Those among us not weathered travelers through the wilds of the commercial real estate industry (cough, cough, yours truly) can still perceive that multifamily is currently a hot sector. Deals are being done, properties built and units snapped up to be sold to wide-eyed, shiny new customers beaming with their apartment’s promise. (or it could just be the fumes of fresh paint: we’ll get back to you on that one.)
Either way, more multifamily properties being shifted means that more people are on the move to new, desirable locations. Some companies are hopping on Pinterest to promote enticing images of their buildings and facilitate this process, while others lean back and let the location do all the legwork. No matter how the places are marketed, one thing is certain: a lot of people are going to have a lot of new neighbors.
And this begs the question, do we even know our neighbors at all?
In the days of yore – and Mad Men – it wasn’t uncommon for stay-at-home moms to convene in each other’s kitchens. They’d while away the afternoon with a coffee, a gossip and perhaps a cheeky tipple, provided the kids were otherwise engaged. Today, people are busier than ever before and, I don’t know about you, there are times I barely see the people with whom I share a house, nevermind chill with nice couple from down the block over Saturday afternoon cocktails.
Along those lines, a recent article in the New York Times offered a solution for our workplace-slash-lifestyle prompted localized solitude. Nope, it wasn’t the resurgence of block parties or a post on the benefits to a cheery wave and coffee with The Smiths. It was (drum roll)…
…another social network.
Nextdoor.com, the article stated, is considered to be “a neighborhood-based social network.” The gist is that this site has a map of your humble community. It shows a map of your neighborhood and presents information on others nearby, provided they’ve signed up and filled out (yet another) profile. Creepy? I think so. However, the pages are private and the site has set up a fairly strong system to keep out wannabe burglars and potential stalkers. And the ads? They’ll be relevant to your home, the article revealed.
I think a site like this is, to be blunt, extremely sad. If we’ve gone past the point where we can’t even say “hi” to people who invest in homes or devote a significant part of their paychecks to rent – who live near us, then it truly seems human interaction really has gone down the toilet. Are we supposed to keep are ears plugged with tunes, our thumbs stuck to our iPhones and our heads firmly swiveled to follow the graphics on our iPads, while missing out on a few human pleasantries?
Yes, the world may have changed. And yes, we may all be doing 18 jobs at once when we would have done 10 in a previous economy. However, I believe there is something to be gained by unplugging once in a while – even just to talk home after work - and admire your neighbor’s really neat roses, or say hi to that guy who is always running, and maybe even stop and ask after the woman down the hall who recently came home from the hospital.
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