<p>I really like our neighborhood. It’s convenient to shopping and only 5 minutes from the school where I teach. I only know a small handful of our neighbors to talk to but everyone is really nice. Alot of people get out and walk in the evenings and everybody always waves and says hello even if it doesn’t go much beyond that.</p>
<p>I love our neighborhood. It is a small town in the middle of one of the largest cities in the world. I grew up in a different part of the city, in an apartment, and now I am fortunate enough to live in a house here. I can walk everywhere and see something different everyday. My husband’s office is 5 blocks away. And despite the perception to the contrary our neighborhood is very diverse: old and young, black, white, Asians, Jews (from an Orthodox family with 6 children to several widows who live alone). I wish that we had more land, but since this is an urban area unless you have $10 million to spend you don’t have much land (and even at that price you don’t get acres, maybe 1/2 acre or a bit more). And while it isn’t as small townish as when I was a child, when the stores were locally owned and everyone knew you, I love the fact that I see people that I grew up with all the time. And sometimes our children are friends…But I can’t say that we chat with our neighbors on any sort of regular basis.</p>
<p>We bought our first home in 1984 and still live here…often feels too small, but we have the ocean for our front yard…and can see Portland Head Light, commissioned by George Washington (2nd favorite president after Abe.) It is a neighborhood of smaller homes, most of them occupied by original owners when we first bought here. The streets that make up our neighborhood form a triangle…3 laps = a mile…when we first moved in, everyone would walk laps after dinner…you could join the group on any lap, folks would drop off after they finished their 3 or however many laps the conversation merited. </p>
<p>My favorite neighborhood event happened just LAST night…around 5pm a bunch of the neighbors surprised the rest of us with luminares around the entire neighborhood… they lined both sides of the 3 streets…easily 300 of them…and most stayed lit until I called it a night around midnight…even thru the rain… we had 3 families over for Christmas Eve…big dinner, presents and desserts… the moms all went outside to walk a few laps before dinner and got to totally enjoy the beautiful illumination. It really was a magical sight to see… there were sooo many and overall, a very, very special gift to the entire neighborhood.</p>
<p>i didn’t realise how much I liked our neighborhood until this Fall when there was a good possibility of a relo. Its all blown over now, but when we went to the new place to look at houses I told the realtor I had to live in a neighborhood where people walk around and are friendly. (no driveway down into the woods type of places) Since we got our dog three years ago I’ve met more of my neighbors and it really has become an important part of the day for me. Sounds weird but it is!</p>
<p>I do not like my neighborhood – a cookie-cutter subdivision in a boring suburb with no bus service and nothing of interest within walking distance. We’re here primarily for the location, which was convenient for our family for a variety of reasons when we moved here 11 years ago.</p>
<p>But the reasons that attracted us then (including excellent schools and proximity to the job my husband had at the time) don’t apply now. We no longer have kids in the school system, and my husband has a different job. As it happens, I now have a job very convenient to our home, but I would be willing to put up with a longer drive, or even a change of jobs, to live in a more appealing neighborhood. My husband, however, is not in the mood to move, and I suppose it makes sense to keep our relatively large house for a few more years because our kids still spend some time at home. When we move, it should probably involve downsizing, and we’re not quite ready for that yet.</p>
<p>Still, I would rather live somewhere else, and I hope the opportunity arises fairly soon.</p>
<p>Hi Shennie! Madison has the best neighborhoods. When I moved here almost 25 years ago from a massive city filled with suburbs, my ex mentioned having to live in a certain area. Huh? I didn’t understand how a neighborhood can make or break your life, or mood on any given day. </p>
<p>When I go elsewhere, I notice how few people are on the streets. We have joggers, dog walkers, a unicyclist going by, though the street is quiet. If I feel a need for conversation as well as productive activity, I work on the front yard and someone usually stops to catch up. Most days I take a long walk by the lake, can swim or drag a kayak down as inclination strikes. Walk on the ice in winter, ski a loop in the park. We have an active neighborhood council with quarterly events and meetings to discuss various issues as they arise. On this block and the next we get together for potlucks, caroling, the 4th of July parade and concert. On occasion a neighbor runs his snowblower around the corner past a few of our houses. My immediate neighbors have changed in the almost 20 years I’ve been in this house, luckily all the new replacements have been similarly community minded folk. But I get concerned, as property values really jumped a few years back, and I hope the character of the neighborhood is maintained as properties turn over. At this point, it’s still wonderful, and though a few more houses are for sale, property values are more or less stable.</p>
<p>I like my house and my neighborhood. My lot is quite wooded so that in the summer it is very private and in the winter, when the trees are bare, I can see the lights on the hillside behind me. The neighborhood is transitioning…empty nesters are selling out to young couples. We have two new babies on the street. 
