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POLL: Do you love your neighborhood?

5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago

The dream is to settle in a place we can call home that we love and cherish. Sometimes we find it. Sometimes we don't. Do you love your neighborhood?


VOTE and tell us about it in the comments.


Walnut in Cypress Creek · More Info



Yes
No

Comments (47)

  • 5 years ago

    I do love my neighborhood, more or less, but I've lived in places that I have loved more, although things have changed and I no longer love those places as much as I used to. We have two houses, about 130 miles apart, and I am beginning to love the second location better, but I'm not ready to move there permanently. I love my back yard in Los Angeles, and I love my pool in Cathedral City (Palm Springs adjacent).

  • 5 years ago

    I love my town and my neighborhood.

  • 5 years ago
    last modified: 5 years ago

    Yeah. I grew up here. Moved off and moved around over the years, but came back to a newer part of the city a few years ago. It suits us. We still have family nearby, and every convenience we need just a short drive away. It's a good area for schools and commuters into the adjacent larger cities, and we feel quite safe and comfortable here. Our immediate neighbors are largely immigrants working in the tech field, and I'm happy to share "my" hometown with such pleasant, interesting, and industrious people. This level of immigration is a relatively new dynamic here, and it has made an already good city even better.

  • 5 years ago

    My neighborhood isn't really a neighborhood. We are on a private road with three other houses and a field across the street. Very quiet and no traffic. Yes, I love it.

  • 5 years ago

    Yes. When it was time to buy a bigger house, we moved within the neighborhood.

  • 5 years ago

    So far I'm the only one who doesn't love my neighborhood. There are things I like about it, but some bad teens got to an age to be real punks and have been pulling down the neighborhood. But I'm not going anywhere until my daughter is out of high school.

  • 5 years ago

    No, we do not like our neighborhood. We came here for a certain project, for which the building was suitable. We've had a hard time adjusting to the different way of relating (or non-ralating) people have here. Where we came from, people were more hospitable. Here they need a couple of years to sniff you out before you are not a completely untrusted rarity any longer.

    It took us some time, but we are slowly making friends. The friends we thought we had were mostly just about (ab)using you and your means. Frustrating and sad.

    But slowly we are getting better at it here. And we have learned to lower our expectations.

  • 5 years ago

    We do love our neighborhood. Great neighbors, quiet and full of beautiful old oak trees. I still smile each time I drive up our street. When the homes were built in the mid 50's, they left all the oaks they possibly could. That likely would NOT happen now here in SoCal.

  • 5 years ago

    Chloebud, I don't think mass housing builders save any trees
    anymore. Around here Ryan and Maronda strip every last bit of green out of where they are building. It's a shame.

  • 5 years ago

    I love my little piece of heaven in the country. I don’t live in a neighborhood.

  • 5 years ago

    function, I know you're right, and it is a shame. I wish the builders/developers of our area were still around so I could thank them. These old oaks are so majestic.

  • 5 years ago

    We have found a pretty perfect place on this planet to call home! Beautiful setting on a pond with wildlife and quirky, but fun neighbors. Waited a long time to finally find the right place.

  • 5 years ago

    My neighborhood is perfect. Right in center city Philly, with everything (including work) within walking distance--parks, restaurants, concerts, shopping, groceries. Got rid of my car because I never used it, and switched to one of the car-share companies.

    I can't think of a better way to start the day than my 30-minute walk to the office (1.5 miles). In bad weather, I hop the bus; it's almost door-to-door. Pick up groceries on the way home or sit in the park or stop by an outdoor beer garden. Perfect.

  • 5 years ago

    Love my neighborhood - as soon as I pull into the front gate, there is peace and quiet. The single lane roads curve through oaks, pines, and palms. I love the natural setting and the wildlife - I feel like I live in a park. And, the homes are all on 7-10 acres so you don't see the neighbors.



    https://youtu.be/07sb0WTcUzM

  • 5 years ago

    Life in a townhome complex is definitely NOT what I expected. Neighbours keep to themselves and the management company does little other than take a big chunk of my pension every month and refuse my plans to improve my space. Wishing I could afford to go back to a single family dwelling.

