According to social scientists, from 1974 to 1998, the frequency with which Americans spent a social evening with neighbors fell by about one-third. Robert Putnam, the author of “Bowling Alone,” a groundbreaking study of the disintegration of the American social fabric, suggests that the decline actually began 20 years earlier, so that neighborhood ties today are less than half as strong as they were in the 1950s. Why is it that in an age of cheap long-distance rates, discount airlines and the Internet, when we can create community anywhere, we often don’t know the people who live next door?

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Op-Ed Contributor - Won’t You Be My Neighbor? - Op-Ed - NYTimes.com

Thanks to Blake for the link on his blog.

This is so true - and well written.

One of the great surprises of moving into our neighborhood was the vast number of neighbors who not only don’t take time to know each other, but who also make a decided effort to avoid all contact whatsoever.  I’m talking “look the other way while we drive by every single time you walk your dog” type of avoidance.

I’m afraid I’m just as guilty when it comes to taking the time to really get to know neighbors.  Fascinating epidemic - the breakdown of true community in the physical locale.  I think more than a small portion is in fact due to the breakdown of barriers to “virtual community” - the Internet, ubiquitous cell phone use, Facebook, etc - which allows us to create our own comfortable network without having to lean on those closest to us in proximity.