Being Neighborly?

[DJFyrewolf36]

I am fortunate to be on friendly terms with both of my neighbors in my building. We often sit outside and chat for an hour or two if we spot each other coming in from work and one neighbor is involved in music projects and we are getting more involved as well. The whole neighborhood for the most part is a friendly place where people will say hello and wave when you're walking down the street and the clerks at the local mini mart know who I am

I think this neighborhood has retained a lot of the friendliness from the days before paranoia took over a lot of peoples minds. I feel blessed to be in such a nice area.

ETA: One of my neighbors even loaned me gas money when I was short due to missing work because of the flu. Now thats what I call neighborly!!

[aTailOf2Kitties]

I can see about 8 houses from my front porch. One neighbor is my bf's high school buddy we hang out with regularly. Girl on the other side went to school with me but I don't see her much. I smile and wave when I do, though. 2 houses down works where I do so know her and her family. Those are the only few people out of all of those houses I'd ever recognize.

I wonder if it is a sign of the times. My parents live on a cove with maybe 11 houses on it and we used to know everyone in the neighborhood as I was growing up. As time passed some moved out and new folks came in so much that ony their 2 original neighbors still live on the cove. Today we just so happened to run across a guy that used to live a couple houses down like 15 years ago and my dad mentioned to him that they haven't met any of the newer residents. Odd thing was, the guy we saw today wasn't really sociable when he lived there.

[Karen]

I grew up in a smaller town. We all knew each other's names, and families, and there were lots of kids. Now we live in a big city, but in a neighborhood that doesn't feel very city-like. I find that if you want to know your neighbors, you have to put yourself out there. After we bought this house, which Aunt Bertha owned before us, every time I would drive down the street, I would wave to people. I introduced myself to anyone who walked by. I talked to the children, and when we got Miss Hoppy, introduced her around. Now 12+ years later, everyone still waves back, and I know most people by sight, even if I don't know all their first and last names.

And the kids next door all know me well, and in fact,, I have lent their mom sugar, and before they passed away, the elderly couple on the other side made peanut butter fudge for me one time when I shoveled their walk after a bad storm.

Time to be proactive! Take a walk some nice autumn day, and go to the house with the little kids and introduce yourself and Lydia, and ask their names, it cannot hurt!

[chocolatepuppy]

We are close with our neighbors with exception of a guy who wants to be left alone behind us. As far as all around the neighboorhood, I got to know a lot of people, some by names, some not, by walking. I even know many of the dogs. We are lucky that our few close neighbors are the same ones who have lived here since we moved in 15 years ago. The closest house to us is currently empty while the new owners fix it up. Only time will tell how things go when a new neighbor moves in.

[AdoreMyDogs]

I'm friendly with many of my neighbors, in fact, the woman who lives 3 doors down has a boy who's just a couple months younger then Quinn and we hang out all the time. I go over to her house (she has a MUCH bigger play area in her house then I do) sometimes 4-5 times a week to let the kids play and we chat. We also take walks together once or twice a week. I just adore her, she's wonderful. Our next door neighbors are so wonderful and we're friendly with each other, we borrow stuff from them and they borrow stuff from us, but their kids are older so they don't play too much. Quinn LOVES the girl that lives next door though, even though she's 6 years older then Quinn. The 3 kids that live next door are just adorable and so, so sweet and polite. The neighborhood I grew up in was so friendly we knew every single person, their dogs names, their kids names, and had block parties every year (they still have them, my mom still lives there). I miss that, but I'm just glad to be friendly with even just a few neighbors.

[sparks19]

Our old neighbors on the one side we became VERY good friends with and spent a lot of time with them. we still keep in touch now that they have moved to a bigger home across town.


The guy on the other side of us is also very friendly and him and Brian get along very well since they both hunt. they just exchanged numbers the other day and are going hunting together... so cute

the NEW neighbors that moved into our friends house are... a pain and act really suspicious lol. I went over to as if I could use the phone one day when I blew a fuse in the house and needed Brians help (vonage doesn't work when the power is out) and she wouldn't open the door more than 6 inches then closed it went and got the phone and opened the door just enough to slip the phone out etc etc and didn't say a WORD to me. made me wonder what kind of drugs they had out when i dropped by lol

there is an older woman who baby sits her grandkids across the street a couple doors down and she is very sweet and chats me up anytime i see her. the guy directly across from us we always exchange waves and hellos.

and the other couple directly across from us did send their daughter over to let us know we left the interior light on in the car.

overall... it's a very pleasant community and while we aren't on first name basis with most of our neighbors we are friendly with them and they do look out for the other homes on the street

[kokopup]

I live on 20 acres in the country and all my neighbors live on acreage also. i know all of my neighbors within a 1/2 mile of my house and we are friends and visit each other on occasion. We had a Christmas open house for years up until I got sick. I would say where I live today is much like the community I grew up in as a kid, Close knit and caring.

[pomtzu]

I seem to be in the same boat that you're in, Cookiebaker.

I'm in the country - bought a 2 acre parcel almost 40 years ago and built on it. It used to be farmland that was divided up and sold in 2, 5, and 10 acre parcels. We were the first here on the north end, and then eventually people bought around us and built also. We've had neighbors come and go over the years, and those that are here now, I don't even know. On one side is a couple with married kids and grandkids living with them. Nice enough folks, but don't even know their names. An occasional hello or wave is the extent of it. We were friendly with those that lived there previously - 2 spinsters - but they have both passed on. On the other side is a family of redneck hillbillies that I don't know, nor do I care to know. They have lived there for several years and I've only spoken to the woman once when I caught her dog that had gotten loose.

If I lived in an area where the neighbors were closer, then I don't doubt that I would know more people, but I don't have a problem with the way things are here. I like my privacy and not having someone live so close, that I can hear when they flush their toilet!