickson lives in Edina. Not near 50th and France. Not in Country Club or Morningside.
Erickson's neighborhood between W. 70th Street and Nine Mile Creek has no formal name.
But it may soon get one, at least among residents. He and some of his neighbors are trying to form a neighborhood association. He hopes to spread the word to 450 homes about an organizational meeting in March or April.
"We want an identity, and we want to get to know people better," he said.
Neighborhood associations and councils are thriving in Minneapolis, St. Paul and St. Louis Park. Bloomington rejected them long ago. Brooklyn Park has sensed a yearning for such groups. Edina has some associations, but they get no official city support.
Neighborhood associations can seemingly shrink a big city, becoming fonts of activism and a bridge between government and residents.
In Minneapolis and Edina, associations have been a springboard for such initiatives as organized organic recycling. Last year in St. Louis Park, quick communication from an association drew hundreds of residents to a meeting about a development that people didn't want, and the boosters backed away.
But associations can also become excessively political, with infighting that pits neighborhood against neighborhood.