Editorial: Get to know those nearby

Next week is Neighbours day Aotearoa. Photo/Thinkstock

How well do you know your neighbours? I have a confession - I don't even know what mine look like.

Next weekend is Neighbours Day Aotearoa and some Rotorua residents are getting into the community spirit - planning a street party and inviting those on nearby streets to join them. There are also several other events being organised around the city.

Way back when I was a kid, we knew all our neighbours and would regularly get together for impromptu barbecues and parties.

Us kids would wander in and out of each other's homes, the neighbourhood dogs were welcomed and spoiled by all andcome summer the neighbourhood kids would all converge on our place thanks to our highly coveted Para pool. Their parents would often follow later in the day, bearing casks of wine and bags of chips. It was the 80s, after all.

These days I must admit I don't even know my neighbours' names.

One popped his head over the fence and said hello a few weeks after I moved in, but other than that I don't even know what the others look like.

It seems I'm not the only one - a quick survey of the newsroom found most had little to do with their neighbours, bar the occasional wave - and we're generally a pretty friendly bunch.

Is it a sign of the times? Are we all too busy, too preoccupied with our own lives to worry about the people down the road?

I'm sure they are plenty of streets in Rotorua where the idyllic neighbourhood I remember from my childhood still exists - is it yours?

Today's story about the folk of Awatea Tce got me thinking. We don't have to go to the lengths of holding a street party, but maybe Neighbours Day is a good excuse to at least make a small effort.

How about we introduce ourselves to those we don't know yet, or have a chat the next time we meet at the letterbox? I think I'll give it a shot.