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I don't know many homeowners who formed "local communities" with their neighbors. I know a few, but not many. And I know renters who know all their neighbors well. Seems more like a personality trait than something enabled by owning where you live.

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I don’t know. The effect of many families with young children all going and buying a house at roughly the same time is absolutely a thing. My street was filled with children when I was young (newly built neighborhood), and the same thing is true again now that I’ve bought a house. The street is filled with parents and children at roughly the same place in life. It’s nice when the only thing you need to do to find playmates is make noise in the street.

I'm confused... How do young families coordinate where and when to buy a house with their cohort?

Subdivisions of starter homes (defined both by size and price) tend to attract young families

I think it’s more that that cohort is very likely to be looking at houses at the same time, and value the same kinds of things, so naturally they end up in the same place.

Our place is ‘far’ (10m walk, this is Tokyo) from the nearest supermarket, a bit small, but it’s also connected to a tiny street that allows kids to play safely, 20s walk to the kindergarden, 5m walk to elementary school, and there’s parks around everywhere. Apparently those are things that a lot of young parents value ;)

Much of this is location dependent. I’ve rented (and owned) in neighborhoods with really strong communities where everybody knew each other; and I’ve rented in neighborhoods where no one knew each other and people got suspicious if you tried to talk to them.

100% this - it is exception, small exception that communities can be formed with neighbours. take home-owners associations into the equation and there is higher likelyhood you’ll punch someone than have a beer with them

0% this - neighborhoods with single family homes are more likely to have families, and kids often create friendships that carry over to parent friendships. And if anybody in the neighborhood takes the initiative to plan block parties, dinner parties, etc., that really helps a community take root.

This just doesn't happen as often with apartments, where people are more transient and more likely to be single and/or childless.

Only in places with non family friendly apartments.

80% of Eastern Europe, for example, would disagree with you.

I am strictly talking about USA and I believe this entire thread is. I am originally from Eastern Europe, grew up in a 12-story building and can still recipe names of pretty much everyone that lived in the building when I left in 1992. Not only in that building but also a 10-story adjecent building :)

This really just depends on the city. These kinds of generalizations just don’t hold for different cities with different cultures of community. I, for one, spent my entire childhood living in apartments, as did everyone I knew (and probably almost everyone does in large cities) and now am raising my own family in an apartment in a neighborhood with lots of other families. This kind of living is the norm in many places.

Having kids (and being in a neighborhood with kids) also helps a lot.

My building has a building association and we have meetings and also group events. When we were robbed our neighbours were there to help us. I definitely feel part of my community in my building. I think partly it is Dutch culture. I didn’t feel welcome at all by my neighbours in Norway in any of the neighbourhoods I lived in. I don’t think it’s just a personality thing.

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