This book celebrates the spirit of people working together to create something of benefit to all. Life together in community is sharing, caring, teaching, learning, and empowering. Susan Berlin, a social policy planner for Toronto, has gathered material on a variety of communities that have met people's needs for mutuality and meaning.

Berlin offers rounded portraits of several intentional communities, communities for the aged, immigrant communities, co-ops, recreational vehicle communities for retired couples, and virtual/electronic communities. She shows how people have set out to enrich the quality of life through projects such as fighting crime, helping the poor, and bringing about change through political action. Berlin also demonstrates the value of bioregionalism (taking back our home places) and mapping as a tool for reshaping community. All of these strategies are spirited ways of re-establishing our deep connection with place.