Aretai

The American neighborhood was once a primary place for socialization. It included the critical social and civic infrastructure that educated new generations, taught them values, and provided a testing ground for their emerging sense of themselves and the wider world they were joining. The neighborhood is still important, but it occupies a less central place than it once did. Young adults have experienced one of the most rapid declines in neighborly interaction—only one in four say they talk with their neighbors regularly, a drop of more than half in just over a decade.

That’s from an AEI report by Daniel A. Cox, Jae Grace, and Avery Shields of the Survey Center of American Life at AEI. Neighborhoods probably never functioned ideally, but the shifts tracked here mark significant changes. Not least in what we think it means to be a neighbor.

Against a backdrop of rising social isolation, most Americans believe that being a good neighbor is more about keeping your distance than about engaging with the people living nearby. Roughly two-thirds (65 percent) of Americans believe that being a good neighbor means “not getting too involved in your neighbors’ personal affairs.” Only one-third of Americans believe it is more about rendering help and support even if these are not asked for.

Scanning the whole report is worthwhile.