Changing from Most to Least Annoying Neighbor


Have you ever spent extra time watching your neighbors from your living room window? A new survey shows that 49 percent of people have watched people from windows or their neighbor's windows.

HomeAdvisor surveyed 2,200 Americans in the 25 biggest cities in the United States to find out which cities have the most and least annoying neighbors and most annoying neighbor habits.

According to the survey, Denver has the third least annoying neighbors in the country. Denver residents' biggest complaints about their neighbors is when they have loud parties.

According to the survey, here are some other interesting facts about Denver neighbors: 98 percent of Denver residents consider themselves good neighbors, 52 percent of Denver residents know most or all of their neighbors, and 54 percent believe them to be friends.

These numbers are significant when you consider that 12 years, less than 3 percent of people in this same area knew the names of their neighbors. Several churches formed a roundtable to discuss ways to help their city. One local Mayor of a Denver suburb said, "just teach your people to be good neighbors."

That challenge led to a community effort and eventually a book, "The Art of Neighboring," by Dave Runyon and Jay Pathak. That book began a national discussion about what it means to be a good neighbor and why it is essential in our electronically connected world.

This survey is a great example of their efforts' impact over an extended time. Scientist Steve Maier recently expressed a rule of physics in this way: "Significant change will occur with minimal force if applied over an extended period of time."

That is what I am trying to do here in southwest Missouri. With continual reminders and community efforts, keep nudging the issue of being an engaged neighbor forward. In 10 years, perhaps Republic or Ash Grove or Willard or Springfield will make a list of the most neighborly towns because of our efforts today to change the narrative about what it means to be an engaged neighbor!

 The HomeAdvisor survey said neighbors are most likely to argue about parking, loud parties, lousy attitude or grumpiness, general noise, loud conversations or arguments, tobacco smoke, misplaced or overflowing garbage, or loud construction.

According to this survey, the most annoying neighbors in America come from Fort Worth, Texas, followed by San Francisco, California, El Paso, Texas, San Jose, California, and Indianapolis, Indiana.

The survey also said the least annoying neighbors in America come from Phoenix, Arizona. Coming in second on the list was Boston, Massachusetts, followed by Denver, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and Portland, Oregon.

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Does this article make you interested in taking the Engaged Neighbor pledge? Five categories and 20 principles to guide you toward becoming an engaged neighbor. Sign the pledge online at http://engagedneighbor.com.

Contact the blog author, David L. Burton at dburton541@yahoo.com.

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