Becoming friends with your neighbors is one of the best things about living in a master-planned community. Great neighbors can keep an eye on your home and surroundings, they can lend a helping hand, and they can make community events so much more fun!
Whether you’ve never met the family next door, or you spend time with your neighbors daily, here are some tips to help you get connected to the people around your community!
- Connect with Your Neighborhood Online
It sounds like meeting neighbors online defeats the purpose, but it can be a powerful way to meet and cultivate your relationships with people in your community. Some neighborhoods meet on NextDoor or establish a private Facebook group where they can report problems, ask questions, notify items delivered to the wrong house, and lost pets. Many people also use it to ask for local vendor recommendations.
Many master-planned communities also have a homeowner’s association (HOA). Sometimes they have a website, an email newsletter, or both. Depending on your community, a HOA often plans community resident events which is a great way to meet others in your community. Talk to your HOA to find out what resources they offer!
- Create a Social Committee
Some HOAs have a lifestyle director or a committee to oversee neighbor parties and gatherings. Neighborhoods may hold a variety of events that target different groups such as families, women only, kids, or adults only. If your neighborhood doesn’t have an organization that coordinates planning events, consider taking charge and creating one, or move to a community that already has lifestyle programming in place. Having resident events often leads to great friends, which would be a wonderful way to improve the quality of life for you and your family.
- Provide a Neighborhood Directory
Before creating and distributing a neighborhood directory, send a survey to your residents. Give them the opportunity to share information for the direction and to give you permission for publishing their information. If you have a private Facebook page, you can upload the directory to the page for neighbors to access. Be sure to email it as not everyone may be active on Facebook or whatever social network you use.
As you collect information for the directory, add an item about babysitters, or similar services. Parents of young kids will appreciate having access to qualified babysitters right in their neighborhood. Add a question about pets’ names and descriptions as well as the names and ages of kids (if permitted to publish). If a pet without an ID tag ever gets lost, the neighbors can refer to the directory to see if they can identify the owner.
A good directory sorts the entries in two ways: alphabetically and by street address. This comes in handy because you may not know their name, but you know where they live.
You may not be able to choose your neighbors, but you have many choices when it comes to where to live and what type of community you want to raise your family in. And you never know—your new neighbors could be your child’s best friends for life.
To stay on top of great resources from Kyle and nearby, connect with us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Looking to move to a community with year-round lifestyle events for residents? Meet the Kyle home builders or contact our Crosswinds team.