What is the most surprising thing about your neighborhood?

[Excelsior! Academy]

I'll start. :)

 

After we had lived here a year or so we found out a neighbor raises boa constrictors for profit. I detest snakes.

[Catwoman]

There's nothing surprising about my neighborhood.

 

And I like it that way. :)

[Nestof3]

I don't know anything surprising. I do know that my husband is about to lose it completely because we are surrounded by smokers on all sides, so as soon as he goes outside to enioy the fresh air, someone comes out to smoke.

 

What is surprising is that he is considering moving and taking on a mortgage just to get away from them. We live in a starter neighborhood where the houses are close together. And it's a less expensive neighborhood. We ride through nicer neighborhoods many evenings and never see people outside smoking.

[Nestof3]

My husband brought home a black rat snake (we like snakes) to kill the rats under our deck. Of course it went to our neighbor's yard (the mom/mother-in-law of one of the couples that smokes every few minutes, taking turns). The mother showed up one day saying her handyman killed a black snake in her yard and wanted to know if she could put the decomposing thing in our trash can (right after trash pickup had occurred). I let her, but I wanted to say, "Only if your kids stop smoking on and off right next to our yard."

[Jean in Newcastle]

Last summer one of my neighbors rented goats to clear brambles and weeds from their lot.  

There is also this weird homeschool family in my neighborhood, or so I hear. . . 

[ThisIsTheDay]

We had a black snake that showed up outside of our last house.

 

He was a one-eyed snake, and that made for some great jokes and second looks, people unsure if we were serious.

 

I liked him.  Because of his one eye, I could tell it was the same snake, so I didn't freak out and worry that we had more than one. I was glad to know he would eat things I didn't want.

 

Then he disappeared.

 

:)

 

ETA:  What most surprises me about my current neighborhood?  Hardly anyone talks to each other.  Ever. I've never lived in a place where people keep so very much to themselves.  It's not like they are mean--just preoccupied, I guess.

[Nestof3]

I bet your neighbor killed it. :)

 

My son brought home a smooth green snake which we kept for a while in an aquarium. That snake as well went to our neighbor's yard. Our yard is great! Lots of plants. What's wrong with our yard?

 

We had a black snake that showed up outside of our last house.

 

He was a one-eyed snake, and that made for some great jokes and second looks, people unsure if we were serious.

 

I liked him. Because of his one eye, I could tell it was the same snake, so I didn't freak out and worry that we had more than one. I was glad to know he would eat things I didn't want.

 

Then he disappeared.

 

:)

[Nestof3]

Oh, it is strongly suspected that the guy that foreclosed on his house (behind us) was making crystal meth in his house (based on what hey found).

 

And the other neighbors (very devout Christians) borrowed our tools to take the kitchen cabinets when they foreclosed (after living there a year without paying). They tried taking the A/C unit but were unsuccessful.

[Guest]

Sounds like you live in a very interesting neighborhood.  Maybe you SHOULD move. :P

[Moxie]

Dawn, just this week we sold our house in a similar neighborhood. We lived there 10 years which was about 4 years too long. We bought a big, inexpensive, ugly house that we're slowly fixing up. Moving has been great for our kids. Life is too short to be unhappy in your own home!

 

As for the OP, I do believe we're the only surprising thing here! When we meet new neighbors they always say, "You're the homeschoolers, right?" or "Oh, you're the ones with five kids!" so I know they've been talking about us.

[M&M]

They are building a Barnes and Noble bookstore in our neighborhood!

[Farrar]

Um...  The illegal club in my alley?  The crazy cat lady who feeds all the alley cats every single night?  The beekeepers?  The fighting rooster I once saw wandering down the street?  That birthday cake frozen yogurt from the fro-yo place tastes really good despite sounding weird?  That there is literally always, from opening until closing, a line at the Chipotle that nearly goes out the door?  That the trees are somehow still growing in front of the grocery store?  That there are four different kinds of street lights you can see from one particular spot?  That there's such a thing as a table tap for beer at the chic beer pub where you pour your own and it charges you like a gas pump?  That the hipsters think they're hip even though they shop mainly at the Target?

 

Oy...  stopping.  I find all kinds of things about my 'hood surprising and weird.

