When I moved into this house in 1998 it was a nice neighborhood. I remember my parents being a little worried about the neighborhood because it was starting to go down hill a little. It was my Grandmothers house and I really wanted to buy her house after she passed away. When my ex husband and I moved in we found that our street was still very nice. There were nice neighbors and everyone seemed to look after each other. Boy have things changed.
I hate our neighborhood now. I don't feel safe and I don't trust 99% of our neighbors. In the past year we have had 4 new neighbors move on either side of us or on our street. Here is an example of our new neighbors:
*I don't know the people that bought Lynilu's house. I don't think they have moved in, but I think they will be ok. From what we know it's a couple in their 50's and all their children are grown and don't live with them. We are happy about that.
*The people that moved in the house on the other side of us are very young. They look like they are in maybe their 20's and I see lots of little kids. Yesterday while they were moving in someone was in the car and to get the attention of the person in the house they honked their horn for like 5 minutes straight. Here's an idea: Get out of your car and go get the person that is in the house instead of disturbing the entire neighborhood with your damn horn.
*The person that lives across the street is a real trip. The husband came over to our house last April when we were having problems with the bathroom and asked what happened with the company that was doing the work on the bathroom. He then asked if he could come in and look at the work because he did home improvements and maybe he could help us. Oh, and it was 8:30 at night. Um, no thank you. He also has a motorcycle that he will ride up and down our street and at all hours of the day and he always makes sure he guns it. It's very loud. Last summer he had a pitt bull that he was starving. Animal Control came and took the dog away. Within a month he had another pitt bull. I have seen this horrible creature running outside of the yard. Today when I came home from the store that dog was in our yard up by where the cats are. I honked my horn and chased it (in my car) back to his house. I then got out and went up to the front door and rang the door bell. I hear a man yell angrily "who is it?". He finally answered the door and I told him his dog was out and was in our yard. He looked like he was having trouble understanding what I was saying and I then said, "if I find your dog out again I am calling animal control". This made him angry. He asked why I would do something like that. I told him he has a pitt bull running around the neighborhood and that we had a dead cat a few weeks back. His response was, "he's just a puppy, he wouldn't do that." Ok, ok . Pitt bulls are known for their gentle nature. NOT. As I was walking back to my house he mumbled something about he didn't need this. I kept walking. Of the neighbors I do trust, none of them likes this family.
*Two neighbors that live on the street behind us (we live on a corner so our yard backs up to their yards) have no respect for their house or yards. There is one house that currently has so much crap in their yard you would think no one lives there. Last summer they had a table out in the front yard and had clothes on it. It looked like a garage sale set up, but I think they were just doing laundry, I think. The house right next to them the family has just got up and left. Who ever owns the house has put all their stuff at the end of the driveway. It's been there for 3 weeks now. Our big item pick up is not until the end of March. Lovely isn't it?
*The people that live directly behind us have a teenage son. Laura and I laugh all the time becuase that kid is out in the shed (in all kinds of weather) either smoking pot or sniffing paint. I feel bad because I know the parents are good and have always been nice to us and their kid is hanging out with the wrong kids. One funny thing: they have a daughter that is maybe 7 and a few months ago Sophie was outside and barking. I tried to get her to stop and then I heard the little girl say, "Sophie be quiet". I thought that was cute.
I just want to live in a neighborhood that has people that respect their houses and yards, oh and the other neighbors. I want to pull into my neighborhood and feel some kind of pride, not being ashamed because of where I live. I don't think it's a huge request.
I hope I can hold on until we put the house on the market and I hope the improvements we made to the house will not be too much for this neighborhood.
14 comments:
Ick. I really hate neighbor(hood) problems. I just learned that the neighbors across from us are planning to move into a condo (they are retired and the yard has gotten to be too much). I'm so sad because I hate the stress of getting new neighbors. You just never know how it's going to turn out and what impact it will have on everyone.
We recently got new next door neighbors and thankfully, they are VERY quiet and respectful. They have two teen daughters and an infant. So far, so good.
