Throughout this year, several bloggers will engage in a conversation here and on their blogs — asking questions of each other and responding. Others are absolutely welcome to join the conversation, as well. Learn more about the ladies of Blogversation 2012.
Today’s question — like last week’s installment, actually a series of related questions — comes from Amy Throndsen, on Twitter as @amyserves:

Since graduating college in 2003, I joined an AmeriCorps program where lived in four different communities on the west coast over the course of 11 months, and I spent almost three years in China as a Peace Corps Volunteer.  After Peace Corps I traveled for five months through Southeast Asia, putting everything I had into a backpack and regularly hitting the dusty trail.  I lived in Washington, D.C. for two years after returning to the U.S. and am now in Madison, Wisc.
I’ve found that as I’ve lived and worked in multiple places, my “community” is spread out over the globe.  I’m grateful have those shared experiences (they’ve shaped my perspective and make me who I am today), but I’ve been focusing on how to make Madison my home and connect with a deeper sense of community here.
My question for you is about community:  How do you define it?  How do some people or places rise to the top of your list, as to where you’ll spend time and energy developing and nurturing those relationships?  What are some tips you’d give someone who is looking to establish themselves in a new community?