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When I was a child few houses had fences and the neighborhood children would use the connected backyards as a big shared play area. We would also play in the front yards sometimes too.
During the summer I spent most of the day outside with the neighbors or visiting their homes. When I visit my parents' old house I can rattle off all of the neighboring houses I have been inside. There are probably over twenty homes nearby that I have been inside.
Now I hardly know my neighbors. The biggest problem is that they keep changing every few years. Also to be honest I don't really gel with my neighbors even though we are all young parents. They seem very materialistic and brash; I am more muted. Maybe they see me as a shrinking violet, I don't know. A lifetime of interaction with my peers has taught me that I probably won't enjoy their company so I don't even bother.
I think it's evolved. My parents still live in the same house, same suburb I grew up in. i'm in my late 30s. Growing up there used to be parades (Memorial Day, July 4th), neighborhood get-togethers, village fairs,etc. Back when kids used to play outside more, the bike trails, parks, wold be packed with kids and neighbors walking. The suburb now is a pretty major suburb outside of a major city, so it's got all the chains, stores, new condos and houses, etc. Definitely more of a transient population, so you get less of the authentic neighborhood feel you once had. When I go back home to visit, it definitely feels a lot more cookie-cutter than it used to.
Interestingly, now living in a major city like Chicago, it definitely has a somewhat old-school neighborhood feel in the outer neighborhoods. Have met many of my apartment neighbors, lots of people from church stay consistent over the years, many regulars at local bars, see many of the same people at local grocery stores/gyms, etc. I'm sure it's changed a lot over the years, but living in Chicago (once I moved away from the downtown core), has brought back some semblance of neighborhood that I remembered growing up (although in a different, major city environment)
I live in the neighborhood I grew up in in the 1960s, and which my parents lived in since the 1940s. Structurally, the residential is much the same, the retail strip has gotten better, the former industrial areas have been replaced by mostly retail and residential, and homes and apartments are fully occupied and in demand.
The biggest difference is that for the most part the children are gone, or at least unseen. At least through the 1970s, neighborhood streets were filled with children of all ages playing (literally in the streets), hundreds of children walked to neighborhood schools, teenagers hung out in groups in playgrounds and street corners, churches and schools were filled and in some cases overloaded. The neighborhood back then was also more chaotic, dirtier, more crime, overcrowded.
The neighborhood today is not vacant, or even distressed. There are likely more units available than in the 1970s. But household sizes are so much smaller that schools have closed, churches are emptier or in many cases closed, small corner stores have disappeared as walking traffic (mainly kids) has dropped.
From a picture postcard standpoint, the neighborhood has kept the character it had, and in some places has more physical character than in the past. But it has also lost the "character" that existed when it was crowded with unsupervised children. So, I wouldn't say character is dying so much as evolving, it is just that there are fewer children to experience and recall the memory of it in future years.
I live in the neighborhood I grew up in in the 1960s, and which my parents lived in since the 1940s. Structurally, the residential is much the same, the retail strip has gotten better, the former industrial areas have been replaced by mostly retail and residential, and homes and apartments are fully occupied and in demand.
The biggest difference is that for the most part the children are gone, or at least unseen. At least through the 1970s, neighborhood streets were filled with children of all ages playing (literally in the streets), hundreds of children walked to neighborhood schools, teenagers hung out in groups in playgrounds and street corners, churches and schools were filled and in some cases overloaded. The neighborhood back then was also more chaotic, dirtier, more crime, overcrowded.
The neighborhood today is not vacant, or even distressed. There are likely more units available than in the 1970s. But household sizes are so much smaller that schools have closed, churches are emptier or in many cases closed, small corner stores have disappeared as walking traffic (mainly kids) has dropped.
From a picture postcard standpoint, the neighborhood has kept the character it had, and in some places has more physical character than in the past. But it has also lost the "character" that existed when it was crowded with unsupervised children. So, I wouldn't say character is dying so much as evolving, it is just that there are fewer children to experience and recall the memory of it in future years.
Couldn't agree with this more! I was born in the early 80s, and can attest to this. In the suburb I grew up with, the streets used to be filled with kids riding their bikes, playing, and just generally out and about. I remember Halloween, the streets used to be flooded with kids. My parents had to buy multiple bags of candy and were drained by the end of the night. Now, they get maybe 1-2 groups of trick or treaters (many years none). Although, I grew up in a pretty nice suburb, so there it wasn't necessarily dirtier or more chaotic (it was just typical suburbia), but now it does look a lot more modern (new housing, new condos/building, renovated home exteriors). Anyway, now, there are far fewer kids that you see out and about. Obviously, smart phones, video games, safety concerns, etc. all contribute to this. It is just a different era.
A major contributor to these changes mentioned in thread is both parents working. This situation leaves kids at after school programs and not out in the neighborhoods. Without a stay at home parent, time for getting to know the people in the neighborhood is sharply reduced. Weekends are spent taking kids to organized activities, taking care of all the household chores that are neglected during the week, food shopping and recharging from the intensity of work/commuting. Mix in less kids per family and you have the built the current situation.
