Do you know your neighbors?

[travelover]

I've lived in my current house for 21 years. I know a few neighbors on each side, but the rest of the 30 or so houses are strangers. It seems that almost everyone has a lawn service and snow removal and the neighbors drive into their attached garages, shut the door and that is their interface with the neighbors until they drive out again. Occasionally I see a few as I walk my dog or clear the road of snow with my tractor, but the interaction is rarely much more than a nod on their part.

Is this typical of where you live, as well?

 

[haha]

I've lived in my current house for 21 years. I know a few neighbors on each side, but the rest of the 30 or so houses are strangers. It seems that almost everyone has a lawn service and snow removal and the neighbors drive into their attached garages, shut the door and that is their interface with the neighbors until they drive out again. Occasionally I see a few as I walk my dog or clear the road of snow with my tractor, but the interaction is rarely much more than a nod on their part.

Is this typical of where you live, as well?

I live in an apartment building and know quite a few of my neighbors, some well enough to go out for drinks occasionally. It is hard not to meet people coming in and out, using the laundry, emptying the trash, etc.

OTOH, modern suburbs often are isolating places.

Ha

 

[hakuna matata]

I do know the adjacent neighbors as my daughter babysits for them. And one of them has a couple of annual neighborhood get togethers, so I have met some of the others but really couldn't pick them out of a lineup to be honest. But the area we live in the houses are all on 2 1/2 acre lots and thus the houses aren't that close together.

But everyone is very friendly, waving to you if you are walking or driving.

 

[Sarah in SC]

I live in a very rural area. We know our neighbors on either side fairly well and are best friends with a couple that lives about a mile away (close by). We feel quite lucky to have friends like them near us. When we lived at the beach, we knew literally hundreds of neighbors, I think.

Back then, though, we all hung out in the yard drinking beer together. Now it is harder to make a real connection with people because you have to make plans in advance instead of the serendipitous meetings in good weather.

We have struggled to get to know the neighbors (liveaboards) on our boat dock, but sharing beers on warm days is also a good icebreaker there. But not really close to any of them, yet.

 

[Keim]

I know everyone on my block. We all stop and chat when outside.

 

[DangerMouse]

We live in a cottage on a largish estate, so the only neighbours we have are the owner and the other cottage dweller.

We all stop and chat, sit down and have coffee together in warmer months. It has been a godsend to find this place after our previous experience with neighbours not having the time of day to even say hello.

 

[REWahoo]

I only speak to my neighbors when their kids get on my grass...

 

[Texas Proud]

Nope... have very little interaction with any of them... even though I drive the next door neighbor's girl to school every morning with mine...

 

[FIREd]

I know their name and we have friendly chats when we happen to be outside at the same time. But I don't "know" them.

 

[rescueme]

No. And I doubt if they want to know me (darn kids - stay off the grass )...

 

[braumeister]

About 1/5 of a mile, door to door, to the nearest neighbor on each side, along a sparsely populated county road. Both sets of neighbors are extremely nice people, and they put up with me because I stay off their lawns.

 

[unclemick]

Yes unfortunately so far this year 3 PTA discount cards and 3 cans of cookies/popcorn for ?Scouts/School/Campfire girls ?? I forget.

I have loud dogs but all the neighbor kids know they are big woosies.

heh heh heh - I switched house sitters/dog watchers(when on trips) to someone who moved several blocks away to avoid rivalries - years past used to rotate among the neighbors on three sides with varying degrees of success.

 

[Nords]

I've lived in my current house for 21 years. I know a few neighbors on each side, but the rest of the 30 or so houses are strangers. It seems that almost everyone has a lawn service and snow removal and the neighbors drive into their attached garages, shut the door and that is their interface with the neighbors until they drive out again. Occasionally I see a few as I walk my dog or clear the road of snow with my tractor, but the interaction is rarely much more than a nod on their part.
Is this typical of where you live, as well?

We have a few like that, but most of us know each other from our kids playing together.

Last month we drove all the way across the island to an open house and met a woman who lives about two blocks away from us. She recognized our car from seeing our daughter drive by her place but had no idea who we were.

 

[Orchidflower]

Seems every place I've ever lived I've gotten to "know"--or at least, feel I could call on them if my water got shut off for some reason--about 2-3 neighbors.
Maybe this is cause I don't care what they are doing and definitely hate it when others get into my business, and, altho I am extra friendly, I really want to pretty much be left alone at home. Now if something goes wrong (like they lose their phone service), I hope they feel free to knock on my door and visa versa. But I consider my home the place where I rest and get quiet.
Everywhere I've lived, tho, the neighbors and I seem to wave at each other and sometimes actually say a few words. It's nice enough.

 

[calmloki]

Yes unfortunately so far this year 3 PTA discount cards and 3 cans of cookies/popcorn for ?Scouts/School/Campfire girls ?? I forget.

I have loud dogs but all the neighbor kids know they are big woosies.

heh heh heh - I switched house sitters/dog watchers(when on trips) to someone who moved several blocks away to avoid rivalries - years past used to rotate among the neighbors on three sides with varying degrees of success.

HEY! 'bout time you poked your head outa the swamp!

