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Bloomington and Palo Alto celebrate 2nd anniversary as sibling cities

By Joanie Dugan

Posted May 24, 2024

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Bloomington and Palo Alto are the first pair of sibling cities. They signed the inaugural agreement in 2022. (Courtesy: City of Bloomington Facebook)

Bloomington and Palo Alto will celebrate their second anniversary as sibling cities June 1. The cities are partnered through Sibling Cities USA, a nonprofit based in Palo Alto that facilitates relationships between cities in the U.S. in an effort to bridge regional divides.

Sibling cities are modeled after sister cities, a program that fosters relationships between cities in the U.S. with international ones.

Bloomington and Palo Alto signed the inaugural sibling cities agreement in 2022. They are the first pair of sibling cities.

“The goal of the partnership is really to knit this country back together to let Americans get to know each other two cities at a time, in ways that are significant and deep to build relationships,” said Vicki Veenker, the founder of Sibling Cities USA. “I believe Americans think we know each other better than we actually do. And so this is designed through our three pillars of connection: community, commerce and civil discourse, to let people really get to know each other and see for themselves how we can and should live together as Americans.”

The organization hosts joint town halls that cover different topics to support that goal. People from Bloomington and Palo Alto connect virtually to share conversations based on the three pillars of the organization: community, commerce, and civil discourse.

“We intentionally want to convene civil discourse, tough discussions, where we really try not to develop consensus, but to develop understanding,” Veenker said. “That's what I think is really important for this country is to learn how to talk to each other again about tough issues.”

“We're living through a very interesting time in the United States where people have perceptions about each other that are very often formed within an echo chamber of ideas,” said Alain Barker, the Bloomington coordinator for Sibling Cities USA.

Past town hall topics include bridging regional divides, climate action, and race and belonging. One exercise focused on perceptions people from Bloomington have about people from Palo Alto, and vice-versa.

“We've been surprised at how some of the caricatures have revealed themselves and how we've been able to go at those to illuminate in a much more powerful way and a much more helpful way,” Barker said.

The partnership has also resulted in collaboration between the two cities. Connections have been made between each city’s respective Rotary clubs and each city has hosted delegation visits.

“We have had just a magnificent two years,” said Veenker. “It far exceeded my expectations in terms of the breadth and depth of things we've done together. And so now we're ready to expand beyond the pilot pair and invite other cities to join us and also develop sibling city relationships.”

Sibling Cities USA will host a celebration for Bloomington and Palo Alto’s second anniversary on June 1. It will be held at 5:30 p.m. at the Frangipani Room in the Indiana Memorial Union in Bloomington. There will also be a live feed to the celebration in Palo Alto. The event is free to the public.