How Well Do You Know Your Neighbors?

[Principessa]

I was inspired by this thread and wondered, how well do you know your neighbors? Without rehashing the whole race thing it seems to me, that if the person who had initially made the call, about an intruder, to the police had known who her neighbors were this whole mess could have been avoided.

I admit, I am guilty of not being on more than a nod and wave hello basis with most of the people on my block.

Oddly, I know the names of most of the children under 12 on the block, but not their parents. I'm not a perv, it's because they always come around selling candy or magazines for school and I just can't say no, to those chocolate covered, pecan, caramel clusters. I think they call them Katydids.

 

[Countryguy63]

I could have actually combined 2 of them. I live in a pretty rural place, but do have some neighbors. No one is very close, and there is no neighbors on the west side of my place. However, there are some homes across the road back aways, and I know them by name.

 

[SpeedoGuy]

I've seen them in the buff in their backyard. They've seen me.

 

[DiscoBoy]

The area I live in has a high percentage of Portuguese immigrants, my parents included. As such, we pretty much know everyone quite well. People of the same ethnic background tend to stick together, it seems.

We've become very close with the family living in the house attached to ours. A young, Portuguese woman in her early 30s (born in Portugal, raised in Canada) married to a Filipino man of the same age, living with their two daughters and her parents. We attended their wedding and the baptism of both children. They're very nice and we get along nicely.

On the other side, there's a community home for the mentally challenged. It houses about 5 or 6 individuals at a time along with the rotating staff that tend to them. They perform chores, have jobs and are allowed time to travel outside, attended or unattended depending on their stability (for lack of a better word). Currently, three of them have lived there for longer than twenty years and I've developed a special bond with each of them. Angela, Iris and Sandra whilst not very important in my life, have impacted it in some way or another. The other three living in the house I haven't really gotten the chance to know. It's kind of sad though, their families, rarely, if ever, visit them.

Anyway, I think neighbours are an important part of our lives. They can help us to better understand things we're unfamiliar with, change our perspectives on issues we don't fully understand and can prove to be reliable when necessary. A good neighbour is easily a good friend.

 

[Earthbound]

None of the choices quite apply to me. Of the 10+ houses up the street, I know the first & last names of five, but I've only ever spoken directly to three of them, and I don't know any of the kids' names.

 

[nudeyorker]

I have lived in my current apartment in NYC for over eight years and I know a hand full of the people in the building by name and have only marginal knowledge of their life. I have a nodding relationship with most. However I have had my dog for just over four years and know every dog owner in the building and on the block.
On the other hand I have owned my house for just over six months and know all of my neighbors by name and have been in their home or had them to mine. I think there is something about being out of a large urban setting that facilitates getting to know your neighbors better. but my house in on a cul-de-sac so I only have four other neighbors there vs. well over a thousand in the city.

 

[vince]

I have an apartment in the city and I'm building a weekend retreat up in a valley outside of town. There are only seven flats in building, so we all know one another. The guy on the third floor has his grandmother staying with him for the summer and she's 106 years old!

I've met one of the local goat herders on the mountain and his family. They are the closest people about a kilometer up the road. There's a village about 2k down from me and we've stopped in for tea a couple times. The people were friendly.

Where I live, people tend to know their neighbors (for better or for worse).

 

[798686]

I know most of our neighbours pretty well. We live in a village (on the outskirts of a town) which is kinda tight-knit so most people know each other. No neighbours over the road or behind our house cos the hill is too steep lol, but we get on well with the neighbours either side, and have known 'em about 15 yrs - so we tend to look out for each other if there are any probs.

They look after our cats when we're away and rifle through our belongings (only kiddin).

 

[Northland]

Yay! A poll where I can give multiple answers!!!!!!


I have neighbors although they aren't always neighborly. some are known by name, some are not.

NJ you left off a major choice: I only know the names of my neighbors who have weed or smoke cigarettes or other herbs:biggrin1: or keep 6-packs of beer chilled at all times (perhaps that was too long a choice)..

 

[luka82]

I know more than i ever wanted to know...

 

[B_Nick8]

You didn't begin to address city living, nj. There are 495 apartments in my building and I've lived here for 8 years. I have a nodding acquaintance with about 20 people and only really talk to the cute old couple who live on my floor. It's not that people here aren't friendly--they are, actually--it's more that there isn't a lot of time to engage in an elevator ride.

 

[Mem]

Where is the "I don't know the name of any of my neighbors". I've lived in the building which has 20 units a year and I keep to myself.

Only 2 or 3 residents have said hello to me, it's kind of my fault, I only say hello to those that say hello to me first. Also one cute little kid always says hello and asks where I am going. In that side of the building I am usually going to get my mail or throw out the garbage, but his mother is a bitch and doesn't even say hello or acknowledge him speaking to me.

In my old building where I lived 13 years I only knew the names of 10% of the residents or less.

 

[Principessa]

I have an apartment in the city and I'm building a weekend retreat up in a valley outside of town.

