Coping and Connecting through Creativity in the Neighborhood Realm during COVID-19

Abstract

This research addresses how the COVID-19 pandemic affected neighborhood engagement by exploring the use of streets, sidewalks, and driveways as sociable spaces for informal and uncoordinated creative expression. We assessed practices occurring in three diverse City of Phoenix neighborhoods before and during the pandemic through visual analysis. We show that residents used these spaces in novel and more intensive ways during the pandemic, including for self-care and care of others, celebrations, children’s play, and property-spanning games and communication. These findings reveal the importance of these interstitial spaces in helping neighbors to cope and connect during societal disruptions.