3 Ways to Be a Better Neighbor

It can be easy to forget about the neighbors you share your street with. You may know the people who live a couple of houses away, but the people who live right next to you might be complete strangers.

Even if you don’t talk to your neighbors regularly, your neighborhood can still be a great place to call home. Being a good neighbor doesn’t mean you have to help out your next-door neighbors with everything, but it does mean that you respect both them and their property.

Being a good neighbor can be hard, especially if you are dealing with difficult neighbors. But there are ways around them. Learn how to be a better neighbor by following these three tips.

Unspoken Code of Good Neighborliness

Neighbors can indeed be a wonderful addition to life. They can share important information about the community, help take care of things when you can’t, and provide support and companionship.

But if you want to live in a place where everyone gets along, then it is only fair that every person living in the neighborhood behaves well for the sake of social cohesion.

Examples of good neighborliness are:

• Keep your neighborhood clean
• Slowdown in residential areas
• Be courteous to your neighbors and exercise common courtesy
• Be aware of your city/town’s noise ordinance

Be Kind and Respectful

Neighbors don’t always get along, but most agree that mutual respect goes a long way towards a good relationship. It is about showing respect, paying attention, and caring for the person living next door. There are bound to be differences of opinion and conflict in any place where people live near each other.

Being friendly and communicative is a way of life that benefits both people and society as a whole. This doesn’t mean that you should try to be everyone’s friend – far from it! But it does mean that you should try to be respectful of other people’s boundaries.

For example

If someone’s sitting on their porch and you’d like to ask them a question or make a comment. Do so in a way that implies you’re not encroaching on their space.

It’s easy to lose it when someone ignores social rules. It’s natural to want to defend yourself. So, if someone is bothering you, try not to take it personally by raising your voice or crossing your arms. Instead, smile, calm down, and mind your business or visit the topic at a later time.

Be Considerate

Being considerate goes beyond just being nice to people. It is being aware of your behavior and its impact on those around you.

Being considerate means many things, like:

• Taking the trash out without messing their lawn
• Maintaining a clean yard
• Alerting your neighbors when you’re having a party
• Controlling your pets
• Not taking advantage of helpless people in the community

So, if you want to learn how to be a good neighbor, start by checking on your neighbors. You can be friendly, smile, and say hello – it may seem like nothing, but someone will notice. It’s those small things that help people feel appreciated.

Share Your Tips on How to Be a Better Neighbor

What do you do to be a good neighbor in your neighborhood? What do you consider are the hallmarks of a good neighbor beyond being nice?

Clean yards, limited disruptions are one thing, but what about looking out for each other? Lending tools and cups of sugar when needed?