Northern Virginians: Do you know your neighbors? (Purcellville: townhome, living in)

[mdcrim]

We know almost all the neighbors and are very lucky- good people and lots of socializing opportunities. We have families, a single, some childless couples (or couples with no children in the home) and our adult neighbors range in age from late twenties to seventies. Just a very close community. That being said, i know that on the next street over no one knows each other. So it just varies by section of the neighborhood.

Our neighborhood has the one neighbor who hosts the Super Bowl party, another who hosts Fourth of July, yet another host Halloween and one who hosts a holiday party. We also have a book club, progressive dinners and impromptu random fire pits. Just a very special place...

[HokieFan]

I live in a townhouse community. We greet our neighbors and will make small talk if we're outside at the same times. We have loaned our lawn mower to our neighbor. There are two neighbors we are particularly friendly with -we will mow their lawns if they look to be in desperate shape (it takes another 10 minutes with our small lawns), occassionally rake leaves, and shovel snow if we happen to get to it first. They reciprocate. My husband helped one neighbor take down a tree this past spring, which took a full day.

However, I've never been invited inside any of my neighbor's houses and vice versa. It's our preference to be friendly but not friends with our neighbors.

I have lived in a small city in Alabama, a small town in rural Virginia, in Alexandria and now in Lake Ridge. My experience has been the same everyplace I've lived. IMO, it's not NoVa specific.

I feel like the subject of the friendliness of the residents of NoVA has been debated to death on CD.

OP, I see that you have started similar threads in the Pittsburgh and Triangle (NC) forums. Are you trying to decide between staying put or moving some place else?

[seiketsu]

I think people confuse a desire for privacy with unfriendliness. I will make small talk with my neighbors, but I don't pry into their lives, and they don't pry into mine. I don't consider that to be unfriendly, just respectful of privacy. I would say my neighbors know my dog better than they know me. He's super friendly :-).

I have lived in apartments where everyone was up in everyone else's business, and to be honest, I much prefer the "friendly wave to a familiar face but whose name I don't actually know" style of neighborhood.

[hilsmom]

Well, we have our next door neighbor's kiddo sleeping upstairs with ours right now as her mother deals with the aftermath of surgery. So, yeah, we know THAT neighbor We were so excited when they moved in because we'd been here 6 months and no one in our immediate vicinity had talked to us. We saw a little girl moving in and basically pounced on them on their way in the door! Invited her to come play on our new-to-us playscape so mom and dad could direct traffic. They have become like family to us.

It's so weird, though, because our neighbors on the other side are well known in the community, but they NEVER talk to us. Not sure if we did something or they are just too busy...who knows?

Our street is pretty busy, so kids don't really play out front. I think that doesn't help.

This doesn't mean we don't know OTHER people in our 'hood. We moved in right before the kiddo started K, she goes to a sitter in the neighborhood a couple days a week, and we started Girl Scouts (I'm a Brownie troop leader now). You meet other parents through your child, either school or activities. We also have several neighborhood Facebook groups where people chat, so we get to know each other that way. I wish there was a LITTLE togetherness and bonding in our general vicinity like there is in other parts of our large neighborhood, but we know enough people. We do know a few people in our vicinity better than others, chatting with them while the kiddo is selling girl scout cookies helps.

Oh, my husband has made us some friends through dog walks. He goes a couple times a week to a playgroup for dogs. Yes, seriously.

We still are in touch with people from our old neighborhood, which was a small cluster of TH's in Reston. We didn't really start meeting people until we had our daughter, but once we were out and about with her, we met at least half the people in the neighborhood and became pretty friendly with several of them.

[Pikantari]

I only know one of my neighbors, and that is because after a while of living here, I finally went over and introduced myself. I am used to living in a smaller-type town and everyone knew everyone. I really like that type of atmosphere.

I wouldn't know my neighbors from Adam. I have lived here for almost 2 years, and my bf has lived here for about 15 years or so. He doesn't know anyone here.

I felt a little strange walking across to introduce myself because there isn't the sense of community, but I am glad I did. They are a sweet elderly couple, and I have been back to visit many times since.

[South Jersey Styx]

Originally Posted by LynchburgLover

When we were in NoVa, we were on a cul-de-sac. The neighbors would smile and wave as they drove by, the garage door went up, the car drove in and the garage door came down. Most of the neighbors used lawn services so the only time we would talk and visit was when it snowed.

This sounds similar to our neighborhood in Sterling -- new development, cul-de-sac, a few waves, a little interaction.

We have been in Historic Winchester over 2 years now and the experience here is the complete opposite. We know all the neighbors on the first 1/2 of our street (about 10 houses). There's alot of chatting and visiting especially when people are outside doing lawn work or sitting on their front porches. If someone needs to borrow a tool or needs some firewood, we lend or give it out.

We don't "hang out" except for 1 neighbor (beers at a local pub) and there are 2-3 neighbors who have Holiday parties or BBQs we attend. Perfect strangers will come up to our house to inquire, for example, about a house for sale or the neighborhood. People always greet you when they walk by. This place is great.

[stpickrell]

I wonder if the townhouse effect is different if you're talking "random TH development in outer exurbia," "TH strip in historic Winchester/Leesburg/Frederick" or "TH strip in Arlington/Alexandria."

The further out we've gone the better luck we've had with neighbors. Our neighbors in Arlington would've have peed on us if we were on fire. Our neighbors in Vienna were "wave and duck inside the house" sorts for the most part, although we started getting a little closer to two of them as the years went on. Our neighbors here in Leesburg are great -- there's even been two families with kids about my daughter's age moving in during the past year. We got closer to them in a 6-9 month span than we did in Vienna over 3 years.

[ACWhite]

I'm in Arlington and find the neighbors are great. The ones with kids in school seem to do more activities with each other than do people without kids, there are a few eccentrics, etc., but people are kind and boundaries are respected.

Here's a little different perspective. My parents grew up in the same small town and said it was a lot like Mayberry. They couldn't wait to marry and move away because everyone was in each other's business constantly. I appreciate not having anyone know or care what brand of toilet paper I am buying at the store.

[Forehead]

Townhouse community, end unit. We know the folks next to us, and behind us, and diagonal. Also know a few others in the development due to being on the condo board, but we don't do the hanging out thing. Just the wave and small talk stuff. Personally, townhouses to me encourage less friendliness due to everyone being so close, the houses have entrances on different sides, there isn't a common street setup the way many townhouse communities have.

I always tell myself I'll make more of an effort when we move up into a single family home community, but I don't know if I actually will.

[Carlingtonian]

Originally Posted by ACWhite

I appreciate not having anyone know or care what brand of toilet paper I am buying at the store.

Oooh--I bet it's Charmin! Am I right? Huh? Huh?