Throw back to the 50s

from JoeUser Forums

Yea, I guess my Neighborhood is.  In it, I know my neighbors.  Why?  We are not afraid to stand outside and do yardwork and talk. 

In it, I see people walking down the road.  And a man on a bicycle riding by with a child on the back, and yelling "Hi Mom" to the walking lady.  I see a father strolling his daughter.  I see many people walking their dogs and as they pass, saying Hi.  I suspect their dogs are not from this street, but from others around here.  It is (dare I say as I dont know) typical suburbia.  The streets are not straight throughs.  Unless you live here or on a side one, you are not going to use this as a cut through.

So people do not mind jogging, walking, walking dogs or bicycling on the street.  While we have a third mile of straight street, the only ones drag racing are the kids go karting.  The rest of us, we take it easy.  Knowing that the kids are chasing balls and some even skateboarding in the streets.

I look and read at the rest of the USA and wonder.  Are we immune?  Are we special?  Perhaps.  But I like my neighbors, the Koreans, the Japanese, the Moroccans, the Blacks, the Peruvians, and the Other Hispanics.  We exist together. Because there is no animosity or hatred here.  We exist together because we have a common interest.  Our neighborhood.

And yet I read where most dont know their neighbors.  And that is a real shame.  When my wife and I go out out town, they care for our cats.  When they have a problem, like my retired neighbor, we watch their house and take care of the mail.

We had a HS quarterback in the neighborhood just 2 years ago!  Starting on the school team!  (His mother still lives here, but jocks!) Now we have an engineer in the neighborhood!  Soon to be!  He is in the program at College.  And we have an Auto Mechanic in the neighborhood.  That has saved my wife's and my butt on a couple of occassions.

Neighbors.  They are not just for decoration any more either.  I am glad for mine.

3,050 views 22 replies
Reply #1 from JoeUser Forums Top
Sounds like such a nice place to live in. Our neighborhood isn't bad, and I do know that some neighbors are friendly with each other.

As far as me not getting to know them, I guess it has alot to do with my personality...I've always keep to myself. Maybe I should try a little harder to change that.
Reply #2 from JoeUser Forums Top

I think our neighborhood is pretty good too.  Directly across I've got the Sheriff's dispatcher,  have a farmer ( retired) with his wife of many decades,  a couple down the hall that are nice even though they're nosey,  and most I don't know yet are seniors that are friendly.

It's just that one family across the street that's been creating chaos since they moved in.

Your neighborhood sounds like heaven!  We've got the skateboarders and bicyle gang,  and sadly the drivers drive too fast for all the children that abound around here.

How did you find such a great place to live?

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Reply #3 from JoeUser Forums Top

As far as me not getting to know them, I guess it has alot to do with my personality...I've always keep to myself. Maybe I should try a little harder to change that.

Actually, I am an introvert as well.  But when they walk by and say HI,  Talk to you about your team, or your cats (yes, we are the cat people!), you cant help but get to know them.

Plus, Isabel left us with a freezer full of food, no power, and a neighbor with 2 teens and power!  So I gave them all we had.  A week later, one teen returned the ice chest with a burb and a smile!  Now who could not like them?

Reply #4 from JoeUser Forums Top

It's just that one family across the street that's been creating chaos since they moved in

We have not had that kind (and I know who you refer to).  We do have a half way house for girls (girls, not women).  But they are very well behaved!  Their parents are another thing (just rude, not mean).

It really is.  I blogged about a year ago (probably a lot longer) that there was a Bike that one neighbor had forgotten to take when they moved.  It stayed there until the new people moved in.  About a month!

I am lucky.  I know that!  My friend, also in this city, was not.  I guess it is location.  But yea, Call us the Cleavers! !

Reply #5 from JoeUser Forums Top
does sound pretty blissful doc. The neighborhood I grew up in was really active. We lived in a culdesac and all the kids would gather in the middle to play games and such. Everyone knew everyone elses kids so for the most part we stayed out of trouble and such. My next door neighbor was the superintendent of the school district and he and his wife were always planning block parties and such.

Good stuff

-sus
Reply #7 from JoeUser Forums Top
Doc - should we call you Ward, Walley, or Theodore?


HE'S THE BEAV! OF COURSE HE'S THE BEAV!
Reply #9 from JoeUser Forums Top
Definitely nice that you live in an area with neighbors you know, can relate to, and communicate with.

I admit to being largely the hermit that my wife calls me. I know little about my neighbors, their families, and the goings on in their lives. I'm not trying to be anti-social, just somewhat private and not really that interested in getting out and gossipin' with everyone.
Reply #10 from JoeUser Forums Top

My next door neighbor was the superintendent of the school district and he and his wife were always planning block parties and such.