[Roadrunner]

Um... The illegal club in my alley? The crazy cat lady who feeds all the alley cats every single night? The beekeepers? The fighting rooster I once saw wandering down the street? That birthday cake frozen yogurt from the fro-yo place tastes really good despite sounding weird? That there is literally always, from opening until closing, a line at the Chipotle that nearly goes out the door? That the trees are somehow still growing in front of the grocery store? That there are four different kinds of street lights you can see from one particular spot? That there's such a thing as a table tap for beer at the chic beer pub where you pour your own and it charges you like a gas pump? That the hipsters think they're hip even though they shop mainly at the Target?

 

Oy... stopping. I find all kinds of things about my 'hood surprising and weird.

Can I be your neighbor, please!

I m a city girl stuck in the woods (I insist on calling this place woods). I am surprised how quiet and univentful it is here every single day.

[joannqn]

We have 6 neighbors on our street.  All of them are very nice, friendly people and at least 5 of them share similar political views as we do...which is opposite of the norm in this general area.  

 

One of our neighbors just moved.  He and his girlfriend didn't start packing until the day before they were to move.  They ended up hiring two movers to pack for about 16 hours at $90 an hour.  The movers then came on their own time to pack as a side job.  Another neighbor helped.  It was crazy.  Who waits until the day before you are going to move to start packing a three bedroom house?  To top it off, he and his girlfriend took off to run errands and have a nice, expensive dinner while these hired and nonhired people did their packing for them.  Then, come to find out, their house was in really bad shape and their garage looked like something out of Horders, complete with mouse and rat pee and droppings everywhere.  My cats killed 9 mice that week.  The poor realtor spent another week taking stuff to the dump, cleaning, and fixing.

We are all hoping someone buys the house and completely renovates it.  One of our other neighbors put an offer on it with the bank, but the bank wanted full market value for a house that is move-in ready.  Now instead of foreclosure, they are trying to sell the house...again for full market value of a move-in ready house.  Per my neighbor (who was a contractor), it needs about $50,000 worth of work before it will be worth that much.

The experience sure affected the neighborhood's perception of the guy. 

[Plink]

Our neighbor has had a giant blue tarp on his roof - for the last 10 years.  It is in tatters and the best we can hope for is a new blue tarp.  The dream of him ever fixing his roof died many years ago.  

 

I feel bad for the guy, but he hasn't accepted any of the guys' offers of help, so there isn't much we can do.

[AK_Mom4]

My next door neighbor rehabilitates birds.  She has a one-winged raven who is a permanent resident.  The Raven has many Raven friends who come by to visit and have Raven Parties that are very noisy on a daily basis.  There are also a changing cast of Owls and Hawks that feel a need to chime in.

 

Behind us lives a Bloodhound and his pet Beagle.  They are very nice and enthusiastically let the whole neighborhood know about any and all wildlife that wanders thru - especially noisy Ravens.

 

No one has EVER complained about the noise that my kids make!

[Bug's Mom]

On our block we've got drug dealers in the run-down efficiency apartments and across the alley from them, there are millions of dollars worth of guitars and cars. There's also the lady who's known around town for her colorful clothes and her dancing/singing. She's now added hula-hooping to the mix...and moved into our neighborhood. The house across the street on the corner used to be the Outlaw clubhouse. We miss them. It was quieter then. There's the teenager with the  "post-hardcore/metalcore" band that practices just around the corner from us. I don't love the vocal-style, but the music isn't bad. My daughter likes to discuss Minecraft with a couple of the guys. 

[gardenmom5]

I don't know if this qualifies.  we live in the geographic center of our city in a metro area, but it feels like the country because of larger lot sizes and very eclectic housing.  we even have a neighbor who has raised sheep.  we've had deer - four bucks munching the strawberries (center of city mind you).  I had to wonder where all the dogs were as most roam to a degree. (they're nice, but it's the stupid ones that get me.  they sit in the road and don't move when trying to drive down the street and look at you as though wondering what your problem is.).  the neighbors immediately to our south had a brown bear go their yards.

 

we used to have coyotes - but I rarely see them now.  I've even seen a fox - long time ago.

[fraidycat]

I don't know. Tomorrow will be our first full day in our new neighborhood. We just moved and today was our last day that we had to turn in the keys, so have been busy moving and cleaning.

