I’ve got to tell you, that having good neighbors is key to being able to enjoy living in your home. Can you imagine if you lived next door to a slob or worse, somebody who tends to party all night long? Oh my goodness, no!
So I thought it would be useful to share some common etiquette tips people recently discussed online. Check these out and let me know if you agree with these suggestions.
This City Folk Mentality
“City folk who move out to the country for the ‘serenity’ yet carry on with their city folk ways, like revving their sports car in the driveway on Sunday morning, raking the scattering of leaves that fall from my tree onto their lawn back into my lawn, allowing their dog to bark all hours, arguing with each other in their driveway and playing crappy ’80s music through loudspeakers in their backyard, right beside my backyard.”
Do they have to ruin it for everyone?
Give People Space
“But don’t take it personally if neighbors don’t feel like chatting. Some people just really like their space.”
That’s also true. If your neighbors don’t want to socialize or even talk there’s nothing you can really do about it.
Make Friends
“Make sure that you have more than a nodding acquaintance with your neighbors. It means that everyone has a bit more of an emotional connection, and they’re more likely to notice unusual or suspicious activity around your home if you’re away.
“People who have an emotional investment in their neighborhood and neighbors are more likely to look out for each other. It also changes the energy of a neighborhood, making it seem warmer and inviting, which boosts home valuation.”
That’s so true, no?
This Dog Poop Issue
“Next up in rules I hope nobody needs to hear, pick up your dang dog poop, and put it in the trash.”
“Don’t let your pets poop in someone else’s yard. If your dog goes during your neighborhood walk, pick it up. No one wants to step in poop.”
True story, we finally had to tell our neighbors to put up a fence because we were sick of stepping on poop and smelling pee all the time. Things haven’t been the same since, but oh well.
This Stupid Idea
“Mowing the lawn at 6:00 a.m. Like, ok Sharen, we all know you like your alone time but it doesn’t mean you need to kick your husband Bob out of the house hours before people wake up while you sip your tea and read the weekly newspaper from the mail and then go to the barbers to gossip about the lack of grammar used in Jared’s obituary.”
Oh my goodness, yeah, don’t do that.
This Annoying Habit
“Mowing the lawn every single day whilst the surrounding neighborhood kids are in their remote classes…I’m not sure why their lawn needs so much mowing.”
Honestly, I don’t understand that either. You’ve got to give your lawn a break, no?
This Bad Timing
“Deciding to go outside and have extremely loud arguments for hours when I’m trying to go to sleep.”
Wow! Who does that? Do you really want the whole neighborhood to hear you fight? That’s not cool at all. I suggest you go to a park, ha, ha.
This Poop Bandit
“I had a neighbor clean up all of his dog [poop] in his yard. He just tossed it over the fence which would have been fine if it was woods on the other side of the fence. It is fun to look down at 40-50 pieces of poop in your side yard and wonder how did that get there and I didn’t even own a dog at the time.”
OMG! That would really piss me off.
These Hellish Neighbors
“Being out on their balcony loud as hell literally ALL NIGHT LONG. They kept at least three people awake last night.”
Oh, I don’t miss living in an apartment. I once saw people throwing beer bottles off of their balcony. The next day the super was cleaning it all up. Ugh!
These Annoying Kids
“I live in a cul-de-sac. We have a family NOT EVEN ON OUR STREET who let their middle school-age kids drive a quad and four-wheelers down our street at all times of the day. It’s so annoying and loud.”
I would have something to say about that.
This Dumb Move
“Shoveling their snow against someone else’s hose (it creates a hazard because when it melts in spring it can flood their basement).”
Why in the heck would you think that was okay? It isn’t, by the way. You can damage someone’s house that way.
These Pesky Habits
“If you share an apartment building with other tenants, basically just not being mindful of how much noise you’re making. Slamming doors, cabinets, and drawers. Stomping, not being gentle when setting heavy objects down (so it thumps really loud and shakes the entire building), loud talking, loud music/TV, throwing parties, etc. Especially after 10:00 p.m.”
I totally hear you there.
Train Your Dogs Right
“If you have a yapping, barking dog, don’t be shocked when your neighbors hate you. If you have two of them, for the love of everything, either shut them up or don’t have them at all.”
There’s a reason people take their dogs to a trainer after all.
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This Disturbing Behavior
“We had a neighbor that built some weird outdoor fireplace and it made a butt-load of smoke and they would use some smelly wood and it would basically waft all over their backyard and into our yard, and it wasn’t pleasant at all. But it made the yard smell like smoke and made it difficult to sit outside and enjoy the yard. I honestly believe he just wanted to let people know he had some new-age-style firepit that burns exotic wood and makes an odor. Oh, he would light it and go inside and shut his door tight, so I know he wasn’t smelling it. If he hung outside and ‘enjoyed’ it, that would have been a different story.”
Who can be this absent-minded and not know it?
This Parking Issue
“Parking on my property instead of theirs.”
And what’s their reason for doing that? It’s what I would like to know, ha, ha. If it happens once, I can understand, but if they keep doing it over and over again, you would have to say something.
This Cat Colony
“Cultivating a stray cat colony then not actually caring for the cats at all other than feeding them. Ensuring that they do their business in all the neighborhood mulch/flowerbeds/sandboxes/etc. Creating more cats and leaving the elderly cats for dead.”
OMG, that’s not right.
This Overgrowth Of Trees
“Allowing their trees, shrubs, and assorted stinking bushes to overgrow onto your property blocking the view and then give death stares when you have the audacity to trim their [branches] off your property.”
You don’t say?
This Surprise
“Abandoning your house for an entire year to take care of your dying mom overseas. Sure, take care of family, but at least tell someone before your yard looks like a jungle, your pipes explode, and the cops break down the door because everyone thinks you actually died.”
Holy, moly! What? That’s crazy, no?
So, are you a good neighbor?
If you are, then I bet everybody appreciates that. But do you have somebody in your neighborhood that drives you crazy? If you do, then I feel truly bad for you. I wish everybody would follow some kind of proper neighbor etiquette so we can all live in peace. Do you agree with me?