  • 5 years ago

    I live in an historic Italian commune that in the past was a tiny naval republic with its own sailing fleet. I couldn't love it more.

  • 5 years ago

    We bought a beach bungalow in a small, low-key Florida surf town last summer. In just a few months, we know more people on our block than 25 years at "home". The folks look out for the property since we visit about every other month. Front yard conversations are the rule. Part of our draw is the fact that the property has been neglected for decades on a very well tended block. We've hired an excellent craftsman to cut back 20 years of neglect, and begin yard and palm grooming. A design team is working on upgrades inside and out. The house is 150 feet from the ocean and steps from two of the best beach restaurants in town.

    We intended to live in this house as we built a canal home further north. Permitting around all this water means building is close to a two-year exercise. Life, as often occurs, threw us a curve in the form of a lovely, turn-key canal home that Realtor.com pushed to my email account.

    So, my better half will continue working on the beach house getting it ready for friends and family (and us). I'll get the canal house furnished and hope to heck these neighbors are half as fantastic as those we've met in the beach town.

  • 5 years ago
    last modified: 5 years ago

    I would love my neighborhood if it was not so difficult to get any help around here. We are sort of remotely located and the service providers don't want to come out here. Or they say they are coming and don't show up. Or they show up and do crummy work. It has worn thin.

  • 5 years ago

    High Park area of Toronto, Canada. We live in low rise condo with easy access to the shopping and restaurants of Bloor St. West. The subway is just steps away. As retirees, we were happy to leave the suburbs of Mississauga behind.

  • 5 years ago

    I do love my neighborhood and neighbors. Though our houses and lots are on the smaller side for this day and age, average sqft is 1900 houses on half acre lots. Even though they are smaller than US averages no one seems to ever move.

    Kids walk to school together, in the summer when the street lights turn off they all go outside to play, we see them during day light only for food and bathroom stops and come in for good only when the street lamps go on again at dusk! It is a Leave it to Beaver way of life it seems.

    We live in the center of town so can walk to zaggot rated restaurants, shops, train, library, post office, schools, marinas, the beach, and weekly concerts on green in the summer.

    Our town has been frequently used for shooting hallmark movie fictional towns. I find this very quaint.

  • 5 years ago

    Hate it! We left our beloved home having to move for work. We live in the DFW area and it's gross. We can't wait to leave hopefully in 2020. We've lived all over and this isn't us in any way.

  • 5 years ago

    Love our "neighborhood" in Tucson. Moved here in 1981 when I was just 32. After 22 years, moved 1000 feet away and built a house without a pool since the kids were gone but we stayed in the same neighborhood. We are all on min 3 acres and we all know each other and socialize, pick up each other's mail when left ON the road (if a package does not fit in the box) and call if something is cooking in the area. We are now in the "new" house for over 16 years. And I am now a 70 year old. I cannot believe this has happened. But we are very glad to be here with splendid mountain views and wildlife coming and going.

  • PRO
    5 years ago
    last modified: 5 years ago

    Since my divorce a year ago, I live on the Intercoastal Waterway in Siesta Key, Florida. Best ever.


  • 5 years ago

    I think @Cheryl Ann nailed a lot of it for my area, too. I love my property and am grateful for the acreage that gives us privacy, but it's near impossible to get anyone out here for work. Also, in regard to my few neighbors, I'll just sum it up with a direct quote from one of the most sane and kindest: "yeah, none of us moved out here to socialize or make friends".

  • PRO
    5 years ago

    Love it! We saw how the developer was preserving and adding trees and we were hooked. It is the most beautiful area in all of Southeast Texas. Great location being just 30-40 min to Houston Medical Center, close to everything we need. Shopping areas all around us. Services abound. People great. Couldn’t ask for better!