[Catwoman]

The more posts I read on this thread, the happier I am about my own boring neighborhood. ;)

[nmoira]

There were sheep and the herding dog (we live in the city, standard 5000 sq. ft. lots) in the lot directly behind ours. They moved out and the naked woodman moved in.

[gardenmom5]

Last summer one of my neighbors rented goats to clear brambles and weeds from their lot.  

There is also this weird homeschool family in my neighborhood, or so I hear. . . 

where from?   I've been thinking of doing that.

[Catwoman]

There were sheep and the herding dog (we live in the city, standard 5000 sq. ft. lots) in the lot directly behind ours. They moved out and the naked woodman moved in.

I like herding dogs.

 

Naked woodmen I could live without. (Especially yours, because if I recall correctly, he's nothing to look at. If I'm going to have a naked woodman for a neighbor, he'd better be a really hot naked woodman. I have standards, you know. ;))

[Catwoman]

where from? I've been thinking of doing that.

Have you looked in the yellow pages under Goat Rental?

 

;)

 

OK, I'll admit it. I didn't know you could rent goats, or any other livestock, for that matter.

 

Try looking up Goats-R-Us, Goat Depot, GoatMart, or maybe just the simple Rent-a-Goat.

 

This whole goat thing is kind of fun. :D

[Delirium]

 The beekeepers? 

 

I can only commiserate with this one. I was very surprised to find out a neighbor keeps bees. This shouldn't have surprised me as most of my neighbors have chickens or a goat or something, but it did.

[Farrar]

I can only commiserate with this one. I was very surprised to find out a neighbor keeps bees. This shouldn't have surprised me as most of my neighbors have chickens or a goat or something, but it did.

The thing that surprised me the most was that they managed to hide it just two houses down from us. I thought they had a pile of weird trash. Then one day, as I passed by, I realized there were bee boxes in there under that mess! My friend keeps bees a few neighborhoods away, so I wasn't startled or upset, but hers are out in the open and she gives a bit of honey to her immediate neighbors to make them more comfortable with it, I think.

[kewb]

Overall, my town in pretty sedate.  The only things I know about are:

1. When we moved in one of our neighbors kept homing pigeons.  My dh was happy when they moved.

2. Drug dealer lives around the corner

3. A couple of Peyton Place type affairs (Oy, did I just seriously date myself or what)

 

I think my neighbors are weird and I am pretty sure they think we are weird but I suppose that is not surprising but typical.

[amo_mea_filiis.]

My town is just weird (see previous Pepsi baby and park people posts).

 

We moved here summer of 2010 and it was a nice little town. What I didn't know was that it is a very tourist heavy town. Once summer ends, the normal goes home. Everyone is related, a lot of people are cognitively impaired (seriously! I think the average IQ here is around 70), everyone is on housing and disability, everyone's kids are on disability, the special Ed services are a joke, real disabilities can't be managed by local providers, no one has teeth, and the middle school type drama extends to old age.

 

We were only supposed to be here a year.

 

I really hope we can move this fall.

[Down_the_Rabbit_Hole]

We are the 'interesting" neighbors on our block. After we were here a few weeks we started meeting the neighbors and when they found out we were from Louisiana we would get the Ahh, or the Ohh type of response as in "so that explains it."

 

We are pretty odd compare to the quite neighbors. We practice fencing in the yard and have a science table with decomposing animals on it, plus dd and I do most of her school outside. During snow, dd has been known to go out and play in it at 6am tp play on the snow hills we make her.

 

Around here the neighbors stay inside and watch us live happy lives through their windows (I have seen them).

 

[Guest inoubliable]

The view across the street, starting directly in front of us, is The Vacant House, the crotchedy old curmudgeon, the neighborhood bigot, and the crazy cat lady. The rental next door has some interesting drug activity usually. 

 

The most surprising thing, though, was to find out that we're on the same power grid as the city government office buildings and City Yards (which is across the street, too, directly beyond the alley). So when the city gets hit by a storm and everyone loses power, our section of the block comes back on within an hour and everyone else can be out for days. That derecho last year that came through... let's just say that almost everyone on the block was hearing from old friends and distant relatives looking for a hot shower. 

[momto10blessings]

We don't live in a neighborhood, but its always interesting to hear our "neighbor" cussing out his cows. Loudly.

[PrincessMommy]

okay, I have two things...

