A podcaster I listen to mentioned they are moving and my first thought was literally “but they love their neighbors and neighborhood so much!”

They went on to talk about how when they move they will rent for a year so they can take the time to find their perfect neighborhood before they buy. They want neighbors that they’re close enough with that they can just walk into each other’s houses. They want to walk on the street and stop and say hello to everyone else walking, or sitting on their porch. They want to see garage doors open, and kids out playing. They mentioned visiting family and hating how their neighborhood had all the garage doors closed and was so quiet.

This is perfect for them (especially with children), but almost the EXACT opposite of what I want! Ha!

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The huge cottonwood in our yard that that top fell off of a few years ago, sad face

I don’t want to be able to see our neighbors’ home from mine, and ideally, I can’t hear them. I want to say hello and know their names when I am walking on the street, but I want them stopping by announced. I want relationships, but privacy. I mostly want quiet, with some nature, train, and lawn care noises.

A toy I found buried in our yard

The funny thing is, I have extroverted tendencies* like this podcaster – I often gain energy from seeing other people (when it’s my choice and I control the timeline, ha) – but I crave privacy and quiet. I did the living on a noisy street thing and absolutely hated it. I still have nightmares about living there – I had one last night, in fact. Steven and I were just talking yesterday about how poor of a fit that neighborhood was for us.

*But am definitely an ambivert

Hashtag safety first!

But our current one? We love it 90% of the time!

A new redbud in front of Dragonstone (the one being planted in the image above)

Which way do you lean – noisy neighborhood or quiet and private neighborhood?