Love Thy Neighbour

These days, particularly in the inner city, we are quite literally living on top of each other. Different lifestyles and working schedules can lead to gripes when living just meters away from strangers who, unlike our friends, we don’t get to choose.

 Gone are the good old days of chatting over the fence, borrowing cups of sugar and mowing each other’s lawns. These days, we rarely see our neighbours enough to warrant a little smile or a quick hello as we hurry past each other when our hectic schedules happen to align.

A difficult neighbour can be frustrating to deal with, and can ruin the impression of the lovely happy neighbourhood you thought you were living in. More seriously, living in fear of your neighbour, or with a sense of hostility toward them can be mentally exhausting.

To avoid ugly situations, it is important to create and maintain a good relationship with your neighbours. You don’t have to be their best friends, but being friendly and getting to know who they are and their lifestyles can help remedy problems before they even arise.

If you’ve never taken the time to speak to your neighbour, try to make the effort. Introduce yourself and ask them a bit about themselves. If you’re new to the area, you could ask how long they’ve been living here for and what they like about it. You may find out you have a lot in common with your neighbours, or that you frequent the same places. If you’re bringing your bin in off the street, why not bring theirs in too? Or when you’re mowing your lawn, ask if they’d like theirs done.

Developing a mutual respect and understanding for each other means issues that do arise are more likely to be resolved quickly and without difficulty.

It will be much easier to tackle things such as tree problems, noise complaints or dog problems when you’re on a first name basis and feel comfortable talking to your neighbour. If you’re planning a late night party or need to discuss building plans, being on good terms will certainly help things go smoothly.

Remember, until you have really difficult neighbours, you may not realise just how priceless your current neighbours are!