Obviously being the new family in the neighborhood is not going to make your life easier when it comes to dealing with other people. It’s hard to have a good relation with your neighbors even if you’ve been living there for the last 15 years so remember that you have to live around them for a long time (probably) and starting a war and making it to the newspapers headlines is not the best solution.
photo by fd
Being a good neighbor yourself is what you should work on, but I’ll have to admit this isn’t easy. Why not? Because we’re all subjective. Remember when you praise your kid for being the smartest and the most beautiful in the world to whom you’re talking with? That’s the same case. We usually have a good impression about ourselves and can’t see that our behavior is wrong.
These 15 tips are going to help you minimize conflicts and build a stronger relation with the neighbors.
1. Get to know your neighbor
Not only this is the first thing you should think of but it is the simplest and easiest way of keeping communication lines open. You can’t judge someone for his beliefs if you don’t know him. Take the time to see what the person respects, what he wants/needs and discuss openly about the problems you have, using a clam and friendly voice.
2. Small things count
A smile in the morning when you set off to work, speaking gentle and polite would improve things between you. You can also invite them for a quick drink or send them some pie over to taste it.
3. Common sense
If you expect your neighbor to stay cool after you throw in a party at 2AM in the morning with all your friends making noise, you’re probably wrong. If you’re young and they are old you will probably understand for them sleeping hours are sacred. Go ahead and ask them before if they allow you to party, or invite them over. To summarize, don’t do to them what you wouldn’t want them to do to you.
4. Be the nice guy
Subjective again, I know, but when it comes to trouble in the neighborhood someone has to take the initiative. Why wouldn’t you be that someone if you have the time? It will make you look good in their eyes and will get your “score” up. Another good example is when two neighbors are fighting. Don’t take sides and try to come up with a solution for what happened.
5. Teach your kids to respect the neighbors, too
When it comes to neighborhood problems many could say kids are “the root of all evil”. This is because they have a lot of energy that needs to be consumed. A broken window, garbage thrown on the lawn or any other pranks they do, may not be “appreciated” by your neighbor.
6. Help if you can
A few years ago my neighbor’s daughter got sick and had to be seen by a doctor. The neighbor, which I was fighting over throwing junks in my yard, had no car and because it was a desperate situation he had to ask me. I helped him and enjoyed the fact that his little kid got better in a couple of weeks. This is where our whole relationship changed and we’re now great buddies. By the way, he’s not throwing junks in my yard, too.
7. Respect your neighbor
Frank Baron has a saying “Never take a person’s dignity. It is worth everything to them, and nothing to you” so you’d better think before you act.
I hope these helped you out and if you would like to add more to make the list even bigger, that sounds great.