52 Weeks of Neighboring - Week 50

Neighboring Tip of the Week - Host a game night and invite your neighbors.

Good day, all! Can you believe February of 2020 is almost here? Don’t worry; at the Neighboring Movement, we can’t either!

This week, we read a statistic that surprised us. According to an August 2019 article from Pew Research Center, “Among Americans who know at least some of their neighbors, a majority (58%) say they never meet them for parties or get-togethers.” So, even amongst Americans who know at least some of their neighbors, get-togethers or parties with those neighbors are relatively rare! Fascinating.

One of the things we have realized is that part of neighboring is just finding fun ways to bring neighbors together. Why? We have discovered that most people really do want to connect with their neighbors, and when they do, awesome things happen! Perhaps most of all, gatherings help neighbors further their relationships with one another. At such events, neighbors have the opportunity to meet other neighbors they have not yet met, and they also have the opportunity to get to know the neighbors that they have already met a bit better. These gatherings are also the perfect spaces for neighbors to become updated on the happenings of their neighborhoods, learn more about the gifts of their fellow neighbors, and start to form associations with those very neighbors. Not to mention, they’re a great deal of fun, too! The list could go on forever. And here’s the great news: these gatherings can take place around anything! That’s where this week’s neighboring tip comes in. The tip that we suggest experimenting with this week is: Host a game night and invite your neighbors.

When it comes to neighborhood gatherings, we often talk about the helpfulness of what we like to call “third things”. Third things can be anything, from games to holidays to foods to so much more. Essentially, they are specific things that can give neighbors an excuse to gather and also help what could seem like awkward conversations get started. So, this week, we propose that you host a game night with your neighbors, as we think games are a perfect party activity for your neighborhood gathering and a perfect way to help conversation amongst your neighbors start flowing. So, whether it’s Bunco or Bananagrams, Skip-Bo or Scrabble, we hope you enjoy your game night with neighbors!

Happy neighboring!