Most aussies don't know their neighbours

[Sheryn]

I guess we are lucky, we know our neighbours eg. house owners either side, across the road (one duplex is rented) and behind us. We also a few others in the street or in some instances at least know their names or where they work.

http://www.news.com.au/national/mos...s-survey-reveals/story-e6frfkvr-1225963627529

My hubby can't go outside without someone wanting to talk to him and I reckon one neighbour at least listens for his car then goes outside to say hello which is great.

We put each others garbage out or in, collect the paper and have one neighbours house keys. Kids also know their neighbours - and hold their own street parties at Christmas which is a great idea.



Cheers
Sheryn

 

[pennyk]

we know 80% of the people in our street. but its an "old fashioned" area... strong neighbourhood watch/ busybody neighbours!
When we moved in 11 years ago, we organised a street Christmas party. The following year, the chief busybody, oops neighbourhood watch person, took over the organisation of it, and we have it planned for this coming Sunday.
the kids still play out on the road and in and out of everyones houses, which I think is great.
Pen

 

[csc2]

druggie on one side and a baby basher on the other...why would i bother?

3 weeks and im outer here,.

 

[Luv2Travel]

My hubby can't go outside without someone wanting to talk to him and I reckon one neighbour at least listens for his car then goes outside to say hello which is great.

I must be anti-social - that would drive me insane!

I smile and say 'Hi' to my neighbors if I see them, but have never become friendly or got to know them, and that's how I like it.

 

[goonandtell]

i knew people around both places when i owned but since renting i haven't introduced myself, i haven't been anywhere > 12 months so far.

 

[csc2]

I must be anti-social - that would drive me insane!

ditto! i like waiving gidday and just being left alone to do my own thing...nothing worse in my opinion than someone hanging over the fence every day wanting to chat...get a life some need to get...

i like mowing without someone wanting to chat half way through it.

same when im watering or tending to the garden..............ticks me off badly...i sometimes pretend im deaf...

 

[topcropper]

Most of my neighbours have been here since forever. Most since the 1912 or 1938 closer settlement subdivisions. We know every last detail about all of them. Some we would be related to.

The young couple to the east though, he's a coal miner on a 300 acre lifestyle block. They have 3 kids and have been there for a few years. Lovely couple who we now know well. He started as a farm worker on a place around here a decade ago. Moved on, got into mining, then came back, bought the dirt for half a mill or so, built a house and looks like staying forever. A real credit to them both.

Lots of coal miners living on acreage here now, and they do a great job with their little farms. Coal miners have been great for the area. They all have plenty of kids and plenty of money.


See ya's.

 

[wylie]

druggie on one side and a baby basher on the other...why would i bother?

3 weeks and im outer here,.

Have you reported the baby basher? If not, why not?

 

[Lil Skater]

When I first moved to Melbourne there was a lovely old lady in the same unit block as me, we said hi and had a bit of a chat from time to time. She was really nice to me, when she saw I was living alone she helped me out a lot - when I couldn't get my pilot light relit on my hot water service at 8pm she showed me how to do it and got one of the guys to take apart the cover as for some reason there was a black cover on it which meant we couldn't see the light until it was taken off. I was so appreciative! Really liked her and wouldn't mind having a chat to her if I saw her around town.

At my new place I think I've only saw one of the neighbours once, never spoken to them. They're about to move out though, so maybe the new ones will come say hello.

 

[imonmyway]

I live in a court and have regular chats with all my neighbours we bring each others bins in feed each others pets when we go away just simple stuff like that. When we had the twins i had no time to do anything for the first few months and one of my neighbours started mowing my front lawn to help out, not a big job but very appreciated at the time.

I like the feeling that people in your street are keeping an eye on things and like to have a chat after all this is your home and the people living next to you are part of what makes it a good or bad place to live.

 

[wylie]

We know our neighbours well, and most of the people in the street, but tend to not get too involved with the rented house beside us as those tenants change so often, and they don't tend to want to get too friendly. Chap there now is lovely though, and hubby mows his yard sometimes. Hubby is way more social than I am.

A friend moved to their first home. We visited one day and she said they had met one neighbour, but hadn't bothered with the other side because "if we meet them, we will have to say hello all the time". What the???

I suspect some of the folk who couldn't be bothered meeting their neighbours will be the same folk who complain that "nobody called the police when our house was robbed" or "people are not friendly like they used to be".

I couldn't imagine living in a street for years and not even knowing who else lives there. How sad . Perhaps they think if they say hello, the neighbours will be on the doorstep wanting a chat. That is not how it works in our street. People can be friendly without being in each other's pockets. If you get a "nosy Nora" you just have to work that out but to avoid everybody because of the risk of it is to miss out on a lot.

 

[Indifference]

Well, I'm really not surprised... at all.

Demographics have changed considerably in the past 50 yrs and more households are now reliant upon 2 incomes instead of one... so people are at home less than before, more dependent on childcare facilitators instead of neighbours, people are increasingly time poor, we have greater access to our surroundings through better transport options, the world is easily accessible at you finger tips, nearly every house has 3 TVs instead of 1 TV in every three houses etc... etc...

Oh, not to mention that a lot people have to travel an hour each way to work these days...

I prefer a community spirit though, and at my last place in Oz, we knew our neighbours, had BBQs, Hot tub parties, played golf together etc... It is far better than an insular life that starts/ends at your boundary fence. Having a home in the center of our social world has been a far better experience than having a home which is isolated from it.