Where I live, people tend to know their neighbors (for better or for worse).[/QUOTE] I think that's true of most of Europe and the UK. I'm not sure why that is, perhaps y'all are just more sociable than Americans.

Yay! A poll where I can give multiple answers!!!!![!/QUOTE] I did that just for you. :wink: I like the mental image of you getting all excited. :flirt:

I have neighbors although they aren't always neighborly. some are known by name, some are not. NJ you left off a major choice: I only know the names of my neighbors who have weed or smoke cigarettes or other herbs:biggrin1: or keep 6-packs of beer chilled at all times (perhaps that was too long a choice)..

Maybe that's why I know the names of so few neighbors. I'm surrounded by bible thumpin' Baptists who don't drink, dance, or eat pork because the bible says it's an unclean animal. Wine, BLT's, and dancing is a good time to me. :biggrin1:

][/B]You didn't begin to address city living, nj. There are 495 apartments in my building and I've lived here for 8 years. I have a nodding acquaintance with about 20 people and only really talk to the cute old couple who live on my floor. It's not that people here aren't friendly--they are, actually--it's more that there isn't a lot of time to engage in an elevator ride.

That's probably because of the numerous apartments I have lived in over the years I have never known more than one or 2 other tenants at most. I guess I assumed everyone was like me.:redface:

Where is the "I don't know the name of any of my neighbors". I've lived in the building which has 20 units a year and I keep to myself.

Only 2 or 3 residents have said hello to me, it's kind of my fault,

I only say hello to those that say hello to me first.

I find that to be ridiculous; but typical of you from what I have gleaned from your posts. To have a friend, you have to be a friend. :smile:

Also one cute little kid always says hello and asks where I am going. In that side of the building I am usually going to get my mail or throw out the garbage, but his mother is a bitch and doesn't even say hello or acknowledge him speaking to me.

So talk to the kid, but not the mom.
In my old building where I lived 13 years I only knew the names of 10% of the residents or less.

I thought that 'I hate people and try to avoid those that live near me.' Would suffice for 'I don't know the name of any of my neighbors'.

 

[prepstudinsc]

I grew up in a suburban setting and currently live in another suburban setting-a small city that neighbors a major city. In both situations, I (or my family) know/have known all the neighbors.

Being in the southern US, I think that people are generally more neighborly because the overall pace of life is slower and people put priorities on things like general courtesies. At the holidays, my neighbors bring cookies over, I've brought food over to them when they have had a family death, we talk in the driveway, help each other do yard work, etc. When I moved into this neighborhood, I had some friends who lived a few houses down. It was a surprise to them that I was going to be one of their neighbors.

My neighborhood is an older one, surrounding a university and contains many of the school's faculty and staff. There are people who are the children of original owners (dating back to WW II era), other people have lived here for almost 50 years, and the newest people on the street have been here for about 7 years. People move into this neighborhood and don't move out. It's one of the hottest neighborhoods in my town, because it is close knit and friendly, not to mention that it also has some of the nicest homes in the city

I know that if I ever needed anything, all I would have to do is pick up the phone and call a neighbor or go ring a doorbell and I would get whatever it was I needed.
It's really like a throwback to the 1950s when you could go ask the neighbors for a cup of sugar or a stick of butter or something because you were baking a cake and ran short.

 

[D_Bob_Crotchitch]

It's not that people here aren't friendly--they are, actually--it's more that there isn't a lot of time to engage in an elevator ride.

Word got out about you goosing the guy who lives on the 4th floor.

 

[B_Nick8]

It' not my fault he was seen leaving my apartment with his shoes in one hand and his underwear in the other.

 

[D_Bob_Crotchitch]

It was more he kept muttering, he's such a great bottom. I've never done it so many times before.

 

[mitchymo]

There are five other flats on my floor and i only know who lives in the flat next to mine cos i used to work with him (we are polite but not friends) and i know that at least one of the neighbours down the hall smokes copious amounts of weed as the smell is so overpowering. I see loads of people who live in my block but i don't know anything about them (oh actually a woman on the 6th or 7th floor used to be my girlfriend before the enlightenment

 

[Hakunamatata]

I hate people and try to avoid those that live near me. :biglaugh:

I think I cursed my first neighbor. That poor woman was locking building entrance door every day which was pissing me off since I never had keys with me. One day I had to wait for 4 hours in front of the building for someone to let me in, I shouted " I hope that bitch dies " . 10 days ago she had a heart attack and is struggling for life in hospital :eek222:

 

[Viking_UK]

I'm fairly shy, so it takes me a while to get to know people. I hardly know any of my current neighbours, but part of that is that a few of them have moved out since I got here and I haven't managed to get to know the new ones yet. The last place I stayed in, I knew about half the street to speak to and most of the rest by sight.

Had a great neighbour who was a white witch, psychic and reiki practitioner on one side and a party-loving divorced dad and his new girlfriend on the other. The neighbours hated each other, but we got on well with both sets. I miss them.