 

One is I discovered we're living in Peyton Place.  I found out that my neighbor had an affair with the wife of the neighbor next to him.  Both marriages split up.  But the husbands both stayed in their houses.   My neighbor has a "new model" - not the other neighbors wife.   The kids of his next neighbor tanked and there's been drug issues for some time....  until that neighbor died last winter of cancer.  Now that house is for sale.

 

The other is the amount of Au Pairs in my neighborhood.  I was very disappointed about that.  When we visited it was like "look at all these young SAHM mothers with their kids."  Yeah, um... no.  This is definitely not a chicken owning, homebirthing, soap making neighborhood.  I really don't feel like I fit in.  However, there is one homeschool family that lives up the street!  They never let their kids out to play :(

 

 

[Ottakee]

_{We are rural but have neighbors.  Most keep to themselves and are friendly but not overly involved in each other's lives.} 

 

_{Our one neighbor is not happy to have us and our horses as neighbors----not my fault he cleared his land to the property line and then built his house on an angle right near the property line and then was upset when we cut down most of our trees to horse pasture.  We even left a 30 ft. buffer of woods between the pastures and his property line.  He would come out to mow his lawn EVERY time something was happening at our house---horses coming or going, builder here, tractor guy here, etc.  He though just put up a privacy fence along the property line so now I don't know how he will see us as much...........or manage to get all of his oak leaves in the fall onto our property............suspicious as in the fall I have huge piles of oak leaves right under my stand of pines.}

 

 

[Cinder]

Not much strange here, though we do have at least 6, maybe 7, different garbage collection services coming through every week. Each house subscribes for service separately--no city contract for one service as in other places we've lived. So every day, except Sunday, there is a trash truck--sometimes two--rumbling down the street.

 

I was a little surprised to find the one registered female sex offender in our county lives in our neighborhood.

[nmoira]

I can only commiserate with this one. I was very surprised to find out a neighbor keeps bees. This shouldn't have surprised me as most of my neighbors have chickens or a goat or something, but it did.

At least four neighbors on our block keep bees, and it doesn't bother us in the slightest. I just read an article about urban bees being stressed and kept near-starvation and not helping the bee cause, but we live in a lush area in terms of vegetation and they're doing fine.

 

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2013/08/12/211413350/londons-urban-beekeepers-are-bad-for-bees-scientists-say

[DawnM]

WHAT?????

 

That would be the END.  I would move.  Period!

 

 

I'll start. :)

After we had lived here a year or so we found out a neighbor raises boa constrictors for profit. I detest snakes.

 

[Heather in Neverland]

Cows roam freely up and down the roads. They are considered holy here.

[DawnM]

There are only 24 houses in our neighborhood, everyone has at least 2 acres.  It is pretty private.

 

We only know a few neighbors and really try to keep a bit to ourselves as we are known as "the homeschoolers!"  :lol:    Neighbors are baffled by our choice as we live in one of the "best" area schools around.   One neighbor even told us it was stupid to live here and not take advantage of the fantastic schools in the area.  Whatever.

 

We got new neighbors across the street.  They have boys the same ages as our older two.  When we had a block party this summer I thought maybe our boys could meet and get to know each other......NOPE, their boys ducked into their house and didn't come back out!   Dang unsocialized public schoolers.

 

Dawn

[Murphy101]

Oh, it is strongly suspected that the guy that foreclosed on his house (behind us) was making crystal meth in his house (based on what hey found).

And the other neighbors (very devout Christians) borrowed our tools to take the kitchen cabinets when they foreclosed (after living there a year without paying). They tried taking the A/C unit but were unsuccessful.

That is pure dumb. Don't them know all that stuff is contaminated with meth?! Smh

[Murphy101]

My neighbors across the street moved in with multiple families. I *think* there are 3 unrelated families living in that 3 bedroom house. None of them seem to wake up before 11:30am. None of them seem to own pajamas. All of them seem to have a desperate cigarette addiction that requires immediately upon waking that they wrap up in a sheet, grab their cigarettes and lighter and sit on over turned 5 gallon buckets on their FRONT patio. They don't seem to notice a problem with heavy winds or sitting legs spread out of being 200+lbs with an itty twin sized sheet haphazardly wrapped around their privit bits. My front room/school room faces their house. We now make sure the windows are closed until after lunch.