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<p>I LOVE the little town nearby. It is a great little village that has coffee shops, some nice restaurants and an independent bookstore. Students that live in town can still walk to school. There are enough colleges nearby that during exam time my favorite coffee stop feels like a college library. It would be perfection to own home within walking distance of town but you pay a large premium for that. </p>
<p>My one complaint historically has been the lack of much ethnic or cultural diversity but during the twenty years we have lived here the area changed a bit for the better. I chat it up with the occasional writer or artist when picking up my morning latte. That would never have happened twenty years ago. There are more ethnic groups represented as well.</p>
<p>My husband is very ready to leave this area. He would move to NYC at the drop of a hat. It actually has become a bit of a sore point between us.</p>
<p>We’re in a first-ring suburb of 80 year-old homes. Kids walk 2 blocks to the highest-rated public school in the state. My neighbors are terrific. We just had our annual neighborhood progressive dinner. Next-door neighbors are out-of-town for the holidays. They knew we had a lot of out-of-town guests coming, so they gave us their housekey, so some of my guests could sleep at their house. Can you believe it?</p>
<p>I’d rather live in Berkeley/Oakland hills, even though it would mean life in a significantly smaller and more expensive home than the one I live in now. Who knows, maybe someday we’ll actually move (back) to the Bay Area though right now it’s a bit of a fantasy. </p>
<p>In the meantime, I do love my historic neighborhood in central Denver where we’ve lived for over 20 years, and where my kids grew up. </p>
<p>With me, it’s a case of if-you-can’t-be-in-the-neighborhood-you-love, love-the-one-you’re-in…</p>
<p>Yes, I do love it. It’s quite different from what many of you describe. We are about 20 minutes outside of town so no buses, no sidewalks, but stars, woods, and wildlife galore. When you marry someone that grew up in a farming community you almost expect to eventually be in a rural neighborhood. It took some time for me to adjust, but I wouldn’t give it up now. I love the quiet when I get home. I love the sense of privacy living on multiple acres affords us, but do love that we have neighbors that are good. </p>
<p>(Odd coincidence–3 of our neighbors grew up in the same area as my DH. H even knows a family member of one neighbor. There was something about this neighborhood that drew them all here.)</p>
<p>For a woman with an opinion on everything, I’m oddly neutral. I like parts of it; older houses, mature trees, diversity. But people are very private and there are not many young families. It’s in the South and I want very much to live in New England where there are friends, family and seasons. It’s kind of lonely here, really.</p>
<p>I think 20 years of not picking where we live has finally caught up with my efforts to remain positive about it. Plus getting ready to release the child into the wild in less than two years I’m feeling adrift. </p>
<p>Oh, dear, now I’ll go back to reading about those of you who love your neighborhoods. It cheers me and reminds me that it can happen.</p>
<p>pugmadkate - I can relate-- I love New England too. If I could pick up our house and move it up to rural MA, I probably would! Have also always wanted to see the Pacific Northwest…</p>
<p>I do love our home, though, and have become much more attached to our house than I ever thought possible (I’ve even had a few dreams where we’ve had to move away, and I miss it terribly - weird!). We bought it from a family friend, and we live in the same town I grew up in, so I’ve known it all my life. But – I can’t imagine what it will be like once the kids have all moved out/away. I like our small town and our school district, but am not crazy about L.I. as a whole. Too crowded, and HATE being bottle-necked in by NYC traffic, the bridges, the LIE, etc. Makes visiting just about anywhere off the Island a pain in the butt.</p>
<p>Madison is rated as a top place to live, but we all can’t find jobs there so some of us have to live elsewhere. </p>
<p>Here- I like some things and not others. The people have changed over the years- some moved, including childhood best friends of son and others with many kids, (so did the one nasty neighbor). The kids have all grown up so we don’t see any of them or their parents anymore (no more chatting on the street when going to collect a kid). I like the cul de sac privacy but close to schools, stores, etc (meaning walking, short drive- 5-10 minutes on city streets, door to door). I like the backyard hills and woods but have mixed feelings about the shade and deer that come with it. Plenty of nature, but gardening challenges. Nice large house and place to raise children, but now it’s time to let someone else enjoy it. Area surrounding immediate neighborhood is also nice- again, pros and cons to hills. Also ready for a new place, change of scenery… Ages and stages.</p>
<p>Used to love it…now, not so much…it (and we) have changed…</p>
<p>Huge suburban neighborhood… When we moved in 20 years ago, it was all brand new, most were like us (families not fr. the area with small kids). It was a great place for the kids to grow up with plenty of friends, safe places to play outside and a neighborhood swimming pool. The town was small then, just over 3,000. There were cornfileds and cow pastures across from our neighborhood. I was staying home with the kids and DH’s job was/is 6 miles away.</p>
<p>We didn’t realize at the time that we were the first wave of what was to become out of control development. Twenty years later the pop. is well over 50,000 with new shopping centers,neighborhoods on every inch of available land and lots of traffic. Many of the original friends/neighbors have moved on and those who have moved in (in most cases) don’t care for the homes in the way that the original owners did.</p>
<p>Our kids are off in college and only come home for holidays. Neither seem overly attached to this house/place even though it is the only one they have ever known. They may feel differently when we are somewhere else and the old homeplace isn’t available as a homebase anymore although S2 told me recently that he never wants to live in this town again and S1 will be all over the world with the military.</p>
