Home › Forums › Open Discussion › How well do you know your neighbors?
- This topic has 9 replies, 6 voices, and was last updated 7 years, 7 months ago by 22blades.
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September 20, 2017 at 4:58 pm #895566
JoBParticipantI live on a pretty friendly street. At one time or another i think i have spoken with almost every person who lives on this street.. either in the front yard as they walk past or in the alley as we come and go or at our block parties.
But last night the unthinkable happened on our street and in the aftermath i realized how many of us were stuck in our homes behind crime scene tape and officers telling us to go inside and stay inside .. and our only connection became the West Seattle Blog.
I am grateful for the blog.. but i think we can and should do better.
I don’t know about you.. but i am going to make that better a personal quest this year… and i would welcome any suggestions that have worked for you and your neighbors.
i’ll let you know from time to time how that turns out
- This topic was modified 7 years, 7 months ago by JoB.
September 20, 2017 at 6:51 pm #895574
miwsParticipant<3
September 20, 2017 at 7:42 pm #895577
JanSParticipantI live in an apartment with 8 units. There was a time when we all knew each other, spoke to each other. I now speak with people in 4 .5 of them. There are others who would rather walk over you as you struggle with your walker going out the door, than stop and say, hi, need some help …yes that happened to me recently. This building is on a block of apartment buildings, all full. Nope, I don’t know any of them except for one I have met using the senior services shuttle. Have not a clue as to who the rest of the people are on this block. We don’t have a block watch, we don’t do the Night Out…we all stay cooped up in our little cocoons. It’s all kind of anonymous, I guess. Funny thing is, I’m now friends with the woman who used to live across the alley from our building. I didn’t meet her until after she had moved.
September 21, 2017 at 9:21 am #895620
GreystreetParticipantIt’s so funny how it works isn’t it? We moved in and the first Christmas I baked my neighbors cookies and we met them etc., that was four years ago, now everyone has 6 foot tall fences, no one even waves when getting the mail and we all keep to ourselves even though we blatantly see one another, what happened to being able to rely on your neighbors, we’ve turned into a bunch of cubicles rather than a cohesive unit.
September 21, 2017 at 10:54 am #895630
JoBParticipantHow do we change this?
September 21, 2017 at 12:33 pm #895632
2 Much WhineParticipantWe have awesome neighbors. We watch out for each other and pretty much the whole block participates in Night Out every year. It’s always a lot of fun. My favorite part is that we have a little food exchange going with our immediate neighbor. they bring us homegrown tomatoes, homemade coffee cakes and tamales (and an occasional shot of top-shelf tequila) and we share crab cakes, pesto and whatever else is on the fresh sheet from our kitchen. Very symbiotic and very tasty. Couldn’t ask for better neighbors. I’m not bragging. . . . I take that back, yes I am. I wish everyone could live in our neighborhood. It’s swell.
September 21, 2017 at 4:28 pm #895646
JoBParticipant2MuchWhine.. i too have a great relationship with my immediate neighbors.. although we lost one a couple of weeks ago to a heart attack…
but although we do have a block party once a year that everyone comes to.. well.. except me. i am still not what we can call recovered enough to party much… i can’t say that i know most of them well enough to do more than say hello.
for example. wednesday night we were at the library and one of my neighbors was in there with his son signing up for library cards… i did finally stop and say hello but i had to stop and think carefully about why his face was so familiar. My husband didn’t recognize him at all.
I am considered a good neighbor but i think that falls more than a little short of my definition.September 21, 2017 at 5:22 pm #895653
JanSParticipantwhen I did own a house on Genesee Hill, we knew all our neighbors, I was Capt. of block watch, we did night out. Fourth of July was a neighborhood affair, my daughter hung with the neighbor’s daughter. Apartment living is so very different. And West Seattle is going that way more and more…as Greystreet said…all in our little cubicles, or inside our 6ft tall fences. I know tellers at Safeway better than I do my neighbors.
Even here…we know each other by fake names. When we finally decide to have a meetup, not that many show up. The last one was a few years ago (2?), a picnic about this time of year at Lincoln Park. Only a handful came…is it easier just to remain anonymous? To not let people into out lives? I know I have taken heat on here for sharing some of my life, as have others. What’s up with that? We are who we are. It’s OK to be a little vulnerable, I think.I have formed some lifetime friendships by meeting people from this forum. And I am thankful for that every day.
September 23, 2017 at 7:08 pm #895831
JoBParticipanthere i was wondering what to do and Sarah wrote a letter that said it all..
then tonight one of my neighbors was dropping off flowers…
we are truly more than our tragediesSeptember 24, 2017 at 11:55 am #895876
22bladesParticipantComing from a dysfunctional neighborhood to a truly excellent one, I am fortunate to have the neighbors I have. We aren’t immune from the crime in the area but take it from a burglar, knowing your neighbor is a great deterrent;
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