Now that is my kind of Superintendent!

Reply #11 from JoeUser Forums Top

Doc - should we call you Ward, Walley, or Theodore?

I guess I am too old for Wally or Theodore, so I must be Warrd.

Reply #12 from JoeUser Forums Top

HE'S THE BEAV! OF COURSE HE'S THE BEAV!

Ah gee, Wally, you found me out.

Reply #13 from JoeUser Forums Top

I'm not trying to be anti-social, just somewhat private and not really that interested in getting out and gossipin' with everyone.

We dont really gossip, or at least I dont.  We talk about the kids a lot, and like I mentioned, Sports, work, the Schools (especially the schools).  But we dont talk about the private lives of others, other than who is going to what college.

Reply #14 from JoeUser Forums Top
I have been in my neighbourhood for 6 months now, the neighbours only speak to me when they want something from me - such as access to the wall on my side etc, being Cornwall (me not Cornish ) am I surprised? NO!

I do remember as a kid though in a far way neighbourhood back in the distant years all the neighbours spoke with one another.
Reply #15 from JoeUser Forums Top

I do remember as a kid though in a far way neighbourhood back in the distant years all the neighbours spoke with one another.

Before AC became affordable, so everyone spent the evenings on porches trying to escape the heat of the house.

Reply #16 from JoeUser Forums Top
I really don't know if I'm one of the people you read who mentioned I don't know my neighbors. It's okay if I was.

I think it's great you live in such an ideal neighborhood. Growing up I loved our neighborhood. All the neighborhood kids would play all day. Basketball, football (both touch and tackle), and tag. My brothers and I would sometimes invite our friends over for sleep overs, and laugh and joke all night. I look back to those days fondly.

Since I been out on my own I tried to lived in relatively safe neighborhoods. It's not like I lived in crime-infested area with thugs next door. My decision to not know my neighbors is based solely on my private personality. I didn't have a bad experience, don't live in a unsafe places, nor am I afraid to do yardwork and talk. In fact, I'm very friendly, sociable, and can be quite charming. I just chose to remain to myself when it comes to neighbors. How's that saying go? Good fences make good neighbors.

Doc, I don't want you to think from this comment I'm mad or anything, because I'm far from it. I only want you to know I'm not lacking or missing anything from life my neighbors could provide. I'm just a private person. A friendly, ask "How ya doin?" neighbor but still very private, even if I lived in your wonderful neck of the woods. It's who I am.
Reply #17 from JoeUser Forums Top

Doc, I don't want you to think from this comment I'm mad or anything, because I'm far from it.

I did not get that impression at all.  I hope I did not say anything to offend you here.  When I moved here, I did so for the location, not that I knew the neighbors were nice.  And I have lived other places where we did not know our neighbors at all.  Having been in both, I like this one.

As far as fences, they make good neighbors, AND skinny dipping possible.

Reply #18 from JoeUser Forums Top
We live in a small apartment block in Cairo with four floors. Each floor has only one huge apartment. There is a school on the ground floor then the owners, then us and then an empty apartment (until recently).

I agree with Dr G that neighbours can be so darn friendly and helpful no matter where they come from and we've had lots of those over the years. Come to think of it I can't think of one neighbour in 40 years who I haven't spoken to.

Anyway, to the point, I wanted to mention our new neighbours because of the news in the last month. They arrived in the middle of the night having fled from Beirut to Syria and then flying to Cairo. They are really refugees waiting for the scene in Lebanon to calm down, then they're going home. God knows what they'll find when they get back and I know little about them except I fixed up their satellite link so they could see what was going on back in Beirut. Seemed like a very nice young couple.
Reply #19 from JoeUser Forums Top

Seemed like a very nice young couple.

If I was them, I would stay in Cairo awhile.  I dont think Lebanon is going to be a safe place for awhile yet.

Reply #20 from JoeUser Forums Top
As we've just moved, we haven't had time to get to know our neighbours. And if our last home was anything to go by, we probably won't either. My wife and I live very private lives, doing the things we like to do with people we choose to be with. I'm not saying neighbours can't be in this picture, but we've not met any yet who are the sort of folk we'd invite over.
Reply #21 from JoeUser Forums Top

My wife and I live very private lives,

Which is fine.  But living in a house, where yard work is mandatory, you do see them, and so get to talk and interact with them.  We dont have to have a block party, but it is nice to know them as they then kind of look out for your house when you are gone (i.e., a moving van pulling up would not be normal!).

Reply #22 from JoeUser Forums Top
I know my neighbors. Can't say I actually like most of them, but I do know them.