I
grew up on a rural country road where my nearest next-door neighbor was about a quarter mile down the hill , and the population density was so low the cable company did not deem us fiscally worthy of cable lines .
I knew most of the families in the vicinity at least by name , and neighborhood news and gossip was spread via phone trees and front porch conversations . My college and post-college years were spent in dorms , apartments and rented houses , and mostly in cities .
I had never even heard of a homeowners association ( HOA ) until my husband and I bought our first house together and we entered the fascinating world of suburban neighborhood living , complete with an HOA board , committees and by-laws .
By-laws are serious stuff . They uphold the standards for civilized living in close proximity to other families and give us grounds to confront our wayward , non-grassmowing , lazy next-door neighbor .
Without them , someone might go rogue and install a mailbox that doesn ’ t match the rest on the street , or get the bright idea to put a chicken coop in the backyard .
One time I received a politely written letter that the color I had chosen to paint my front door was not in compliance with neighborhood codes and that I needed to : A . repaint the door and B . get prior approval for the color before I repainted .
Another time , a letter arrived because the side of our house needed to be pressure washed . Of course the HOA was right . The color of the door wasn ’ t all that great and the house was pretty dirty on the one side .
Mostly I laughed when the letters arrived and bonded with my other neighbors about letters they had received about not taking their garbage cans in from the curb in a timely manner .
I have served on the HOA board in every neighborhood I ’ ve lived in since . Not only has it helped me meet people when we were the new kids on the block , but I like knowing what ’ s going on and what issues people care about . And , really , it feels nice to be a part of the community , even if it ’ s just in a small way .
By-laws , street beautification and warning letters aside , I love a good neighborhood event . I ’ ve helped plan luaus , Easter egg hunts , sleigh rides , visits with Santa , cookie exchanges , Halloween parades , progressive dinners , Fourth of July breakfasts , block parties and wine tastings , all in an effort to get neighbors together .
Newsletters and fliers were our main means of communication , and don ’ t forget the directory . God bless the poor souls across this country whose job it is to keep the directory up to date . It ’ s a full-time job making sure you have current phone numbers and email addresses .
Then along came the game changer : social media . With private Facebook groups and
platforms like Nextdoor , it felt like it brought us closer in a way . Not to mention , social media lets us see a side of the seemingly nice man who lives on the corner that we never knew existed .
Belle Valley , a neighborhood spanning the area north of I-90 along Wattsburg Road , uses Nextdoor . com to keep up with the news and events happening in the ‘ hood . Currently 126 people living there are registered to participate in the group .
Nextdoor is limited to only those people within the boundaries and streets of your specific neighborhood . It also lets you connect with neighborhoods nearby .
People averse to Facebook like having an alternative . It allows you to create events , post items for sale and post general information you want to share . You can also message individual neighbors who have registered .
“ I love being on Nextdoor ,” says Belle Valley resident Natalie Keeley . “ We use it for break-ins and lost pets . Someone lost their ferret the other day . We also use it for garage sales , finding babysitters , meeting new neighbors , and block parties .”
Social media has also become the new crime-watch hub . Within minutes you can report suspicious activity or alert your neighbors of a break-in — but , beware , it can sometimes lead to a comedy of errors .
Last winter , an Erie neighbor alerted people via Nextdoor . com of a white male wearing a hoodie walking through people ’ s backyards , presumably to case the houses . A few others corroborated the sighting of the hoodie-clad intruder and of seeing footprints in the snow of their own backyards . Fortunately , the mystery was quickly solved , and it turned out to be the meter reader for Penelec and all was well !
It will be interesting to see how and if social media will change the way we interact with our neighbors . Will it bring us closer together ? Will it create feuds as epic as the Hatfields and the McCoys ?
At the very least it will be easier to borrow that proverbial cup of sugar , and if my Shih Tzu , Zoe , ever gets lost , I know that I have an army of concerned neighbors ready at a moment ’ s notice to help me find her . n
Millcreek | Winter 2016 | icmags . com 39