How to make friends with neighbours? (Chicago, Elgin: apartment, house, neighborhood)

[hhe1982]

We are immigrants and young couple with no kids.
We used to live in a small apartment where people are diverse. And you met people in the stairs, corridors, and very easily to get to know each other.
But now we bought a house in the suburb where nearly all our neighbours are white and at least 10 years older than us. Most of them are friendly, We still feel that we are different her and hard to be part of the community.
When we were in our country, neighbours are often friends too. We visit each other's house and talked to each other often. But now when we met neighbours we don't talk to each other very much. we don't visit each other.(I don't know if they visit each other's house). Everyone like just have their own life, they don't connect to each other.

[almost3am]

Have a party and invite the neighbors. We had a barbeque with our immediate neighbors when we moved to our current neighborhood (in WI), which started this amazing spring-fall Friday patio party craze that spread through the neighborhood. It is awesome now, we send out a sign up list through the neighborhood and everyone picks a weekend until they are full from May-Sept. It is BYOB and the host just puts a few dishes for snacks out & a few bottles of soda, nothing major. I hope to do something similar when we move to the burbs of Chicago and see if it works there.

It is pretty funny when I get home from work on a Friday. Instead of looking at the schedule of who is hosting the party, I look for neighbors walking down the street with mini coolers and see what their destination is. It also makes me leave work as soon as I can on Fridays.

Anyway, we didn't know anyone and we thought it would be a good way to meet people. It worked for us, but it may not work for everyone.

[knitgirl]

It's hard this time of year when people don't spend much time outside. Stop and say hello when they are out shoveling. Bring them treats from your country. My neighbors and I exchange Christmas cookies this time of year. Try getting involved in a community organization. Elgin, for example, has neighborhood organizations that have social aspects to them. I met most of my friends here through the neighborhood group. I would think most suburbs have something similar or groups involved in fundraising or building playgrounds or something like that.

[gardener34]

It is easier to meet and greet, in the summer when everyone is doing yard work or washing their cars, etc. People these days might not want to get too "chummy" though... every neighborhood is different. Some do big get togethers, some do not, esp. in areas where there are a lot of people who work a lot of hours.

I like the summer barbecue idea. Invite people over for cake and coffee one evening. In the winter, most people aren't too busy after the holidays are over.

Advice: Just approach certain people cautiously and try to get a feel for them. I wish we never got too friendly with our one neighbor - he turned out to be a NFH (neighborfromhell).

Also, you can get to know people through your local house of worship. I have met many nice people through ours and other volunteer work I do.

[Gottasay]

One word: BUNCO

[jlawrence01]

Agree with the other posters. You are going to need to do all the work. Throw a party, join a newcomers group, join a church.

[Prairie]

Organize a block party, check with your City/Town rules and regulations about closing off your street to traffic. Block parties are a great way of meeting your neighbors. Here is a web site that can help you with the task: Meet Your Neighbors at a Block Party

[JustJulia]

I agree with knitgirl. Everybody loves cookies.

Be a nice neighbor. Smile and wave at people. When you're out shoveling the sidewalk, shovel your next-door-neighbors' too, or at least as far as their driveway so their job is half done. Bake a lot--food is love.

[JustJulia]

Originally Posted by almost3am

Have a party and invite the neighbors. We had a barbeque with our immediate neighbors when we moved to our current neighborhood (in WI), which started this amazing spring-fall Friday patio party craze that spread through the neighborhood. It is awesome now, we send out a sign up list through the neighborhood and everyone picks a weekend until they are full from May-Sept. It is BYOB and the host just puts a few dishes for snacks out & a few bottles of soda, nothing major. I hope to do something similar when we move to the burbs of Chicago and see if it works there.

It is pretty funny when I get home from work on a Friday. Instead of looking at the schedule of who is hosting the party, I look for neighbors walking down the street with mini coolers and see what their destination is. It also makes me leave work as soon as I can on Fridays.

Anyway, we didn't know anyone and we thought it would be a good way to meet people. It worked for us, but it may not work for everyone.

I love this idea.

[jessiegirl_98]

I agree that you will have to do the work and having a party of some sort is probably a good way to do it. That being said, you may not live in an area where you will be super friendly with the neighbors. You can also join community groups, etc to get more of a sense of belonging that you may not get from them.