Won't You Be My Neighbor?

As a semi-country boy, I grew up in a small rural “village” (http://www.lordstown.com/) and was accustomed to having at least a little room between neighbors. Our neighbors were close enough to keep an eye on our property when we weren’t around, but far enough away that we had room to stretch out. How I miss having a little land around us!

As a city dweller, we have become accustomed to having a little less personal space, but enjoy the semi-urban life that Youngstown offers as we are extremely close to work and the homes of the organizations to which we belong. We also love seeing the changes happening in the city of Youngstown. Although many people do not consider the Yo to be a desirable place to live now, I predict in the next 5-10 years the Yo will once again be desirable.

As of recently, Louis and I have been having a battle of the wills with our neighbors. They are renters and have shown they are disrespectful of themselves as well as those around them. They have yappy dogs, throw glaring looks, and have extremely disrespectful children. They have no regard for the charming northside neighborhood in which they reside.

This evening we decided to enjoy the weather and our Martha Steward patio furniture and eat our delicious dinner outside. Through the entire meal we were treated to the joyous sounds of dogs barking. Our other neighbors said to us recently that they knew immediately when we let our dogs out because the other dogs always started barking. I proceeded to clean up in the yard a little after dinner and continued to be serenaded. As a matter of fact, nearly two hours later, I am listening to the sounds of the bugs outside and the annoying bark of the neighbor dogs.

Louis expressed unhappiness about our living arrangements and felt he liked our home less since the neighbors moved in next to us. His statement led to a discussion about the cycle of urban life and how we played a part. We have been in our home for three years today and have enjoyed every minute until the terrors next door arrived. We talked about how they are renters and the nature of renters is that they stay for awhile or until they wear their welcome out, then eventually move on. And this, too, shall pass.

We have discussed buying the house next door when it’s for sale next, renting it out to pay off the mortgage, then tearing it down to expand the land around us to have a larger yard. This would provide us the room to add onto our garage to have a side-by-side two car garage (currently 2 car tandem), provide more room for Louis’ garden, provide more space for our pups to stretch their legs, and more room for me to do landscaping.

We also talked about the need to stay positive about the situation. We tend to get mad at the dogs, but instead should be mad at the owners for neglecting to provide sufficient care and attention to their dogs. (Although I must make note, when we called the cops to complain—and the cops did show up—they denied even having dogs!) We cannot get mad about living in the city limits because of a couple of bad neighbors—we must work harder to be the change we want to see. We must not stoop to their level but rather let them know there is no room in our neighborhood for rude people who do not raise their children or dogs properly.

As activists, we have learned that making change means never giving up. We have also learned we must pick and choose our battles carefully to prevent wasting our energy on issues that pale in significance compared to the larger social issues our city, region, state, and country are facing currently. We must reserve our gusto for those onslaughts which will have a lasting impact on our lives. Bad neighbors will move on, but our battle against injustice will live on.