How to Make Your Neighborhood a Better Place

Creating a better neighborhood is something that many of us want to do for very obvious reasons. Living in a good neighborhood will pay dividends in terms of higher property values and a more enjoyable place to live. Ultimately, though, bettering your neighborhood is a relatively complicated endeavor. Not only do you need to take action yourself, but you’ve got to get your neighbors to act in order to create a better community. Fortunately, with some work and some thought, you’ll be on the road to making your neighborhood a better place.

Method 1

Method 1 of 3:

Starting at Home

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Maintain your home. A great way to build a good neighborhood is to start with your home. Basic maintenance is a great way of creating the impression that your neighborhood is a good place to live. If you don’t maintain your home, you’ll send the impression that you don’t care about your neighborhood or your neighbors.
- Paint your home (as needed).
- Make necessary repairs to your home. This includes rotten wood, broken shutters, and more.
- While some repairs might be expensive, basic maintenance (paint touchups and replacing wood rot) can be inexpensive if you do it yourself.^{[1]XResearch source}
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Tend to your lawn and yard. In many places, the idea of a good neighborhood is tied to positive and desirable aesthetics. One of the most important aspects of this is the way people’s lawns and yards look. If you want to make your neighborhood a better place, you should put some effort into tending to your lawn and yard.
- Cut your grass regularly. This might mean cutting every week or two depending on the season and your region.
- Remove fallen limbs, sticks, and other organic debris from your yard.
- Sod or seed your yard, if you lack grass.^{[2]XResearch source}
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Avoid accumulating junk in your yard. If you are serious about building a better neighborhood, you should make sure that you aren’t accumulating junk in your yard. Storing junk in sight of your neighbors can alienate them and create a negative vibe in your neighborhood. This is because you’re likely to decrease property values and give the impression that your neighborhood is a less nice place than it really is.
- Don’t store your collection of classic project cars in your front yard or where your neighbors can see them. If you are serious about your fifteen project cars, put up a privacy fence to protect them and hide them from sight.
- Make sure trash makes it to the curb on trash pick-up day.
- Avoid storing excess furniture, Christmas decorations, your lawn mower, or other collectables on your porch.
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Don't create problems for your neighbors. One of the best ways to create a good neighborhood is to make sure that you don’t create any problems for your neighbors. After all, if you create problems for your neighbors, they’ll probably resent you and won’t want to interact with you. This will help establish a negative vibe in your neighborhood.
- Don’t let your animals roam freely. Free ranging dogs may chase children on bikes, runners, or otherwise cause problems. Free roaming cats could kill birds, squirrels, and more.
- Avoid blocking the path to your neighbor’s driveway. This could include not putting trash on the curb next to your neighbor’s driveway, or parking your car (or visitors’ cars) in certain spots.
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Limit the noise you produce. Noise complaints and noise problems are one of the biggest issues in many neighborhoods. As a result, if you want to better your neighborhood, limit the noise you produce.
- Monitor your dog (or other pets) and make sure they don’t bark or otherwise disturb your neighbors on a continual basis.
- If you have parties, make sure to limit the noise you produce and turn all music off at a reasonable hour. In many cases, eleven or midnight on the weekend is a good time to turn your music off. Nine or ten at night is a good time to turn it off on a week day.
- Try not to blast the radio too loud as you’re washing your car.
- Avoid sawing wood or cutting down a tree at inopportune times. Home improvement projects are best done between the hours of 10 and 5 on weekends.^{[3]XResearch source}

Method 2

Method 2 of 3:

