A fierce but friendly spirit of local patriotism: We should all feel comfortable boasting about our hometown microbrews, amateur sports teams, theater companies, cuisine, architecture, nightlife, political accomplishments, and natural scenery.

The lost art of leisure: Our lives should not be so ruled by the clock that we can’t occasionally take the scenic route, soak in the tub, hit the snooze button, or linger over coffee.

Great dividends on your tax dollars: First-rate schools, libraries, parks, recreation facilities, transit, public health programs, and other government services make all the difference in a community.

Grins. Giggles. Laughter: At home, on the street, in stores, offices, factories, schools, buses—everywhere.

Your very own Blair Witch: The popularity of the Blair Witch Projectattests to our craving for stories to which we don’t know the ending. This fits into a broader need for rekindling local history through the arts, the schools, the media, public monuments, and good old-fashioned storytelling.

A wealth of funky businesses: The vitality of any community depends on an interesting array of idiosyncratic and often financially marginal little businesses: friendly diners, bookstores outfitted with old sofas, wild and woolly garden shops, affordable antique dealers, magic stores, art galleries, eccentric fashion boutiques, record stores with clerks who know their stuff, and cheap ethnic eateries from five continents.

Places far from the maddening crowd: Quiet sanctuaries where you can watch sunsets, hear crickets, and see stars shining brightly in the night sky: woods, desert, lovers’ lanes, fishing holes, nude beaches.

Not-at-all-random acts of kindness: Adequate public assistance, widespread charitable giving, effective social service agencies, affordable housing initiatives, and good wages.

Further evidence of deTocqueville’s enduring insight: Bowling leagues, book clubs, religious congregations, and union locals bring us together, weaving the strong fabric of a healthy community. So do performance art collectives, immigrant associations, wicca covens, gay and lesbian pride committees, and active chapters of the Bobby Darin fan club.

A bit of vice to keep things interesting: Bars that stay open til 4 a.m., gambling dens, relaxed enforcement of marijuana laws, dessert cafés, sexy diversions, and at least some spot around town that looks provocatively seedy. On the other hand, counseling programs and active 12-step groups are lifesavers to people for whom these pleasures become disasters.

Diversity with a capital D: Immigrants, people of color, gays and lesbians, poor people, the elderly, plus free thinkers and free spirits of all stripes—these folks should not only feel welcome in the community but feel they have something to offer everyone else.