ABSTRACT
People both want and actually have many types of relationships with their neighbors. Some seek close friendships; others prefer privacy and strive to avoid intimacy. A variety of complicated personal factors influences people's desires. Neighborhoods often contain people representing both ends of a continuum of desired or actual neighborly relations. Strangers, by definition, are unknown to people. A variety of factors determine whether people in the neighborhood greet a stranger with a welcoming smile or fearfully avoid eye contact. Friendly recognition describes the type of relationship that develops among neighbors who ride the same bus to work every morning or people who regularly find themselves on the same elevator in an apartment building. Casual acquaintances can contribute to healthy dynamics in a neighborhood. They aid the flow of neighborhood information. Casual acquaintances can grow into casual friends, people with whom to share occasional outings or activities.
