Coming from a small rural area, I appreciate this sentiment directly. I am old enough to recall a time when we came together and got things done.
Political engagement is actually a start to that. People have to be reconditioned to come together and do things again. These habits have been lost. It still exists in small Churches, and other domains of volunteerism, but volunteerism as a whole has substantially declined.
Self-agency has declined. Most of our neighbors are captured by devices and easy entertainment. Something has to bridge that gap.
I agree on building community. However, partisan politics inevitably drives wedges as people vie for power in a zero-sum game. There's a reason divisiveness escalates in each election cycle.