How to be a better neighbor, according to the president of a Boston neighborhood association
One tip: Remove your earbuds when walking down the street.
Mary McGee knows a thing or two about city living. She’s called the North End home for the past 44 years.
“I came to the North End as a graduate student and a newlywed, and I’m still here,” McGee said. “So I have the perspective of what it’s like to be a new person [in the neighborhood] and what it’s like to be a longtime resident.”
She brings that perspective to her role as president of the North End/Waterfront Residents’ Association. Members of the association meet to raise concerns, give feedback to the city, and fund neighborhood beautification, park improvements, and educational events. The group also presents a monthly Good Neighbor Certificate of Recognition to a property owner or local business that has displayed dedication to keeping the neighborhood clean.
“I think it is more challenging to be a good neighbor in the city than it is to be a good neighbor in the suburbs,” she said. “Because people are so close together and everything you do affects your neighbors the way it doesn’t, necessarily, in the suburbs.”
She offered the following five tips for being a good neighbor.
Care about your neighbors
“The basic thing about being a good neighbor is that you care about the other people who live around you,” McGee said.
You should take time to greet your neighbors, check on the elderly when it snows, and pick up that piece of litter in front of your neighbor’s property, she advised. McGee’s husband makes a point of helping their neighbors clear snow.
“Whoever gets out there first cleans their neighbor’s place along with theirs,” she said. “It’s a sense of community.”
Neighbors who care increase the quality of life in a neighborhood, she said.
“I don’t care if you’ve been there 40 years or 40 days, if you care about the people around you, you’re going to be a good neighbor, and if you don’t care, you’re not going to be a good neighbor,” she said.
Unplug and engage with your neighbors
If you regularly see your neighbors on the street, say hello and introduce yourself, she recommended.
“Sometimes it’s hard because they’re coming up the street and they’ve got their earbuds on and they have their cell phones, and it does make it a little bit harder to connect,” McGee said.
It’s a good idea to establish communication with your neighbors because then you can look out for one another, she said. For example, once you’ve established that connection, perhaps your neighbor will remind you that you forgot to move your car on street-cleaning day.
“There’s just a lot of information that can be communicated among neighbors if they feel that you are open to interacting with them,” she said. “It’s a two-way street. If you are a good neighbor to the people around you, then they’ll probably be a good neighbor to you.”
Mary McGee (left) and Janet Gilardi (right) of the North End/Waterfront Residents’ Association present Peter Baldassari with a Good Neighbor Certificate of Recognition.
If you’re new to the neighborhood, get the ‘lay of the land’
When you move into a new neighborhood, be observant of your neighbors, McGee advised.
“I think that it’s not helpful to move into a neighborhood thinking that the neighbors are immediately going to accommodate you and the way you do things,” she said. “Or that they’re somehow going to change to please you.”
Take in the “lay of the land,” as McGee put it: See what people do, how they feel, and what they appreciate.
Take trash pick-up, for example.
“One thing that’s a big problem — especially with new people who come to the North End — is they don’t put their garbage out on the right day,” McGee said. “It presents problems because rodents get into their garbage and then we have more trash on the street and more rodents.”
Ask fellow neighbors which day is trash pick-up day, and be mindful if you are the only one placing trash on the curb, she said.
Control your pets
“How you handle your pets, I think, is part of being a good neighbor,” said McGee.
Dog owners should keep their dogs leashed when walking and be mindful of their waste, she said, citing instances where she found bags of dog waste in planters or under cars.
“Obviously, they [dog owners] go to the trouble of picking up after their animal and bagging it,” she said. “But they can’t take that final step of disposing of it properly.”
One of McGee’s neighbors regularly hoses down her planter because it smells like dog urine. Part of being a good neighbor is being mindful of where dogs are relieving themselves, she said.
Join your neighborhood association
“I think that people who are involved in their neighborhood tend to be better neighbors,” McGee said.
A good way to do so is to join your neighborhood association, she said.
“I think it helps to see what other people are dealing with,” said McGee. “It also is a vehicle for civic engagement.”
When issues arise, neighbors can help each other out. In the North End, for example, dog owners joined forces to rally for a dog park, but the issues can be bigger.
“People around the waterfront are very concerned about flooding right now,” she said. “I live on the top of the hill, so I’m unlikely to be flooded. I’m concerned because they are my neighbors, and I want to help them. I have concerns about people overbuilding. The waterfront people have helped me to address some of those issues. It works both ways.”