 

I once saw a truck drive through the neighborhood pulling a grocery store cart by a bungee rope wi live chickens in it held in with a pice of plywood over the top, anchored door with more bungee ties. I have no idea what was going on there, but 6 months later I'm STILL mighty curious and wish I'd sent boys to follow and see what happened. If I ever see that again, I'm dropping everything to check it out.

 

The trail to the playground is literally over the hill and through the woods and across a little bridge crossing a creek and next to the path that leads to it is a sign warning of bobcats. If ever there was an extra incentive to make sure every kid in the neighborhood wants to play in those woods, it's that sign.

[Ipsey]

Three lesbian couples on our block.

All long-term, and in their 40s or older. :)

 

I love our town!

[Ipsey]

My town is just weird (see previous Pepsi baby and park people posts).

 

We moved here summer of 2010 and it was a nice little town. What I didn't know was that it is a very tourist heavy town. Once summer ends, the normal goes home. Everyone is related, a lot of people are cognitively impaired (seriously! I think the average IQ here is around 70), everyone is on housing and disability, everyone's kids are on disability, the special Ed services are a joke, real disabilities can't be managed by local providers, no one has teeth, and the middle school type drama extends to old age.

 

We were only supposed to be here a year.

 

I really hope we can move this fall.

 Yikes! Sounds like a nightmare. I hope you manage to move as well!

[Parrothead]

Nobody speaks. If one tries to say hello or good morning they all look give funny looks like they have just seen Martians.

[Murphy101]

Nobody speaks. If one tries to say hello or good morning they all look give funny looks like they have just seen Martians.

In mine people will smile or wave, but almost no one knows anyone. 7 years here and I can't tell you the name of a single neighbor. Which is fine by me.

[Spryte]

Next door neighbor is agoraphobic (diagnosed).  When we moved in she was managing this fairly well, and seemed... not normal but not overly odd.  10 years later she is much more extreme - her world keeps shrinking.  Her car died several years ago and she let it sit in her driveway until the HOA insisted she get rid of it.  She donated it.  We worried about her not having a way to get around, so we gave her (for $1) DSS's old car.  Again, she let that one sit till it died, and donated it.  She depends on friends and neighbors for groceries and meds - we drive her or pick them up.  She prefers delivery, now.  Her yard is a jungle.  We call it the wildlife habitat.  

[Jean in Newcastle]

where from?   I've been thinking of doing that.

She told me that she didn't recommend this particular place.  They tried to stiff her on the price.  I don't know the name to stay away from off hand.  

[Jean in Newcastle]

mm 

 

[Cinder]

The previous owner of the house next door was a "snowbird" . . . sort of. She spent summers here and winters down in FL. We're in GA. :laugh:  After some years of doing this she finally decided to move to FL permanently.

[Nestof3]

I love the bird rehabilitation. We have one down the street, and we've used it several times.

 

The dogs? I call animal control on excessive barking. We have a neighbor who would leave his dog outside from 7 pm until midnight, and he would bark incessantly. We sent animal control to his house, and the guy retorted, "What? My dog is not allowed to bark?" I felt like telling him not to get a dog if he didn't want it to be part of the family. Don't people know that dogs are social? I mean, get a cat if you want a pet that can go hours without attention. (We have a cat)

 

My next door neighbor rehabilitates birds. She has a one-winged raven who is a permanent resident. The Raven has many Raven friends who come by to visit and have Raven Parties that are very noisy on a daily basis. There are also a changing cast of Owls and Hawks that feel a need to chime in.

 

Behind us lives a Bloodhound and his pet Beagle. They are very nice and enthusiastically let the whole neighborhood know about any and all wildlife that wanders thru - especially noisy Ravens.

 

No one has EVER complained about the noise that my kids make!

[Nestof3]

We considered keeping bees, but our snake-hating neighbor would have been in arms over it. She also would have complained if we kept a couple of the chickens we incubated. But, she loves having her daughter's yapping dog visit.

 

At least four neighbors on our block keep bees, and it doesn't bother us in the slightest. I just read an article about urban bees being stressed and kept near-starvation and not helping the bee cause, but we live in a lush area in terms of vegetation and they're doing fine.

 

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2013/08/12/211413350/londons-urban-beekeepers-are-bad-for-bees-scientists-say