Hi, neighbour! Do you mind being not so nosy?
Survey reveals it can take more than just a wave to keep community peace
Mister Rogers’ beloved TV show used to include the song Won’t You Be My Neighbour?
But based on a new survey by Porch — a website that connects homeowners and professional contractors — not everyone gets along with their neighbours.
Porch’s survey of more than 1,000 people found that the worst neighbours are nosy neighbours — those who cross the line of a friendly wave into peeping into other’s yards, getting too personal when meeting at the mailbox or just a general invasion of privacy.
The other top four annoying activities of neighbours include those who are too loud, who don’t pick up after their pets, who park in someone else’s designated spot or who leave their children unsupervised.
Rounding out the list of the top 10 most annoying things neighbours do:
Call the police on another neighbour.
Leave notes on a neighbour’s door instead of speaking face to face. Have loud sex. Visibly walk around in various states of undress.
Have landscaping or other items that obstruct a neighbour’s view.
Porch’s survey found that baby boomers are more likely to get into fights with their neighbours than younger generations.
Thirty-three per cent of baby boomers admitted to getting into aggressive verbal or even physical confrontations with a neighbour, compared with 23 per cent of millennials and 28 per cent of Gen-Xers.
While the people Porch surveyed called out their neighbours for bad behaviour, they were also willing to admit their own faults.
One in 10 admitted to playing music too loudly or talking loudly enough that it might annoy their neighbours.
And 22 per cent said they don’t know the names of any of their neighbours while 61 per cent said they know the names of only some.