A couple of us visited a charming, small cottage community in Shoreline last weekend. This note was pinned on the common building’s notice board. Unfortunately we don’t know the author, so our apologies to her/him for not giving credit. It reminds us of good reasons for getting to know our neighbors:
“Crime is lower in areas where residents engage with each other as neighbors. Both common sense and research support this. Safe, healthy neighborhoods provide many settings and ways for citizens of the neighborhood to interact in positive ways with each other. Coffee shops, community centers, libraries, grocery stores, parks and churches all provide settings for engaging with one’s neighbors. Various community organizations such as local community councils, business chambers and historical societies do the same. So do neighborhood festivals and events.
However, when it comes to crime prevention, probably no interaction is more important than engaging as a neighbor with the people on one’s block.
Neighboring is a unique relationship. It is different from family relationships and intimate friendships, though family and friends can also be neighbors. Neighboring does not require an intimate knowledge of a neighbor’s private life. In fact, respect for a neighbor’s privacy is basic to good neighboring. Neighboring does mean having knowledge of who lives where and who is not a resident of the block. Neighboring means calling the police if a non-resident is breaking into a neighbor’s window or spraying graffiti on her fence. On blocks where neighboring is strong, residents may even help each other out, be it shoveling snow off an elderly resident’s sidewalk, baby sitting or helping each other on home remodeling projects.
Unlike family and friends, neighbors may have vastly different backgrounds from each other. They may worship different gods, root for different teams and vote for different candidates, but they are neighbors. The basis of the neighboring bond is sharing a place. Nobody, not family, not friends, cares so much about a particular spot on the globe as much as the neighbors who live and work there.
We live in an era when it is often difficult to get to know the people on our block. Many of us are hardly ever home. We spend most of our waking hours working and commuting. All household members who can work must work in order to pay the rent or mortgage. A sense of community does not just happen anymore. We have to work at building it.”
That’s a great post and very true. It IS something we need to work at and it’s easier said than done. But more than worth the effort.
Well said!
Nancy – thanks for posting this!