20th annual Davis Neighbors’ Night Out event takes place Oct. 4
Neighborhoods are connected with newly moved-in students through more than 100 events
By HANNAH OSBORN — city@theaggie.org
On Oct. 4, the 20th annual Davis Neighbors’ Night Out (DNNO) event is set to take place, with around 117 events hosted throughout the City of Davis. The neighborhood gatherings are put together by volunteer hosts, with the hope of bringing together the different populations of Davis who live nearby.
“Davis Neighbors’ Night Out is a celebration of our community and a great opportunity for neighbors to get to know one another,” the event description reads. “The event is scheduled in October to include new or returning UC Davis students in neighborhood festivities and is sponsored by the City of Davis, UC Davis, ASUCD, Yolo County and Davis Media Access.”
Community Relations Program Manager Carrie Dyer has overseen the event since 2015. She shared the reasons behind creating the event and the types of interactions the gatherings hope to cultivate.
“I think the initial desire was if there are a group of students, maybe if they were going to have a party one night, they’d be more likely to loop their neighbors in and tell them, and then those neighbors would be more willing to go and knock on the door and say, ‘Hey, my kid’s trying to go to sleep,’ that kind of thing,” Dyer said.
The first DNNO in 2006 had 70 hosts, and this year will see about 117 different neighborhood events, according to Dyer. David Murphy is one such host, holding a dinner potluck event in his neighborhood. He discussed his reasons for hosting DNNO events yearly.
“Having been in Davis since 1981, I enjoy supporting activities that help people enjoy a sense of community and caring, really the sense of the university community of Davis which is so much characterized by trust and caring for everyone, whether we know them or not,” Murphy said via email.
Murphy also shared his experiences at the DNNO events, seeing them as a building block for further connection.
“[It’s] always enjoyable to meet people I have not met before,” Murphy said. “Just the beginning to build a bit of a small community. Of course, it takes more than just this one event to build a strong local community, but every activity helps connect interested people.”
Every DNNO event is different, as while the city approves host applications, the details of the events are left up to the discretion of hosts, resulting in a variety of party types throughout the neighborhoods of Davis.
“We really let the hosts use all of their creativity to do what they want,” Dyer said. “They really have full discretion on what time they want to start it at, what kind of party they want to have. This year we seem to have more ice cream socials [...] Our neighborhood one year had an adult versus kids kickball game, which was super fun.”
Event locations and descriptions can be found on the DNNO website, which has an event locator function. Local addresses can be searched to find the closest gathering within a radius.
“I love to look at our map online and see all the different little pins and know that all of those people are coming out together on the same day to celebrate their little individual neighborhood communities and our Davis community as a whole,” Dyer said.
All events will take place on Oct. 4. For those interested in getting to know their neighbors, the event locator map can be consulted to see specific event details such as time, event type and what attendees might want to bring to the party.
Written by: Hannah Osborn— city@theaggie.org