We all wonder about our neighbors – whether it’s looking through lit up windows during a walk around the block, or getting curious about where and why they are moving when we see for-sale signs.

Patchwork Nation introduces us to 12 different types of communities and how they are coping with the recession. During the election, we were able to look at Patchwork Nation’s work to figure out how these places in America were voting – did military bastions really lean right and monied suburbs left? Just like politics, the recession looks different from place to place as you travel around the country.

In Lincoln City, Oregon, a Patchwork “Service Worker” community, blogger Kip Ward wrote recently about the economic lifeline of Highway 101 and the improvements he’s seen in the past few months.

“Economically, our local businesses are treading water. We have had a relatively good last couple of months after a year or more of progressively bleak economic conditions hitting us like winter squalls. That is very good news indeed.”

But in Plymouth, Massachusetts, hard times have already canceled this year’s July 4 parade.

““Every year we were able to pull a rabbit out of the hat. Not this year,” Ken Tavares, who heads the nonprofit group that stages the Independence Day events, said Monday. “We just simply ran out of money this year.”

When you type in my zip code, you get stories from Southern California, like this piece from KCET’s Southern California Connected on the disparity between the housing markets, noting a jump in defaults on loans and foreclosures.

On the Patchwork Nation map, you can also explore the different types of communities by looking at data, for example comparing the percentage of people who are uninsured to their level of education completed.

Try it out. What does the economy look like in your area? Are there success stories from your area? Share them here.