To me, this seems to ring true - growing up I knew our neighbours (and so did my parents), but now I can't name any of my neighbours. The problem seems to me to be one of a disconnect, or different priorities: I have hobbies, things I love to do, and as far as I know (because I don't know my neighbours), my neighbours don't share in those interests. Given a choice between spending time with people I have nothing in common with (besides geographical location) and pursuing my preferred activities, I choose the latter. This is also why I don't know many of my co-workers very well.
The end of neighbours
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Re: The end of neighbours
#22Since we're living around like-minded individuals but subjected to top-down centralized lawmaking, there is a large disconnect between what's happening in our backyard, in the state capital, and in Washington. Often the City Council office is out of touch with one part of the city or another, imposing rules on all that about half disagree with.
The federal system in America is supposed to emphasize differences in the states, and to some extent it still does. But Washington has been taking more power away from the states for the last ~100 years or so. This leads to large Washington-imposed mandates forced upon the states and upon the people, which leads to hostility.
Perhaps it's time to embrace the burbclave model from Snow Crash?
Re: The end of neighbours
#23I wonder how many of the people commenting on this thread have families. I grew up on a cul-de-sac where we knew everyone. Then I lived in a series of apartments through my 20s and had no neighborly contact. But we bought a house in a family friendly neighborhood to start our family, and we have fantastic neighbors. Block parties, babysitting exchanges, toddler brunches, active mailing list, etc.
Perhaps people just seek out the community when they need it.
Re: The end of neighbours
#24Communities, rife as they were with gossip, ostracism and superstitious cruelty, were always based on mutual need , not on acting out some supposedly gene-based pantomime. I daresay when the next drought or plague comes along I will get to know my neighbours and we'll pull together for mutual support.
Honest question - why would you wait until the next draught or plague to get to know your neighbors well? Why not start getting to know them today, before you "need" them?
I wish my neighbours well, but for me socialising is a distraction from work and family. Those are my contribution to the (wider) community. Besides, I have trouble enough keeping up with relatives and schoolmates without introducing new, geographically-oriented relationships.
Re: The end of neighbours
#25A UK perspective: over the past decade there has been an enormous growth in the buy-to-let market and the UK is now overun by the worst type of property owner: the buy-to-let (buy-to-rent) landlord or "property investor". They treat housing as a pure profit-making exercise. When more and more homes in your area get bought by property investors and buy-to-let landlords it can have a detrimental effect (I've seen it happen to my street). The neighbourhood feels more anonymous as people come and go more frequently. Neither the absentee landlord or the tenants have a commitment to the area. If buy-to-let comes to dominate a neighbourhood, can you ever build a community around such a neighbourhood?
Buy-to-let is rampant in the UK. Other European countries sensibly restrict it's growth or they enact strict tenancy laws to deter the worst type of buy-to-let landord (UK laws are weighted in favour of landlords). In the UK, we've lost any sense that housing has a social component.
I write a blog about housing in the UK and wrote about this topic five years ago. Depressingly, the situation is even worse today.
http://designofhomes.co.uk/016-damaging-effects-of-buy-to-le...
Re: The end of neighbours
#26The article seems to dog on the suburbs as a big part of the problem. Is there any breakdown of the polling that shows that people in denser areas know their neighbors any better? Controlling for occupation / income level would highlight differences in neighborliness against population density.
Re: The end of neighbours
#27Communities, rife as they were with gossip, ostracism and superstitious cruelty, were always based on mutual need , not on acting out some supposedly gene-based pantomime. I daresay when the next drought or plague comes along I will get to know my neighbours and we'll pull together for mutual support.
>Communities, rife as they were with gossip, ostracism and superstitious cruelty, were always based on mutual need
To counter your easy dismissal I'd say modern individuals, rife as they are with selfiness, consumerism, lack of empathy and of time to connect to their neighborhood, are mostly basing their circles on career paths and personal interests, and other people being their cultural split image.
Re: The end of neighbours
#28https://nextdoor.com/ is trying to help bring back that sense of community that this article talks about us losing. I think if something like this can help us get a cursory relationship with our neighbors, then that could potentially develop into something deeper and more meaningful and facilitate more offline interaction as well.
Re: The end of neighbours
#29This happens in condominiums. Condominiums were originally intended to be owner-occupied dwellings. Once the owner moves out without selling and rents the unit, things go awry. That's why, as written, most condo agreements are very burdensome upon owners who try to rent (high deposits for rental, long leases required, background checks to condo owners' association, etc).
This can be corrected in the case of condominiums by adding a clause to the condominium agreement mandating that owners occupy the unit and disallowing rentals. Perhaps, in the case of a neighborhood association, the same restriction could be applied (but not likely at any time other than the creation of the neighborhood).
Re: The end of neighbours
#30https://nextdoor.com/ is trying to help bring back that sense of community that this article talks about us losing. I think if something like this can help us get a cursory relationship with our neighbors, then that could potentially develop into something deeper and more meaningful and facilitate more offline interaction as well.
My neighborhood uses NextDoor.com and it does work. We share info on nearby construction, crime, and trade recommendations for local services, trade local gardening/landscaping tips, pest-management, etc.
Having civil exchanges over those "transactional" issues is the first step in knowing them, establishing trust, & then digging deeper when you cross paths.