Neighbors
Consider your neighbors (those that live adjacent to you) and then answer the following questions:
1. Are they friendly? Do they say "Good Morning", etc.?
2. Do they make a lot of noise or are they quiet?
3. Do they keep their surroundings clean or dirty?
Do you believe your neighbors affects the value of your own home and real estate in general? If you live in a very comfortable home would you still move because of your neighbors?
my neighbors are very friendly but rather messy. I hate picking up trash that blows over from their trash bins or from their cars. I am nice about it because they would lend you the shirt of their back if you needed it, and you can't expect perfect neighbors. I myself am a noisy neighbor due to the kids.
1. Are they friendly? Do they say "Good Morning", etc.?
I guess this is a two part question since we have neighbors on both sides. On our right, our neighbors are extremely friendly. We are always talking to them outside, and our dogs love playing with each other in our back yard (it's fenced). On the other side, we have had 4 different neighbors in the last 6 years. Some of them were friendly, others were introverts, and you hardly ever saw them. The ones we have right now are pretty friendly. We've talked to them about 2 or 3 times.
2. Do they make a lot of noise or are they quiet?
Our really friendly neighbors can get loud at times. They have 2 sons, who are very active in the neighborhood. They also socialize a lot with the people from their church, so it is pretty common for them to have social gatherings in the backyard. Our other neighbors have traditionally been very quiet for the most part.
3. Do they keep their surroundings clean or dirty?
Both our neighbors are fairly clean. The one with the kids who are extremely friendly; their kids can sometimes leave stuff laying around that ends up in our yard, but it is not overbearing.
I truly believe neighbors can affect the value of one's home. Here is a funny story about such a thing. Our really friendly neighbors (yeah remember them); the house next to them on the other side is up for sale. The dad and I were talking the other day and he told me that some people came over to look at the house with their realtor. The dad did not know this, and he was outside doing some yard work, so he had some older clothes on, you know, yard work clothes. It was pretty hot that day, so he also had his shirt off, and he has this funny looking hat that he wears, because he is bald, so the hat keeps his head safe from the sun. Anyway, picture this bald guy with a funny looking hat on, no shirt and busted up shorts. He had his headphones on, so he was dancing a little while he is doing the yard work. The wife later told us that the people who were looking at the house, they seemed pretty upper-middle class, well dressed, etc. Well they take one look at this guy, dancing around in his backyard, and they gave him the strangest look in the world. Of course it was all funny to us because we know him, etc, but I can just imagine the impression they got and were probably second guessing whether they should be considering buying this house. Oh, and the house is still up for sale today.
International Level: Envoy / Political Participation: 241 24.1%
1. Are they friendly? Do they say "Good Morning", etc.? No.
2. Do they make a lot of noise or are they quiet? The young girls squeal. A lot.
3. Do they keep their surroundings clean or dirty? The common garage is messy, but the house in general is nice.
Do you believe your neighbors affects the value of your own home and real estate in general? If you live in a very comfortable home would you still move because of your neighbors? I don't believe this applies to me. I live on the third floor of an old victorian that was remodeled into apartments. I love, love, love my tiny space. So bright and airy and happy. If the area got really icky, I'd have to move because I walk just about everywhere I can.
International Level: Politics 101 / Political Participation: 3 0.3%
We live at the end of a cul-de-sac, so we have a "circle" of multiple neighbors going up about 4 houses, rather than just one on one side and one on the other.
1. Are they friendly? Do they say "Good Morning", etc.?
Most do. Immediately next door, I haven't seen any of the people who live there outside the house in many months, other than driving in and out of their garage.
2. Do they make a lot of noise or are they quiet?
Actually, we are the noisy neighbors, and a lot of the kids on the block end up playing at our house.
3. Do they keep their surroundings clean or dirty? Only one house on the block has a "shaggy" yard. The rest of us are very tidy.
Do you believe your neighbors affects the value of your own home and real estate in general? Absolutely! If someone comes to look at a house for sale, and every house on the block has a stereo or TV blaring, kids screaming, dogs running loose, unkempt yards, etc., that directly affects whether or not the house is sold, or affects its actual selling price.
If you live in a very comfortable home would you still move because of your neighbors? If it got really bad, yes. Over time, many neighborhoods change in character due to long-term homeowners moving or dying and their property is sold or rented to new people. We want to live where people are good natured, responsible, and take pride in their homes. When that changes for a majority of the neighborhood, it's time to move on.
In my opinion, of course.
Roz
International Level: Ambassador / Political Participation: 595 59.5%
I recently had some neighbors move in two doors down. Since I live in a town home, I change neighbors rather frequently. But these neighbors come out and look at me like I'm up to something. Its really uncomfortable because they act normal, then when someone looks over at them, they act like they are the devil. Only thing I know about them is that they have two kids and a dog. They are an average white family and don't appear any different then those around them. I have said Hi to them before but they just stare.
At the moment we have very good, friendly neighbors, they always say Hello, ask how the family's doing etc. The importance of having good neighbors can't be measured in my opinion, we have been at the other end of the spectrum, where we couldn't even sit and relax in our own back garden without somebody throwing beer bottles at your head, and pushing fireworks through your letter box. I can tell you that not only is it not nice, but the stress that it adds to your life is unbelievable, and every time you leave the house you worry that it might not still be standing when you get back.
We feel very fortunate and very grateful for the neighbors we currently have, they take a pride in the appearance of their home, and we couldn't ask for better.
In answer to the question if you were in a comfortable home with bad neighbors would you move?
The answer to that would be a definite yes! It can make all the difference to your stress levels and general health!
International Level: Activist / Political Participation: 29 2.9%