  • PRO
    5 years ago

    My girlfriend has friends in Houston and family in Dallas which is where I am this weekend. I'm fixing' to be a Texan.

  • 5 years ago

    Another person who loves Center City Philadelphia -- the walkability, the network of tiny neighborhoods and places you get to know and be known. Very liveable, very friendly.

  • 5 years ago
    last modified: 5 years ago

    @Jen K, I'm also in DFW. I'm sorry you hate it here. Is there anything in particular that I, as one who was born and raised here, could do to help?

  • 5 years ago

    My "very rural neighborhood" is comprised of approx. 40 homesteads, everyone has at least an acre, many have between 5 & 20 acres. I am SO determined to remain in this little community that I am negotiating to purchase a "cut-off" lot, so as to build my small retirement home here. LOVE my neighborhood.

  • 5 years ago

    DFW area since '94 Moved into my new OLD home 1 1/2 years ago. Needs work, but I'm still close to everything (by DFW standards!), but feel like I'm in the country. Love my 1/2 acre and quiet neighborhood. Getting out of a cookie cutter starter home was my best move! My back yard..

    New home · More Info

    And a lake just down the street..

    New home · More Info


  • 5 years ago

    When I was a Rice, one of my best friends was from Highland Park (inside Dallas), and I visited him one summer, as Rice did not have summer school. I found that neighborhood to be quite delightful and reminded me somewhat of the Montrose neighborhood in Houston where I lived while as Rice.

    Growing up, my mother used to drive me 130 miles north to go to the opera in Dallas - that is my main memory of Dallas, besides Highland Park.

  • 5 years ago

    @Ida.. we're in Fort Worth and it's gross. My list is long and there's nothing to convince me the metroplex is a quality life.

  • 5 years ago

    Currently very happy, but had to go through a horrible period, nearly 2 years, when a terrible neighbour moved here with his 3 out of control, barking dogs. The awful barking drove everyone crazy! After many talks, notes, complaints, police calls and formal report to city council the matter was finally resolved, but it was a true nightmare.

  • 5 years ago

    Yes! I have great, quiet neighbors. The little street I live on also has our K-12 school on it so my kids both have been able to walk to school every day. My BIL and SIL live next door and my MIL lives across the street diagonally to us. (Actually all my husband's brothers and sisters except one brother lives in the same block) The football field is across the street behind my MIL's house and if I don't want to go to the game I can sit out on my porch and hear every word the announcer says. This would be a negative for a lot of people, but we love it. :-)

  • PRO
    5 years ago

    My condo in Toledo was right down the street from the zoo. When the wind was just right, you could hear the lions roar.

  • 5 years ago

    I moved across the continent to live in this town and had my eye on the lot we're building on for 8 years before we bought it. It's not really in a neighborhood, but adjacent to a pretty good one. It's across the street from a river that's great fun for whitewater paddling and has groomed Nordic ski trails in winter, and has four trailheads within a block, where you can walk 11 miles to a glaciated bay, bike or ride an atv 7 miles up a gorgeous canyon, or walk ten minutes to the beach. I can hardly imagine a better place to live.

  • 5 years ago

    I love reading about what people like/don't like about being in different parts of the country. We are city-folk & live in a historic section of Boston. There are things I love about our neighborhood: it’s relatively quiet for the city, it's got a ton of charm & history – but mostly it’s the walk-ability; we walk to work, the grocery store, restaurants, bars, etc., – plus the subway/buses are nearby. Things I don’t like: it’s a mix of renters vs owners so turnover is high & we don’t really know many of our neighbors. We also live on a pedestrian heavy street which results in a lot of liter, noise & doorbell ringing (darn kids). If we ever moved, we’d probably stay in the same neighborhood but go to a more secluded street.