Building a Community

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Make friends with your neighbors. Making friends with your neighbors is a great way to begin to build a better neighborhood. This is because people who know and care for the people in their neighborhood will be more likely to take extra steps to better their community.
- Always smile and say hello when you see them walking by, and greet new neighbors with a pie or other gift.
- Introduce yourself to new neighbors.
- Introduce yourself to neighbors you’ve never had the opportunity to meet.^{[4]XResearch source}
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Organize an annual block party or barbecue. Organizing an annual block party in your neighborhood is one great way to build community. Not only will a block party be fun, but it’ll get everyone out and interacting. This will help build a better neighborhood and a stronger sense of community.
- Plan an annual party.
- Ask your neighbors and others in the neighborhood to help you plan it.
- Invite everyone in your neighborhood.
- Organize mixers and activities for kids and everyone else.
- Remember, you may need local government permission to block off a street.^{[5]XResearch source}
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Organize a gardening club. A gardening club is a great way to beautify and better your neighborhood. You can do this by getting some of your neighbors together to plant gardens, flowers, and otherwise tend to the foliage in your neighborhood.
- Arrange for your club to meet once or twice a month.
- Hold fundraisers for supplies.
- If your neighborhood has a homeowner's association, coordinate with them.
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Do random acts of kindness for your neighbors. Doing random acts of kindness for your neighbors is one sure way to help create a better neighborhood. This is because your neighbors will come to believe that you care for them and the community.
- If one of your neighbors is sick, bring them soup.
- If someone’s spouse has passed away, visit them and comfort them.
- If you know someone is hurting financially, offer to pick up their utility bill one month.
- Offer to do yard/housework for free for seniors.^{[6]XResearch source}

Method 3

Method 3 of 3:

Troubleshooting Problems in your Neighborhood

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Start a crime stoppers group. If your neighborhood has any sort of crime issue, you should consider starting a crime stoppers group. A crime stoppers group will unite your neighbors together to watch out for criminal activity in the area. With a little cooperation with local law enforcement, you’ll be able to reduce crime in your neighborhood and make it a better place to live.^{[7]XExpert SourceSaul Jaeger, MS
Police Captain, Mountain View Police DepartmentExpert Interview. 21 February 2020.}
- Print out a flyer that calls for volunteers to join a crime prevention organization in your neighborhood.
- Talk to your immediate neighbors and anyone else in the neighborhood you may be familiar with.
- Hold weekly or monthly meetings in order to plan ways to prevent crime in your neighborhood.
- Contact the local police department and ask for them to send an officer to speak at your meetings.^{[8]XResearch source}
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Watch out for your neighbors. Looking out for your neighbors will help build a better neighborhood. Not only will looking out for your neighbors give create a sense of community, but it will also help prevent crime and protect property in your neighborhood. Watching out for your neighbors may include:
- Taking care of your neighbor’s pets or plants when they are on vacation.
- Calling the police if any suspicious people are trespassing on your neighbor’s property. Remember, though, don't be too intrusive or it may seem like you are spying on your neighbors.^{[9]XExpert SourceSaul Jaeger, MS
  Police Captain, Mountain View Police DepartmentExpert Interview. 21 February 2020.}
- Watching over your neighbor’s children or pets to make sure they are safe.^{[10]XResearch source}
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Volunteer in your neighborhood. Another great way to better your neighborhood is volunteer for various activities. Volunteering in your neighborhood will not only help you better your community, but it will bring you closer to your neighbors.
- Volunteer as a mentor for troubled neighborhood kids.
- Pick up litter.
- Join your homeowner's association.^{[11]XResearch source}
Oprah Winfrey, Entertainment Mogul
Create community through human connection and by finding common ground. "No matter who we are or what we look like or what we may believe, it is both possible and, more importantly, it becomes powerful to come together in common purpose and common effort."
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Try to mediate neighborhood disputes. One great way to better your neighborhood is to mediate neighborhood disputes when they occur. This is especially important if your neighborhood is a place where people are out and about a lot, and frequently talk and socialize. Consider:
- Suggesting ways to resolve conflict between neighbors who have problems.
- Inviting conflicting parties to your home for coffee and a conversation. Let them know beforehand, and let them know you'll act as a mediator between the two.
- That you should always be careful when putting yourself in between conflicting parties. You might be causing problems for yourself, too.