This week, National Public Radio published an article about the benefits of social interactions with people outside of our tight circles of family and close friends.

Living in Alpena, where you always say hi to someone walking by, the title, “Why a stranger’s hello can do more than just brighten your day,” pulled me in.

The article cited a study that asked participants to track the frequency of two types of interactions: one, with “strong ties,” such as close family or friends, and the second, with “weak ties,” such as strangers or loose acquaintances. The study found that the participants who had more frequent interactions and conversations with weak ties tended to be happier than people who had fewer of those interactions on a day-to-day basis.

The article also cited a follow-up study that found participants who were instructed to make small talk with the barista when ordering a coffee were in a better mood and felt greater sense of community connection than those who didn’t.

Jane Jacobs describes the concept of a “the familiar stranger” in her work, “The Death and Life of Great American Cities.” The barista at your favorite coffee shop, the bartender at your regular bar, or even a neighbor — you interact with them, you know their name and maybe a few details about them. They’re not quite strangers, but they’re not close ties, either.

Cities, through their design, create opportunities for those “familiar stranger” or “weak tie” interactions. Shared public sidewalks, plazas, parks, and a density of people and businesses create opportunities for unplanned and low-commitment social interaction. Those interactions are spontaneous and unplanned but are essential to our individual and collective well-being.

Many American cities, with their sprawl and car-centric development, have eliminated places where those interactions can happen: places where people can come and just be and linger, without having to buy something or be in a car.

When I think of the cities I’ve lived in in the past, I think of the barista with the coffee cart near my apartment. The server at my favorite sushi restaurant. The lady selling fresh bouquets of flowers each day on my morning commute. I didn’t know much about them — maybe their name, maybe a tidbit about their lives. Those interactions deepened my connection to the place and only happened because the design of the city allowed them to happen.

“A sense of community is a function of design and it only occurs in certain places. It does not occur online, it does not occur in traffic and it does not occur on private property. We experience community in public places that are inviting, interesting, attractive, and beckon us to linger,” articulates the nonprofit Revitalize, or Die. “Community occurs on Main Street too and on the sidewalk and on the front porch. It requires shared places. Those spots where ownership is unclear and people bump into one another.”

The coronavirus pandemic deepened the “endemic of loneliness” that many Americans feel, and studies are documenting the mental and physical effects that isolation can have. Social isolation hurts our minds and bodies so much that it’s known to increase risk of premature death. As those studies quantify, it is essential — and so human — to feel connected to each other and part of a community.

Downtowns — with their shared sidewalks, their human-scale buildings, their mix of ideas and businesses and people, their baristas and shop owners and bartenders, their festivals, events, public spaces, and public plazas — encourage us to connect with others (yes, even strangers) and, as an effect, allow us to build community and connection.

The work of downtown development — and of creating walkable, dense, vibrant, inviting, shared spaces — is important now more than ever. The more connected we are, the happier we are. And the more vibrant the places that fostered that connection can be.

Anne Gentry graduated from Brown University with a degree in comparative literature and has studied in Italy and South Australia. She is currently executive director of the Alpena Downtown Development Authority.