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Years ago I had some neighbours who dropped in daily.. even though I never went to their houses....I thought it was Nice to be Nice.. but then I got taken advantage of when they would sometimes come in for tea or coffee and sit for hours allowing their kids to run riot in my home... I think it was just a cafe for them. free coffee and biscuits and no one ever brought a cake or biscuit with them.... not only that but they were getting to know all my business with the phone ringing etc.. no one moved or made an excuse to leave, they would sit and listen to my conversations that had to be cut short.. I had no privacy at all... and when I tried to tell them or ignore when they came to the door , one actually went into my garden and peered through the window to see if I was in. hahaha not real. the cheek of some people. so it all had to stop.. I was just being used.. Apart from the borrowing which went on still.. the shops were a five min. walk away but they would still send their kids to ask for this or that... When I left that house I swore never again , that was 25 years ago and Ive stuck to my word.... I have lovely neighbours in my street, all polite and we talk but never again will I invite people into my life or home..
I had one of those. Her husband was an over-the-road trucker and she had worn out her welcome with all the other neighbors before we moved in. The only difference was that she didn't have small children (I did) but I tried everything short of moving and she wouldn't go away. So we moved. lol My hubs was transferred to a different part of the state and when we got to our destination, we both agreed: Be nice but always have "something on the stove" or "on my way out".
It worked fine and when we moved to this place, we had the same mind-set. My next door neighbor is a great person. Shovels my walk, plows the driveway. Takes my garbage can out. Offers to cut the grass if my son can't get here to do it in a timely manner. When I was just home from the hospital, he asked if I needed anything every time he and his wife were headed to the store.
From time to time, we chat in the driveway and they have invited me to their son's graduation parties, high school and college. As for the other neighbors, "hello" or "beautiful day" suffices.
When I was younger, I was busy with children, house, then job, then theater, so there wasn't much left over for hanging out with neighbors. It got to be a habit and I like it this way. When my 62 y.o. son shows up on his Harley, (they don't know about my older children) there's a palpable buzz on the street. Always keep 'em guessing.
this is the first house we've ever owned. the neighbors are all older who've lived there for decades. my husband and i are pretty friendly and outgoing. we've gotten to know most everyone. what surprises me is that none of these neighbors seem to talk to each other at all. one family after living there for 25 years moved last weekend. we went over to bring some dessert and say goodbye and they said we were the only one to do so! i was kinda shocked! these people have lived in the same neighborhood for decades, their kids were friends when young and grew up together. but there's no friendships or relationships. is that common?
I just moved into an older neighborhood 2 years ago with older people. I am friendly with the neighbors and for the first year they were chatty with me, but I get the distinct feeling they now try not to talk to me.
Another plus... if a stranger lurks, you know they are not from the area and can keep an eye on them.
I would love to see a stat on if more crimes are committed in areas where people keep to themselves vs neighborhoods where people interact and watch each other's backs.
We have had some neighborhood theft in the past. It's almost always car's getting broken into and small things like that. Last year, there was a rash of car windows getting shot out by bb guns. We have a FB neighborhood page so there was a lot of info shared. Most of the neighbors hit filed police reports. The culprits were caught and one spent some time in jail.
My neighbor across the street left their garage door open one night. Some bikes and other items were stolen. I convinced the neighbors (they are renters) to file a police report. The cop pretty much told them that it would be a long shot to get the stuff back. In the end, it was connected to the bb gun shootings and they got their stuff back.
Nextdoor has been used in the last couple of years to share information across different neighborhoods about suspicious cars/people and other happenings.
With school getting out in the next couple of weeks, this is the time to keep a closer watch.
I grew up knowing our neighbors. From the time we were little families would host fish fries or BarBQ's, about everyone shared fruit from the trees that we all had, or tomatoes and other things that you might have grown. As kids we all grew up with the other neighborhood kids. It was an awesome life.
We bought our home and found an awesome neighborhood to call home. We know many of the people on our street. Have spent time in some of their homes as well as have them in our home. For the past few years I have been taking out the trash for one elderly neighbor or helping her with what ever she needs. She lives next door and is grateful for the help. I think it is the thing to do. Helping our neighbors, being there for them, bringing cookies during Christmas or giving them a hand when needed.
