I live in the suburbs but these are homes built in the 1950s and a lot of my neighbors are older. My neighbor and I have ¾ acre backyards that are just divided by a chain link fence. We both have dogs and like to do yard work. He's retired and I work from home. We talk across the fence a few times a week. He'll put surplus items from his vegetable garden on our fence, give our dog treats, and I'll exchange with bread I've baked. We shoot the shit about everything - his childhood growing up in the neighborhood, health, things going on, projects we might want to tackle together...

It's definitely possible with the right neighbor, you just have to be intentional and friendly.

Guess it depends on your suburb.

In my area there are people who sit in they are retirees that sit in their front yards and greet not just pedestrians but every vehicle that goes by.

I dunno, I live in Redmond, WA and see my neighbors regularly. Greeted at least three people on the trail on my run this morning, greeted a few more on the dog walk. I'll probably wave at the neighbor across the street at some point when we're mutually outside. People walk by the house all day long. I don't know how much more suburban you're going to get than Redmond (you have to cross water to even get to the city).

Now, I'll qualify that by saying that Redmond in general is a lot more pedestrian-friendly than a lot of suburbs I've experienced. And in the last twenty years or so, it's also quite wealthy. And seeing your neighbors also entails getting outside. ;-)

I mean isn't a suburb one of those HOA neighborhoods with houses every 1/4 acre? Seems ripe for neighbor communication.

This seems like a cop out.

In a midwest neighborhood of modest houses built in the 1920's inhabited by families with children. Just one example.

If you walk outside you'll see people.

Is there never anybody else outside when you go for a walk?