ABSTRACT
What characterizes a good neighbor? In your neighborhood, it may be someone who maintains a tidy lawn, or someone who has friendly children. It may be the homeowner at the end of the street with the beautiful garden or backyard pool. Yet what constitutes good neighborliness may also be conditional or contextual. The homeowner with the tidy lawn may also have a dog in the backyard that barks ferociously whenever anyone approaches its fence, or she may drive you to distraction during the holidays with an unapproachable standard of decorating. You may wish the friendly children were occasionally less so when you find their toys and playthings scattered across your yard or when their teenage son’s car stereo wakes you u1p each Friday night when he comes home from a date. The level of familiarity you have with your neighbors may be based as much on your willingness to engage in a relationship, however give-and-take it may be, as on their willingness to accept the responsibility of your friendship, and your satisfaction with the relationship may fluctuate depending on time and context.
