One year ago my wife and I moved into our home. We actually weren’t married yet so I guess it would be accurate to say that I moved into the home and she began decorating the home. Growing up my Dad was (and still is) in the Real Estate business and so I learned early on that you “sell a house and you buy a home”. We live in our home. Anyway, like I’ve grown accustomed to saying, that has nothing to do with my post.
On April 15th of this year we will have been in our home for one year and you know what my first thought is? It is this. . .”one more year and we can sell this house and not pay capital gains.” Why would I want to sell this house? I have no idea. Don’t know that we will. I really like this place but, who stays in their home for 20 years anymore? I don’t think it’s a good thing but I do know this. . . What I had growing up doesn’t exist anymore. I’ve always wanted to live in a neighborhood. I love land but I want to live in a neighborhood. I want to know my neighbors like I did growing up on 1311 Linville in Waterford, MI. I’m telling you. . .what’s it been? 25 years? but I can still tell you my neighbors names I see their homes and knew something about all of them. . . The Dietzmans, Tuttles, Strongs, Wards, Novaks, Deans, Jaworski’s, Sutherbees, 2 ladies that lived next door name Olive and Ruth. Olive taught me how to drop kick a football. Shoot that was just my street, I can go through the whole neighborhood. Behind us the Skeltons, Johnstons, Darts, Herds, Guiterez, Andrews, Seets, Robins, . . . I could keep going (not that you’d want me to) but my point is this . . . you know how many people I know on my street now? I know the first names of my immediate neighbors and that is it. Yes, I could get to know them better but they don’t know us either and I don’t know anybody who knows their neighborhood anymore like they did when they were kids.
I know a major point of it is that we can’t let our girls ride their bike out of our sight anymore and that really sucks. They don’t explore the neighborhood like I did. I used to leave the house at 9am in the summer and didn’t have to be home until the street lights came on. Of course that doesn’t happen anymore.
So why do I tell you all this? Hmmm. . . why do I tell you all this? Oh yeah. . .it’s because I think I want to buy land. Amanda wants land so why wouldn’t we do it? B/c we wouldn’t have neighbors? Crap we don’t know them anyway. The friends we want in our lives are ones that we can call and we can and do hang out with eachother. Not one of them live in our neighborhood.
Answer me this question. . . does anybody reading this post know your neighbors today like you and your family did when you were growing up?
Hey…I know my neighbor’s names…because I make it a priority to do so. Neighbors are a very important part of everyone’s life. Proof positive!! ( John Strong fixing things for our family..bikes, lawn mowers, cars etc. Of course Mom always took care of the “repairs” around the house as Dad wasn’t mechanically inclined ( Apple doesn’t fall too far from thr tree,…does it?
When YOU become neighborly…so do your neighbors…never can tell when you just might need to “borrow” a truck or need something repaired.
I live in a great “neighborhood” community. It is a strange mix between urban and suburban – right on the VERY outskirts of Boston. We have a park behind our home, and all the neighborhood kids congregate there (without parents, or with various parents ocassionally stopping by to check in on all the kids); the kids are in walking distance from their friends’ homes; and they all congregate at the library (2 blocks away). They also all walk to school. Now that my oldest is in 5th grade, they walk without parents (and with younger siblings in tow).
I grew up in a rural area, and had no neighbors. I like it this way much better.
I will say that now, the neighbors I know best are those with kids. It’s not absolute, but tends to be the case.
Oh, I also knew all my neighbors, and had block parties and such, when I lived in Berkeley, CA. And there were less kids there.
I’m with you on this one, Bill. I grew up the same way you did; in a neighborhood where I knew whose house was whose throughout the entire Indian Lake peninsula in Hendersonville. It was great. I grew up just like you – riding my bike all day long, swimming at the neighborhood pool, swimming in the lake, jumping on trampolines, making BMX tracks in the woods, building forts, etc. To my knowledge though, this existance isn’t possible anymore. I grew up in a neighborhood where every lot was roughly 2 acres and the lake was across the street. There were several wooded lots/ sets of woods throughout the neighborhood. I’m raising my family on a postage stamp lot with neighbors who park 5 cars in a two car driveway. I wouldn’t want Izzy riding her bike out of sight in my neighborhood either. Is it me or are there way more people EVERYWHERE than there used to be?