<p>We have plans to move to a more rural area of the state (where we are originally from) as soon as DH can retire fr. his job (hopefully 3 yrs) and find new employment in the area we want to live in. We have bought a building lot there and are constantly studying house plans.</p>
<p>PackMom - My story is your story (except that mine is the Midwest edition!) Ours was a new sub 20 years ago in a fairly rural area, but now that same area is over-developed. In our case, though, many of our original neighbors remain and many are good friends. DD is an only child, and in her younger years she ran with a pack of neighborhood girls who all played in each others’ yards and slept over at one anothers’ houses. Although that girl-pack is no more, it was great while it lasted.</p>
<p>And I have to admit: living in the same house for 20 years means that our mortgage payment is obscenely low (we’re talking car-payment low.) That became really important when I lost my job 18 months ago. Never once did I really have to worry that we’d need to find a new place to live.</p>
<p>So I have mixed feelings about this neighborhood. It was good for us for a time, but I am dreaming of the time we can relocate (hopefully back down south.)</p>
<p>Just absolutely love our new neighborhood!!! We have a 9th hole social group which are all residents living along the 9th hole of our golf club. The focus is informal gatherings and picnics with good food and good friends.</p>
<p>H and I talked about downsizing and came to the conclusion that we love our place so much (the area, the house is just OK), it would be hard to find another quiet street with a great bunch of neighbors like ours. Although we get a ton of snow every time it snows here in Western WA, and the roads never get plowed, and the power goes out very winter, we still like it.</p>
<p>We chose our neighborhood for the schools and the location. Now that both kids are out of the local school system (college and post-college) we are in a position to re-evaluate.</p>
<p>Pros: The location is walking distance to a train stop for a major city (Philadelphia) but in the suburbs. We have an acre of beautifully situated land and lots of room to garden, and I have a daffodil hill on which I have planted 500 bulbs over the years. We have done lots of specialty plantings and the trees and other landscaping have matured nicely. I would hate to leave my gardens. This is a treat for me, a former NYC girl. We have great neighbors of all ages and socialize with some of them. I walk/talk every morning with my neighbor across the street.
Every July 4th the entire neighborhood does a kiddie parade with decorated bikes and then we have a neighborhood potluck barbeque/party at one of the houses with a pool. It is very safe and I usually leave my door unlocked to go grocery shopping (so that I don’t have to unlock it with bags in hand). I have keys to two neighbors’ houses (for pet sitting or other purposes). We have great local amenities, although they are mostly a short drive away.</p>
<p>Cons: My husband no longer works in the area (as he did when we moved here) so has a long drive to work – but does not like the area he works in enough to consider living there. Plus we do not know how many years longer he will be working (are in pre-retirement phase). We each have a car, which I hate, but is pretty necessary for shopping, etc. If we ever do move I would like sidewalks and walking access to errand destinations.
The acre of land is wasteful, IMO, and a lot to maintain. We have a lawn service to mow the property and I feel uncomfortable about that. But the gardens (flower beds and organic vegetable raised beds) take up all of my outdoor time, and even so, are always in need of more attention than they get, so taking on lawn maintenance is not likely. Plus we have local deer that think they are entitled to munch on my plantings.
The house is from 1950 – decent house, solidly built (brick), but not architecturally appealing, although it has some nice features. We did not buy the house for its looks, but it functioned very well for our family. (It is not ugly, just ho hum.) Remodeling to any great degree does not make sense because we do not need more space and many houses like ours in the area are ripe for tear-downs, being replaced by McMansions. That is the case with half of the houses in our neighborhood now. Investing in improvements (Years ago we redid the kitchen.) would not yield a good return as the house would likely be an eventual teardown for someone who wants a new house on this property. Yet some areas of the house could use significant updating.</p>
<p>H wants to stay where we are for now and I think that makes sense until we know where the kids are settled and are ready to do a retirement relocation ourselves. We both are pretty happy here but would prefer a less car- and maintenance-intensive situation.</p>
<p>Elleneast, I suspect I may live near you (western “Main Line”).</p>
<p>When we moved to our current home, we were able to downsize to just one car, which has been wonderful. (I walk to work, H travels a lot or works at home.) On the other hand we don’t have a garage and have to deal with alternate street parking and snow emergencies in winter. Our home is architecturally interesting (though this Victorian rowhouse hasn’t seen a major overhaul since the 70s and could use some bathroom upgrades.) I have a wonderful pocket handkerchief garden (one of those hidden urban gems), and we only have 20 feet of sidewalk to shovel. When I was exploring what became my new job six months ago, the first words out of H’s mouth were “I don’t want to move!.” (And he didn’t have to .) As I said in my original post, I love our neighborhood, and appreciate it still (although differently) now that we’re empty-nesters.</p>
<p>Interesting undercurrent on this thread of change…and many people living in their houses for a number of years. H’s and my parents lived in theirs for 60 years each but now it seems with mobility that 20’s becoming alot. We’ve been here 10.</p>