Spread the love with Holly’s hot tips on how to spot a good neighbour.
There is an old proverb ‘A good neighbour increases the value of your home’.
I’m sure for many of us this proverb rings true. The experience of neighbourhood, good communities and the people around us make the suburb in which we live in a more enjoyable and valuable experience.
Wouldn’t it be great if we could quantify the value of good neighbours and increase the value of our homes with neighbourly love?
Good neighbours can become great friends, or even like family, but what makes a good neighbour?
A good neighbour is friendly and considerate. Though good neighbours may live close, they respect your space and privacy. Good neighbours wave at you and keep an eye out for any unfamiliar activity. Good neighbours take time to talk and smile, stop to pet your dog and chat. They reach out to connect to you and look out for you and your family.
A recent letter written by a homeowner in Ainslie, to be shared with prospective buyers, communicated their personal experience of the neighbourhood. Her heartfelt words were to communicate and share the experience of their neighbourhood. Stories such as:
During our last night in the house, they came over for hours to help us sort, pack and clean. That’s the kind of generous, helpful people they are
and
Another neighbour Kate has been a huge support over the years: bringing over food, lending us things, babysitting and recommending good local tradies.
When buying a home, there are a number of ways to identify a healthy and happy neighbourhood.
At the open home, the locals will stop and chat. Often surrounding neighbours will pop into the open home for a ’sticky beak’ and congregate in the kitchen or garden for an impromptu catch up. Greetings and heartfelt welcomes to each other is a good sign of neighbourhood.
Walk up and down the street and wave to the people you pass. Smile! Chat to the locals and ask them about their experiences in the street.
Schools are another indicator of a healthy community and neighbourhood. Drive through the suburb before school starts, check out how many bikes are in the bike racks and families walking to school.
Local shopping centres brimming with activity, locally owned shops and friendly people are encouraging signs. In recent times, Canberra has reconnected with how important this is. In the past ten years, the rejuvenation of local shopping centres across Canberra has seen communities and suburbs flourish as a sense of belonging, identity and pride are fostered. The value of suburbs has been positively influenced by these local amenities and contributed to a rise in home values in the area.
Griffin’s 1916 plan for Canberra aimed to create healthy working and living environments for urban residents based on the international Garden City movement. These values and principles form the foundations of our city and community-focused neighbourhoods. A century later, these values remain as relevant and important in our modern society. When we may at times feel we are more connected by social channels and digital platforms yet disconnected by technology, neighbourhood environments and a human element are the most valuable assets of neighbourhoods and our community.
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