 

[csc2]

Have you reported the baby basher? If not, why not?

of course i have...trouble is the woman has a mental illness so they say, her husband is suppose to be looking after the child but of course he works..

they both know the system well ive heard...

bureaucracy works wonders and the wheels turn super slow.

i have even gone to the local member two weeks ago but as yet zero has happened...

baby is 18 months old..

im not one to lay down and do nothing.....best result so far is me telling her she should be sterilized.........that worked for a week, nice and quiet.

not nice saying that to anyone but when my youngest child tells me the woman next door should not have children you know something is very wrong..

its in the govt dept hands currently.

no wonder the druggie on the other side cones up every day, i now know why

 

[Simon]

When I was a kid we called our neighbours Uncle and Aunty, never called an adult by their first name unless it was prefixed with Uncle or Aunty. My neighbour's back door was always open and I knew Aunty Ella would always have cake for me and I'd hang out with Uncle Pat in his workshop for hours.

When I was older our back neighbours pulled down part of the fence so their kids and us would have a bigger area to hang out.

I find that when I rent the neighbours are less interested in making close friendships - I guess they are used to a turnover of people.

I am building a PPOR. I have already made friends with both neighbours, plus their neighbours again, who are older folks and love the idea of a family moving in next door. There has already been a street BBQ and I am so looking forward to living in a spot with a sense of community.

I have often mowed neighbours front strips, no extra effort and they always appreciate it.

It is a shame that things are different now. I can understand why it is, people are too busy these days to have the time to develop these relationships and also are somewhat mistrustful of their kids visiting older neighbours alone like we did. Kids don't roam the neighbourhood on bikes like we did - only coming home when the street lights came on.

I think our society has lost something really good.

 

[lizzie]

my hubby tells me i'd talk to anything that stood still for long enough .

also, i like to potter in the garden and say a cheery hello when walking the dog. i have met some fabulous people over the years, some of whom are close friends even tho we moved (again).

it is very rare that i've had neighbours that aren't friendly - i can only remember one over the last 12 years, but she was an older divorced working mother of young adult boys who i suspect had a bit of a chip on her shoulders.

oh - and the old lady down the back, whose garden we seem to keep flooding!

 

[virgo]

Neighbours

Hiya

I have 3 great neighbours and 1 not so friendly one; we have removed part of the wooden fence palings on one of the back ones so kids (and adults!) can move freely in and out of the backyard; the other back neighbour has two permanent ladders on both sides of the fence so kids (and adults!) can climb up and down (i know; we are too lazy to walk around to the front of their houses!)

And yes, i insist the kids address me as Aunty and not my first name!

My other side neighbour is a dear old lady in her 80s who lives alone; i have learnt so much from listening to her life stories and we go out for lunch now and then...when she does not see me in a while, she always make it an effort to pop by for a cuppa (just for a few minutes as she knows i'm busy with 3 kids)

Now the other "unfriendly" neighbour has no kids and are always in a rush to get into their house once they come out of the car; they only say hello when there is something they want done eg fix a falling tree or mundane things! And then they wonder why we did not call the police when their house was robbed when they were away on holidays; we did not even know they were gone!

Very sad seeing that we all plan to live here for a long, long time we should really get to know each other!

 

[Corey Batt]

My universe ends at the boundaries of my property.

 

[Tuppence]

One of the reasons we moved just under four years ago was because our neighbourhood then was not a good fit. We knew our immediate neighbours to wave to, and that's all.
We moved to a street that has an annual Christmas party and other irregular get togethers. Our neighbours are the kind that will mow the lawns and bring in the bins, as do we for them. Our cats have second, third and fourth homes at various neighbours' places (they're burmese, and very social). It's great.
A recent highlight was a fine Sunday afternoon where about 8-10 neighbours ended up on our front lawn, with kids of varying ages, for drinks/nibbles.
It's proven to be an invaluable support network and we love it.
Oh, and our immediate neighbours on one side are renters. But they've been there three years and have no intention of moving - which is good.

 

[depreciator]

I'm always up for a chat. It's hard work at times because many of my neighbours don't have great English - they're Greeks, Lebs and Vietnamese.

The Lebs are the least inclined to chat and they get the most proprietorial about parking spaces, but they're okay. Once when I found someone trying to climb over my fence I said to Ahmed across the road the next day, 'Hey Ahmed, if you and the boys ever saw someone dodgy at my place you'd do something wouldn't you?' He said, 'Yeah Scotty, we'd fix them.'

One one side I've got an old Greek couple. They've been in the house since 1964 I think. Like many Europeans, Helen likes to cook outside, so there is a covered area outside her kitchen that has a stove and sink. Every morning at around 11.30 she starts cooking and if I'm home, hot food comes over the fence not long after. And that traditional Greek food is very good.

I would say Helen feeds us about three times a week. In return, I buy her fish every weekend. Of course, sometimes she cooks the fish and sends it back over the fence, so I never get ahead.

 

[Brett IP]

My universe ends at the boundaries of my property.

Agreed Unfortunately I find it hard enough catching up with mates and relatives so I have little interest in hearing about the next door neighbours day or week or problems in life.

Like cs2 & biggles, I want to be able to walk out the front & mow or check the mail or whatever without being caught up for half an hour each time.