I want land too or a house in my parent’s neighborhood. It’s quite, it’s dark, it’s somewhat safe. I suppose it’s the kind of neighborhood you end up in that matters. If I had to choose between the kind of neighborhoods I see these days and land far away from everyone – I’d choose the land.
Well, after I thought about this, I had to write about it…http://www.petpeeving.com/2007/04/neighborhood-vs-country-living.html
Anyway, I am still getting to know my neighbors as well as our family did growing up. The problem is, people re-locate more often when they live in the city. Country folk will NEVER move so you get to know them better over time. If you buy land it may take you a while to get to know your neighbors because you are an outsider or city slicker, it’s not just the distance you have to think about. You have to prove to them you are staying there for the long haul, or they don’t invest time in you.
How much land do you want? I grew up on 30 acres and having land is a lot of work. Now that I live in a neighborhood, I can mow my grass in 20 minutes. Growing up, it took 3 hours. The day we got the mowing deck for the tractor was awesome!
Ben, great post on your site. Right now I’d like about 30 acres like you and then move up from there. I’m telling you. . .after reading your post that sounds like a pretty good life growing up. Was that in hohenwald? (however you spell it?)
I will say this. I’m thrilled beyond belief because a year ago I would have said your post echoed my sentiments exactly (and incidently I’ve always wanted to live on land myself) but in the past few months, things have changed. We have developed “neighbor” relationships with several of our neighbors and are truly enjoying it! Ms. Mary (McDaniel) lives next door. She moved in when they built the subdivision over 45 years ago and she can give you dirt on anyone within 4 streets of ours! She teaches art classes in her home and I kick myself that I haven’t put my little artist, Abby, in one of her classes yet but I told her just the other day that we’re doin’ it this summer! Then we have Melanie and Clark Beavon across the street. Their daughter Emily comes to play and stays for dinner from time to time and vice-versa. Melanie’s parents, Jim and Pat Sisson live 4 doors down from them and bought their home in 1966. We have Mark and Ashley Mondelli and their son Tanner who live 2 doors down. Tanner is in Abby’s class at school and has a crush on her (so cute). They also have an adorable toddler named Grayson. They just recently rehauled their landscaping out front and it looks great… I could go on but I’m doing pretty good huh?? For someone that used to feel exactly like you Hamp.
Nope, it wasn’t Hohewald. I grew up about a mile off of I-40 in Mocksville, NC. It’s outside of Winston-Salem and will be a lot like Franklin is to Nashville in the next 10 years.
If you buy some land let me know. I want my son to enjoy some of what I had growing up. Maybe he could mow your grass.
Well, I grew up in the boonies on 26 acres, no kids around my age, but i kept myself entertained. I knew our neighbors (who had been there forever), but not like “know” in the sense that they’d come over for dinner once a week or i’d go over to their house to play on their farms. however, if i pulled up in their driveways now and knocked on the door, they would still remember me and invite me in for ice cream or fried chicken.
all that to say, no, i do not know my neighbors today except in passing when i tell them that their dogs and kids are cute and crazy.
Growing up we had the Lannings on one side (dated their daughter in high school) and the Hunt’s on the other. Great people, great families and we knew them well. Allot of time was passed outside talking with them (adult to adult more than I) and it was nice.
Where I live now is nice…we have a little over an acre so we are not on top of the people next door which to me is good. I’m not a huge fan of the people on one side. I think he’s an alcoholic and they typically aren’t real cool people. The neighbors across the street are great. We like them allot…in fact they watched our little girl the other day. So I guess you could say we trust them.
I know what you’re looking for. I’m just not real sure it exists anymore. To be sure why don’t you try investing in your neighbors and see what you get. You may just end up with a little bit of 1311 Linville in Waterford, MI right where you are.
Wow. Great post. I know my neighbors names. But only because of propertyquery.com. I also know what they paid for their house and other things that Lord Internet tells me about them. However, I do not know my neighbors like I did as a kid, also growing up in Hendersonville on the Indian Lake peninsula, in Indian Lake forest. I too remember the names of all my neighbors from those days. I even remember most of their dogs’ names. Those neighbors, the people not the dogs, helped fund the wrapping paper industry for at least 10 years through school fundraisers and my door-to-door selling.
What are neighbors?