Up north we picked our neighbors on one side by selling our tenant/painters our old house. We fixed up our old neighbor's house after his death and moved into it. New neighbors on our other side worked with me on the redo, camped in it for a few months while selling their place years later, buried the new buyer neighbor's dog and adopted several of the cats when the gal had a drug issue that took her on the lam, she's clean and taking care of our lawn while we're down south. That sort of thing. Seems like lots of connections but very little socializing

 

[Purron]

I know all the neighbors on our circle of 5 homes. One of them hosts a cook out every year and includes a number of people from our neighborhood. We're lucky in that some super nice people live around us. We enjoy seeing them more when the weather is nice and we're all outdoors more.

 

[W2R]

I've lived in my current house for 21 years. I know a few neighbors on each side, but the rest of the 30 or so houses are strangers. It seems that almost everyone has a lawn service and snow removal and the neighbors drive into their attached garages, shut the door and that is their interface with the neighbors until they drive out again. Occasionally I see a few as I walk my dog or clear the road of snow with my tractor, but the interaction is rarely much more than a nod on their part.

Is this typical of where you live, as well?

No attached garages on my block so that is not an issue.

Most of my neighbors were born here and inherited the houses, or are elderly and moved in 30-40 years ago. The families all know each other by now, of course. If you know one of them you know everything that is going on, because their families have been friends for years. Many have French surnames and many have relatives living on my block as well. Seems like many are in the restaurant business and own and operate some very nice restaurants. Interesting neighborhood, and a very nice, well kept up, and quiet one so I do like it a lot.

I wave hello to my neighbors when I come and go. When I see my immediate neighbors, I stop and talk for a few minutes but not for very long. That's about it. I really have no more desire to become a part of their lives, than they have to become part of my life. I am just not the social butterfly, never have been, and I am very wary about gaining more friends than I can handle. But anyway, they are curious about me sometimes, I must admit. When I put my house on the market, and when I took it off the market, neighbors that I hadn't talked to for years came out of the woodwork and wanted to know all the details. They remember what the house looked like before I moved in, and asked if I ever removed all that wallpaper (yes).

 

[aaronc879]

I live in a condo with 24 units in 2 buildings. I've been here 3 years. I know 4 people by name and maybe say a word or two to one of them once per week or so. There are 3-4 people in my building that I nod to on the rare occassion that I see them but that's the limit of our contact. I have no idea who the other 15 or 16 unit owners are. I've never been a social person and do not go out of my way to talk to people.

 

[donheff]

I know a lot of my neighbors. We live in a fairly dense urban area (townhouses) so we see them frequently.

 

[Life_is_Good]

When I was in the process of moving into my retirement home, it sat empty for a few weeks before I could move in. The neighbor across the street decided to mow my lawn a few times. I really appreciated it and we had a nice neighborly relationship.

When he found out I really knew my way around a computer, he started to call me whenever his PC had problems. I helped him out a number of times (fix his backup, fix his mouse, etc). I felt I owed him for mowing my lawn those couple of times and I had no problem helping him with some small stuff.

However, he never stopped calling... and I eventually got tired of fixing his PC. I started to advise him to have his PC fixed at the local PC repair shop.

This scenario unfortunately soured our relationship. I've noticed that he avoids saying hello to me or making much contact when we are both outside working in our yards. I can't figure out why he would expect free tech support for life just because he cut my lawn twice 5 years ago. The situation is a little uncomfortable and it baffles me.

 

[freebird5825]

I live on a country road where the houses are side by side on 100' wide x 400 ' or more deep lots. All of the houses have changed ownership since 1984 when I moved in. The only "same" neighbors is a couple in their late 80s who live 4 doors away.
The new neighbor on one side of me is very friendly, but his wife doesn't exactly approve of him talking to me. Her scowl in my direction kinda gave her basic attitude away.
I don't think I've ever seen the woman smile.
The couple on the other side keeps mainly to themselves, are rarely outdoors, and also ignore the neighbors on the other side of their house.

Regardless of all of this overwhelming goodwill , if I see any of the neighbors, I always smile and wave

 

[Janet H]

I know my suburban neighbors and have lived here long enough to see most of them move in... I always make it a point to find new neighbors stick out my hand and be sociable.

The most recent newbie lives next door and seems charming, retired, home a lot, etc but has us seriously considering a move from the neighborhood. They installed a wood stove that has caused us some substantial respiratory distress this winter and seem disinclined to make changes to it.

 

[REWahoo]

I am very wary about gaining more friends than I can handle.

That is a very interesting comment. I didn't realize it was possible to have too many friends, but I suppose that's where phrases like "too much of a good thing" originate.

 

[grasshopper]

We lost our well pump last week, we took showers and did dishes at our nearest neighbors home. I have 10 out 20 neighbors I would trust my back to, either firefighters like me or EMT's. I think nothing of jumping in my truck and driving several miles to help a friend out.

 

[Buckeye]

We live in a 55+ apartment community and we know most of the people in our 14-unit building as well as quite a few other residents and many of the staff. I love the feeling of comraderie and community. Three neighbors have become good friends and one neighbor has became my new grandma (although she moved to the neighboring building to be on the ground floor). Mom is now only 2 buildings away so I know many of the residents in her building also.

I too like my time at home to be my own but having friends so close makes it easy to visit for only a few minutes and then head back home. Visiting each other does not become an extended "event" because there is minimal start up cost!

DH and I are not convinced we want the responsibility and cost of a home again (especially in FL with high insurance costs and falling prices). In addition, I'm enjoying have good friends and family only a few steps away.