Rick Green posted a link to this nifty little study recently released by the Pew Research Center.
For those of you that don’t want to read the study, the gist of it was that only 43% of American adults know “all” or “most” of their neighbors by name. Twenty nine percent know “some” of their neighbors and surprisingly (to me) 28% claimed they knew “none” of their neighbors.
Really, how is it possible that more than a quarter of the adult population in this country doesn’t know the name of at least one of their neighbors?
Let’s take a look at this pictorially, shall we? Let’s say you live in the neighborhood pictured below. And let’s say that you need to provide at least the first name of one of the people in the 11 homes nearest to you. Can you do it? How many of your 11 closest neighbors can you name?
I understand that not all of us live in walkable neighborhoods with sidewalks and .25 acre lots- which realistically makes it a lot easier to know the names of our neighbors. But come on. Even if you live on a farm in the middle of nowhere, wouldn’t you know the name of your nearest neighbor? Simply because there might be an emergency. For example:
Erma: Hi Mildred, it’s Erma. Fred fell off the tractor again and it looks like he broke his leg. Can you come over and watch the kids while I take him to the county hospital?
Mildred: Sure Erma, I’ll be right over, just need to fire up the tractor…
See? Even people that live in the boonies need to know their neighbors and interact with them from time to time. [NOTE: Kyle and I both grew up in the boonies and we knew the names of our neighbors, so we are allowed to poke fun.]
So, my take on this survey? If you know the names of your neighbors, great! Maybe make an additional effort to go out and learn more. And if you know the names of none of your neighbors? Stop being such a recluse and, unless you’re agoraphobic, go out and learn your neighbors’ names. They don’t need to know your business, just your name. Because you never know when they could help you…
Having a dog really helps in this regard. I know almost all of my neighbors. We see each other all the time because I’m out with my dog all the time.
The first time that my husband walked the dog with me, shortly after we moved into this house, everyone we encountered said hello — not just a casual hi; they said my name. My husband asked, “How do all of these people know you?? Already???”
The dog.
We also know a lot of people because of our dog. She’s a great conversation starter.
I know the Glastonbury Animal Control quite well because of my dog 🙁
This just made me laugh so hard. The scenario sounds like a script from my childhood. I think my parents know the neighbors’ names, but they always call one of them “the guy out front” when talking about him to me. This cracks me up.
To build on this scene, sometimes they need to call each other so one person can use his tractor to tow the other guy’s tractor out of the mud that his wife warned him not to ride through in the first place.
I know the names of four immediate neighbors, and then another four on my block. I’ve been here only six months.
We know the names of maybe 5 out of 10 immediate neighbors. Some were very nice and introduced themselves when we moved in recently, or struck up conversations on dog walks. I took the initiative after awhile with some others because it seemed awkward to live next to someone and not at least introduce yourself. Others seem to avoid eye contact and don’t wave, say hello, or anything else. While I found that strange and somewhat lacking in comparison with our old neighborhood in the West End which seemed friendlier, I’ve come to accept that not everybody is outgoing, and that’s fine. As long as neighbors mow the lawn and don’t make noise in the middle of the night, and cut down dead and dangerous trees on their property, I’m generally happy.