  • 5 years ago

    @Paula A - Agreed, it's a fascinating read. My husband and I moved from Metro Detroit to Boston in 2008 and we absolutely loved living there. It just felt like home immediately. We were in the South End - and yes, everything you mention is true. Charm & walkability; we didn't own a car, it was fantastic. We ended up going to Seattle for work in 2015, and didn't like it. We never felt like we belonged; and Seattle is absolutely wanting in the charm factor. Meh. We're now back in Metro Detroit, and bought our home in a charming area that reminds us both of the East Coast. Luckily my husband's job is again Boston-based, so he's back often for work and I tag along every now and then. It's funny, landing at Logan sometimes feels more like going home than when we fly back to Detroit.

  • 5 years ago

    When we moved into our current home, it was supposed to be a three year house. Here we are 17 years later, STILL, in our three year house due to the neighborhood! We love it!

  • 5 years ago

    I love my neighbors.

  • 5 years ago

    We moved four years ago from a beautiful but small and somewhat remote seaside village in far south coast New South Wales to a bigger town (still near the sea) south of Melbourne. I miss the bird and animal life of our former home (wallabies over the back fence, occassional visits from echidnas, tree frogs living in the bbq, cockatoos in the trees) but I don't miss having to drive everywhere for everything. Here, I can walk to supermarkets, shops, restaurants, doctors and dentists, not to mention the beach. And the town has a lively cafe scene as well. Plus, it's only about an hour by train to Melbourne if we want to hit galleries or see a show. We know a lot of the neighbors (my husband complains that he can't get any gardening done because he's too busy getting the latest news from neighbors who stop to chat over the fence on their way to or from the shops). It's not perfect but it provides most of the amenities of the big city without the noise, bustle and traffic.

  • 5 years ago

    I love my neighborhood too! Grew up in this town then lived in the city 10 years after college, then moved back when it was time for a family. I'm in a walk-everywhere location on the kind of block that has great block parties, neighbors make meals for new parents, kids walk to school together, we water each other's plants over vacation, etc. When my DH went through cancer treatments we had meals made and he had rides to chemo appointments; when he passed away my kids and I had SO much support and after 7 years the local guys still play a golf outing with a trophy in his honor. My 'hood has truly become an extended family. I won't be here forever (house is too big now that I'm an empty nester, and taxes are high.) It will feel like a real loss when I go to my next step someday. (But it will hurt less if I move to some of the places you all mention above! Water? Count me in!)

  • 5 years ago

    I do not like my neighborhood & not particularly fond of the town I live in. For a variety of reasons, I wanted to downsize but still needed to stay close to aging parents, my old neighborhood, access to transportation, etc. I live in a subdivision within a subdivision of high end ranch duplexes that attracted an older, well off buyer. With the exception of the brick color, the houses look exactly alike & the exteriors are uninspired. People keep to themselves & most are snowbirds during the winter months. I have been living here 3 years & have never seen the couple who live in the unit behind me. With that said, my ranch townhouse is new construction & I was able to completely customize the entire interior...& I have done so thoughtfully & creatively. My Mother, sister & best friend are minutes away & I am located near expressways that can take me in any direction, including Chicago which is about 30 miles away. The HOA (which I thought I'd detest) has actually been a boon, allowing me to travel without worry yet offering enough freedoms so rules & regulations are few. Six days after moving in, I fractured my leg. Thank goodness I was in a ranch instead of my previous home which had 3 stories & sat on 1/2 acre of land. Where you end up living often becomes a tradeoff. Now I find my home an oasis.

  • 5 years ago

    rural Missouri on a gravel road a couple miles off a paved country road. On our gravel road there are a few other farms/houses. We love all of our neighbors **EXCEPT** the closest one....who is an absolute jerk. The neighborhood is wonderful, but the next-door neighbor is not.

  • 5 years ago

    Old Carlsbad California. Great neighborhood. Great neighbors!

  • 5 years ago

    Yes! Love my little community- it’s can be quiet and active too- it’s fun!