It doesn’t just seem as if the people next door prefer to be strangers. A national survey backs it up.
We want to know what you think about that. We’re asking for Block Talk, Patch’s exclusive neighborhood etiquette column.
Neighborliness has “plummeted,” especially among young adults, according to last year’s American Neighbor Survey from the American Enterprise Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based public policy think tank.
Though the American neighborhood remains important, it no longer occupies the same central role that it once did in everyday social life, the survey found. For generations, the neighborhood was an important part of the social and civic infrastructure.
The decline is striking: Only 40 percent of survey respondents said they talk with their neighbors at least a few times a week, down from 59 percent in 2012.
Americans are still at least somewhat comfortable asking their neighbors for support. For example, 64 percent are comfortable seeking help to move a piece of furniture, and 56 percent said they would entrust their neighbor with spare keys. But fewer than half (49 percent) said they would be comfortable asking a neighbor to care for their child for a few hours in an emergency or a pet for a few days.
The survey exposed a wide generational gap. Older adults who are more settled in their neighborhoods tended to be more connected, with 56 percent saying they chat with neighbors at least a few times a week. But only 1 in 4 young adults said they regularly talk with their neighbors, a drop of nearly one-half in just over a decade.
Among other insights from the study: People with college educations or who regularly attend religious services were the most likely to socialize with their neighbors and collaborate with them on neighborhood improvements and issues.
What’s it like to live in your neighborhood? How well do you know the people next door? Do you talk with your neighbors, ask them for help, or mostly keep to yourself? Have you noticed people in your neighborhood are less friendly? How do you feel about this?
Just fill out the survey below. As always, we don’t collect email addresses.
Block Talk is a regular Patch feature offering real-world advice from readers on how to resolve everyday neighborhood problems. If you have a neighborhood etiquette question or problem you'd like for us to consider, email beth.dalbey@patch.com with Block Talk as the subject line.
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