Anyone who denies the OP's thesis is not being honest with themselves.
There is no community in America that has become more social; adding bars that invite a crowd is not the same.
I wouldn't say "no community."
If you look beyond middle class neighborhoods, there are plenty of places which have been, and remain social places. Most middle class neighborhoods stopped being social decades ago as family size became reduced, and what fewer children that remain are no longer given free-range by parents. Go through nearly any poorer neighborhood and you can still see kids playing, busier streets, and adults socializing.
It seems like the wealthier the neighborhood, the less socialization takes place. And neighborhoods got wealthier over the last 40 years.
Old thread, but first time seeing it since people are commenting on it.
What the OP says is very true. I move around a lot, and that not only includes different neighborhoods in a city, and other cities, it also means other states. A. Lot.
The smaller the area, the more "community" you can get. The larger it is, the more generic and stale it gets, little to no community feel whatsoever. I do notice, no matter where I go, it's the older folks who still try to make places feel like a community, more than likely because when they first moved there, it was a community. Then the area grew and grew, and it's now all new random people who live exactly as the OP said, although not all have garages.
The most "community" I ever felt was when I lived in Maine. I think that's one of the biggest reasons I really love that state. Sure, it's beautiful, but you add in the fact that there IS a community feel, even if you're an outsider or "from away", they still treat you pretty darn nicely and act like you're part of the community. It's something that I don't think I've felt....I guess the closest I ever felt that something was like a "community" was on our base in the military. I don't think I've ever felt that from a town or city anywhere I've lived besides Maine.
My first apartment, on my own, in Seattle - that building felt like a community - but the city certainly did not.
Community is not just about wealth. Maine is not known for being a wealthy state, but that community feel was absolutely there. Community comes from the people, not money. Doesn't matter if someone has kids or not, you can still get a community feel if the people who live there ACT like we're all part of a community.
Aside from Maine, the lack of a community feel is exactly why I move so much - because I've never felt a connection to an area. Never had any desire to stick around due to the people. Never made long lasting friendships in the sterile environment where everything looks the same, and it's mainly concrete with a few trees tossed in for decor.
Housing developments - maybe they can have a community, but I don't live in them because every. single. house. looks identical. I can't deal with that, and will not live in an area like that. I can't think of anything more pathetic, for me. If others like it, great, but for me, I feel like it sucks the very soul out of me.
I'm on the east coast again. Staying further south than Maine only because of job availability, but one day, I will return, OR, if I amount a large amount of money, I'll move to Alaska where I can be away from so many.
Community or no one around - those are my goals.
Sterile, generic, concrete, identical structures, strip malls, etc are not my thing. Most of the time, in those types of places, people do nothing more than the general nod of recognition, but you never get to know anyone because they don't appear to want to know anyone new.
Old thread, but first time seeing it since people are commenting on it.
What the OP says is very true. I move around a lot, and that not only includes different neighborhoods in a city, and other cities, it also means other states. A. Lot.
The smaller the area, the more "community" you can get. The larger it is, the more generic and stale it gets, little to no community feel whatsoever. I do notice, no matter where I go, it's the older folks who still try to make places feel like a community, more than likely because when they first moved there, it was a community. Then the area grew and grew, and it's now all new random people who live exactly as the OP said, although not all have garages.
The most "community" I ever felt was when I lived in Maine. I think that's one of the biggest reasons I really love that state. Sure, it's beautiful, but you add in the fact that there IS a community feel, even if you're an outsider or "from away", they still treat you pretty darn nicely and act like you're part of the community. It's something that I don't think I've felt....I guess the closest I ever felt that something was like a "community" was on our base in the military. I don't think I've ever felt that from a town or city anywhere I've lived besides Maine.
My first apartment, on my own, in Seattle - that building felt like a community - but the city certainly did not.
Community is not just about wealth. Maine is not known for being a wealthy state, but that community feel was absolutely there. Community comes from the people, not money. Doesn't matter if someone has kids or not, you can still get a community feel if the people who live there ACT like we're all part of a community.
Aside from Maine, the lack of a community feel is exactly why I move so much - because I've never felt a connection to an area. Never had any desire to stick around due to the people. Never made long lasting friendships in the sterile environment where everything looks the same, and it's mainly concrete with a few trees tossed in for decor.
Housing developments - maybe they can have a community, but I don't live in them because every. single. house. looks identical. I can't deal with that, and will not live in an area like that. I can't think of anything more pathetic, for me. If others like it, great, but for me, I feel like it sucks the very soul out of me.
I'm on the east coast again. Staying further south than Maine only because of job availability, but one day, I will return, OR, if I amount a large amount of money, I'll move to Alaska where I can be away from so many.
Community or no one around - those are my goals.
Sterile, generic, concrete, identical structures, strip malls, etc are not my thing. Most of the time, in those types of places, people do nothing more than the general nod of recognition, but you never get to know anyone because they don't appear to want to know anyone new.
Yes, Maine I believe is a special case.
The state always surprises me.
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