I have been running a recording studio business in the Midtown West area (aka Hell’s Kitchen or Clinton) in New York City for the last 15 years.  Over the course of normal vendor and supplier relationships, I’ve gotten to know other business owners in the area and always enjoyed the camaraderie.  From ads in a free neighborhood newspaper, I had found out about an existence of a local business association, made up of business owners nearby, and have always meant to check them out but never got around to it.  There may be similar organizations in your neighborhood.  The idea of such a group is to provide opportunities to network with neighboring businesses to see how one could help each other and the community to grow, and discuss specific concerns about the neighborhood.