While some Aussies are becoming more split from their neighbours than ever, Pete Chapman couldn’t believe the bond his family made with the people next door.
“We lived in our previous house for almost 9 years, and we never got to that kind of closeness with any of our neighbours at all,” he said. “Within the first month of us moving here, we made friends with the neighbours … it’s almost like an extended family, and we’ve barely known them for 12 months.”
Mr Chapman, his wife Kiera and their three kids, moved to their new home in Forest Lake at a time when nearly three quarters of Queenslanders said they felt Aussies were less interested in knowing their neighbours than they were 20 years ago.
Peter and Kiera Chapman moved to Forest Lake with their three kids – and said the neighbours next door quickly became a second family. Picture: Nigel Hallett
New research from Real Insurance and MyMavins also showed a staggering 65 per cent of people said they had never met a neighbour despite living right next to them for more than six months.
But it was no time at all before Mr Chapman’s children were spending time with the kids next door.
“Our kids could see one of our neighbours standing at their door or the front yard, just watching our kids running around,” he said. “So we just got them to go talk to them, and they’ve been best friends ever since.”
A new report has shown Aussie neighbours are feeling more distant from one another, with the majority feeling less connected than they were 20 years ago.
Looking after them was neighbour Diane Greig, taking care of her two grandkids while their mother was out at work.
“She’s really open and helps us out when Kiera and I are stuck,” he said. “Every afternoon after school, [our kids] are hanging out – whether some of my kids go next door into Diane’s place, or whether hers come into our place. It’s kind of like our family’s grown by three or four people.”
Mr Chapman said more people needing to work in the cost of living crisis meant less time was available to spend with neighbours.
Mr Chapman said he felt a big reason behind Australia’s weaker neighbourly bonds was because people were much busier than they used to be.
“A lot of people are more time-poor than we were 20 years ago,” he said. “With the cost of living nowadays, it’s almost like both partners need to be working full time, which means you’re not at home much. If you’ve got kids, you’re sorting dinner and all that, so there’s no time to get to know your neighbours.”
Thanks to reaching out, Mr Chapman said his family felt safer in their new neighbourhood, with a community that could help each other out when they needed it. Picture: Nigel Hallett
But the Chapmans said they felt it was well worth it to take the extra step and reach out to the people around them.
“It helped us settle in to the new place really well, by having neighbours we could talk to,” Mr Chapman said. “A lot of the neighbours around here have been in their houses for many years, so just having them [around] made us feel safer.”
“There’s probably a lot of people with anxiety and other factors that hinder them being confident enough to reach out … but have a chat! You never know. You might have a chat to your neighbours and find out you have something in common that you didn’t know about, and that could be a starting point to building a friendship.”
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