So - there is a house across from me going on the market soon. HINT HINT!! :)
Having just bought a house I was VERY conscious of the neighborhood. This is an old, established neighborhood with a real neighborhood association that does all kinds of neat things. I am not one for the new "cookie cutter" subdivisions. We have so much yard and such a big privacy fence that we can virtually ignore the neighbors on either side of us and the ones across the street seem decent. Time will tell. It does suck to live in a bad neighborhood though. I hope y'all get to move and soon.
Caroline, we are in the same boat. Our neighbors don't care a bit about themselves, their neighbors or their homes. And I too worry that the money we are putting into the place will in no way match what we get out of it.
that's so sad. I live in my great grandparents house, I grew up in this house, and our neighborhood used to be so safe. Now we have a drug dealer 2 houses away...wait, I think he's gone, I haven't seen him in a while. My son said maybe he got killed.!
I like your blog, btw.
casey--lol, we picked up on that hint. i would love to because i love the northwest, but laura does not like all the rain you get or cloudy days. i am working on her though
patti--you not the cookie cutter type? i would have never guessed. :):) can't wait to see pictures of your new house
ragged--i know you have talked about your neighbors before. it's such a shame when people use their biggest investment (house) and just trash it
beth--thanks for the compliment on my blog. i had no idea so many people would be so intersted in my life
Caroline: Great - keep working on her. I can work on her too, if you'd like. :) We can always buy her one of those sunshine machine things that people with SAD use. :)
Neighbor woes! Well, our subdivision is such that houses are practically built on top of the other. That's what you get when the developer wants to make as much as he can out of the land that he has. That's my one complaint. Also, my neighbor planted a really large tree next to our shared fence and this tree sheds its leaves every fall and it falls all in my yard. I keep saying I'm cutting down the branches in my yard, but guess who has to pay for it?
Otherwise I live in a very nice, quiet neighborhood and everyone is usually nice. We did have a bit of a kaffafall last year when a new neighbor had a yappy dog, but I think it's okay now.
The house 2 doors down is for sale! :)
casey--thanks for the offer to help w/ laura. i could use all the help i can get. :)
sharon--we have looked at a couple houses in KC where the houses are built on top of each other. i would hate that. i like my space and i don't want the neighbors seeing everything we are doing. but it might be worth it to live close to you guys.
Well, there are plenty of houses that aren't on top of each other. Trust me, that's one thing I don't like about our house. Otherwise, it's quite lovely. There are great neighborhoods here that would be just right up your alley and sometimes I wish we had bought there instead....if you move here, we'll just come over and hang out at your house and pretend like it's ours! :)
Everything you say is why I encouraged you to work on those little fixer-upper tasks on a regular basis. Then when you want (or need) to go, you'll be close to ready. I really want you out of there. I feel the same about the neighbors we had dinner with.
When you come visit, you'll realize how nice my new area is! And as Casey said ... HINT HINT!!
And to Ragged: That is the same situation I found myself in ... needing to fix the place up to sell, but being wary of how much I spent because the 'hood was declining. I was told that had my house been in a different neighborhood, it would have easily brought me 30K to 40K more.I think that is true. And sadly, it used to be one of the nicest middle class neighborhoods in that part of town.
Nasty neighbors are the worst! We were so glad to get rid of the ones we had in SA! We love where we live now, people are friendly, quiet (except for the teen next door when his parents aren't home), and more or less keep to themselves. Oh, and it just so happens there's a lovely home for sale right up the street. If Laura won't go for Casey's area, there's always mine! No complaining about the snow, you guys have had far more than we have!
sharon--you know laura is looking for one of those big southern porch houses. keep looking..and you might find something you would like as well seeing you would be at our house a lot. :):)
lynilu--thankfully we have been working on fixing up the house for more then a year now. we can't wait to get out
Our neighbor just got a pit bull, and it has me worried. The fence is only about four feet tall, and that dog could totally get over. We like our neighbor, but she is *never* home. So her three dogs just run around barking all day and all night. I want to live on some land near no one. :)
I've owned in several transitional neighborhoods (those great old houses) in different cities. It can go either way, and sometimes, you just can't tell. The last house I owned with my ex...well, I'm thinking that one is on the slide, so very glad I let her buy me out. Mostly, I worry about the crime...even in my fairly decent neighborhood, kids are getting killed, houses are robbed, and I don't have a lot of peace of mind. Good luck, and thanks for the good read.
Post a Comment