We have lived in several neighborhoods. Most of them neighbors have known each other and helped each other out. My favorite one there were about 30 kids within a few years of each other and everyone got along.
Now we live in a neighborhood where no one talks to each other, helps each other out or knows their name. I greatly dislike it.
this is the first house we've ever owned. the neighbors are all older who've lived there for decades. my husband and i are pretty friendly and outgoing. we've gotten to know most everyone. what surprises me is that none of these neighbors seem to talk to each other at all. one family after living there for 25 years moved last weekend. we went over to bring some dessert and say goodbye and they said we were the only one to do so! i was kinda shocked! these people have lived in the same neighborhood for decades, their kids were friends when young and grew up together. but there's no friendships or relationships. is that common?
It depends. We make sure to know the immediate neighbors around us -and 3 to 4 houses each way but we also keep a safe distance. It's annoying for anyone to be up your bum everyday but the other extreme of never talking to anyone doesn't work. I think we have a happy balance in that we all know who lives on the street and we all borrow each others garden/ yard tools but aren't in each others faces 24/7. We live in an older home so our neighborhood has people across the spectrum of life. We used to help the elderly lady at the corner with her yard but she recently passed so that has stopped.
I think it is important to have a casual friendly rapport with the people on each side of us as our houses aren't that far apart from one another. If there is ever a natural disaster or an emergency I feel comfortable banding together with those around us.
We also live in an area where many people walk their dogs and we know all of the regulars -the kids can say hi and pet the dogs but they aren't hanging out inside our home or anything like that... a few of them brought Halloween candy for our kids- which we thought was very sweet.
I feel sorry for the person that said they would call AAA instead of having a neighbor help them.
K & K across the road always give a little wave when they pull out of their driveway if we are out and about doing chores. I saved their home from a fire a couple of years ago and thats when we got to meet them.
Alan and family to the west have a farm and not only do we get to say hello to the family but also their cows come to say hello (usually they are after treats) Added bonus Alan is an electrician and is helping us fathom out the mess we inherited when we bought this house.
The neighbors out back all say hello and we also socialize with them, we bought their parents home on its acreage and they have divided acreage of their own a ways behind us. On weekends in the summer if one or the other of us is having a bonfire we gather and shoot the breeze and drink a beer or three. They work on a local golf course so bring home the 12ft cut mower and make quick work of our side fields. In return they get to use our oil change pit (originally their fathers oil change pit) and the workshop area at the back of our garage for repairs.
I works for us
I feel like we live in Mayberry. Yes we socialize with the neighbors and their dogs. They come over and spend a couple of hours in our house and play with my boys. Our house was the hang out house for the shorties for years. We have new young neighbors and they are also part of the family. We are very good friends with our next door neighbors and we do a lot of fun things together. We all have each others cell phones and text regularly, especially in the winter. I wanted to stop doing my annual Halloween party two years ago, but the blow back from the neighbors and my friends made me change my mind. We also have a Facebook connection for our town and I've met the nicest people through that as well. It's a great way to find lost pets. It's a very nice village.
I have one neighbor with whom I'm friendly. We both love classic movies, and on occasion she'll offer me a plate when she cooks dinner. I helped her move in a few years ago. We're good friends - around the same age but sometimes she talks to me as if she was my mother! But I'm not complaining 'cause I know she cares.
A previous neighbor, also female, I was friendly with. One day she called me - apparently she'd broken up with her bf (yeah, yeah, we've all heard that before!) And she asked me to drive her to the store. I did so and we came back, all the time talking. We ended up spending the night together...
We became FWB for a brief time before she moved away.
I’ve been living in my home for 21 years. I also lived on this same street for a few years in high school and my parents live down the street. My neighbors and I wave and say good morning when we observe each other outside on our street, but we’re not “friends”. The family directly across from me has lived here about 15 years. I don’t know their names and to be honest I wouldn't recognize them if we passed each other at Safeway.
New people that moved in within the past couple of years don’t say hello or wave at all.
Nobody is chummy with others on our street, no inviting others over. Everyone keeps a distance and stays on polite terms or just ignores their neighbors.
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