Nanohedron wrote:
Helping, or just offering to help, a neighbor in need may be commendable, but to me it's not all that extraordinary; if you can, you do. I agree that civic-mindedness is more likely in neighborly locales (you find such environments in big city neighborhoods too), and that ethic is likely to be carried with you however your environment changes. In my general experience suburban neighborliness tends to be more casual than about solidarity. . .
I agree with all the y'all have said.
wrt the bolded: Yes, that's absolutely the case. One of the things I've never really adjusted to moving from New England is that, at least in Virginia and Maryland, there are very few incorporated towns. In New England, everything is built on towns rather than counties. So where I live now, there are neighborhoods to some extent, but the social circle is largely built around schools. We tried school for two years, but that led to home schooling, so we never got going with the school community thing. We got involved with the homeschool community, but they're really scattered.
I'm not sure we'll be able to retire to New England, but wherever we go, the smallest division won't be a million people. I love a lot of the people around here, but I can't wait to get away. I'm actually enjoying the isolation, so damn many people around here.