I'm sure I've drank too much but tonight made me think about my neighborhoods.
When I bought my first condo, I was so excited. The building was horseshoe shaped with shared large driveway in the center that all the garages opened up to. I thought the set up would lend itself to great bar-b-ques with the neighbors. I was right
for the building next door. Our building was full of the horrible yet ultra-polite-but-leave-me-be neighbors. I guess everyone was happy that no one was loud. I was sad that no-one was a real neighbor.
We then moved into a house with an amazing neighbor. He was all about fun. This brought distain from many of the neighbors (my wife included), but he was also all about the neighborhood
a point my wife missed. At Halloween, he had a full on framed haunted house on his drive way (he, me and six neighbors spend weeks building it note the building team was the key- he knew this). We did this every year. In my last year in the neighborhood, we had 200 costumed children pass through the house. On the 4th of July we had a 100+ kid bike parade.
At Christmas, he managed to get the entire neighborhood to agree to string lights across the street between each house (they were all two story). The guys all climbed up and did all the work (its fn scary on a ladder on a slanted roof). We even got the bahumbugs to agree to give us access (we had to agree to cover all the cost for some of the houses to get the agreements). Again, there was a sense of community on the project. When lit up, it was like driving through a tunnel of snow. As a bonus, I think just about every house was decorated. Even those who did not celebrate Christmas added something. That tunnel of light was beautiful.
Over the years, after the traditions set in, I guarantee that any crime witnessed was reported, to the police, to the victim, to the entire neighborhood. Everyone looked out for each other. Sadly, we had to move.
We moved into a new neighborhood without such traditions. The first thing I did was host a move night. We posted homemade signs on the mailboxes that looked light movie premiere posters inviting everyone. The movies were projected onto the garage (later a large screen). This brought out the children and their parents. We do this often. We then started bi-annual block bar-b-que. Slowly, this brought out the other neighbors. We kept inviting even the recluse people.
Part of it is luck (we had 23 children move onto our street a cul-a-sac- within 3 years, that has to help make friends), but part of it was bringing homemade bread and a six pack to people who probably did not want either. The result is we have mostly good neighbors, and we know enough to look after each other a little. Were not perfect. There are houses, a few, that I cant name a single occupant. But, Ive never known more neighbors than I do now. Its taken a lot of effort.
