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CAN A NEIGHBORHOOD STILL BE NEIGHBORLY?

My neighborhood is not friendly at all. Sure, some folks are social. Rumor has it, a few even gather for weekly bunko games, in-home product demonstration parties and even backyard bonfires. But I've never seen these events firsthand.

Maybe it's just me. Or, because my kids do not attend the local public school, situated directly across the street from our neighborhood, my neighbors assume we are not interested in socializing. I'm not sure.

Perhaps the unfriendly neighborhood has become a symptom of modern culture.

SEEKING CLOSURE

How many folks hop into their vehicles in their garages each morning, back into their driveways, hit their remote controls to shut their garage doors and head off for school, work or other destinations?

Returning at the end of the day, how many of these same people zip through their neighborhoods, pull into their garages and close the doors behind them?

At any time of day, many of the homes in a given neighborhood are buttoned up securely. It appears no one is home.

PRIVATE DWELLINGS

Does anyone have a front porch anymore? As the suburban sprawl extends into rural counties across the United States, new homes pop up daily. Most of these offer backyard decks or patios, but few include sizable front porches. No one sits out front anymore. It's all about privacy.

Fenced yards and privacy hedges and plantings are the vogue. Subdivision planners know this, and they situate new homes on angles, so backyards do not face one another directly. No one seems to want to interact with neighbors, once they arrive in their private home domain.

Quite frankly, neighborhoods have become less neighborly than ever before.

CURTAINS CLOSED

Window-blinds, drapery sheers and even louvered shutters adorn first- and even second-floor windows in most homes.

Certainly, such accouterments offer environmental advantages, such as reduced heating and air conditioning costs. However, they also add to the privacy of the enclosed shells in which most people live in their neighborhoods.

Despite the "Welcome" mat outside the front door, a home is simply not as welcoming as it once was.

DRIVE-BY SPOTTINGS

In some neighborhoods, drivers will nod and wave to one another, as they pass in the street. Occasionally, familiar folks will pause and roll down their windows for a quick greeting. Invariably, however, another neighbor will appear behind one of the vehicles and begin urging them to move along.

Do we simply have no time for friendliness anymore?

SIDEWALK

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