Clark’s rule specifying the need to occasionally claim sympathy (1997:174ff.) also applies to neighborly help, even though gratitude and the extension of unsolicited favors can make up for a lack of true reciprocity.

Any more intimate form of neighborhood sociability begins with friendly recognition. Grannis (2001) reports that neighborly ties among locals are overwhelmingly built up from what he calls “passive contacts,” chance encounters that provide opportunities for neighborly greetings. Similarly, Demerath and Levinger (2003) emphasize the importance of... See more

Proactive intervention, like extended helpfulness, has a signal function. It indi-cates to locals the type of neighbors one has and the kind of neighborhood one lives in.

, neighborhood associations frequently prompt active members to interact with other residents, for instance, to recruit volunteers while distributing fliers and newsletters, thus leading to many informal and spontaneous acts of neighboring

n the giv-ing end, all study participants seemed willing to aid a neighbor who approached them for help, and most recounted examples of assisting others in the past.

lot of people here, especially, you know, widows, they don’t necessarily want to ask for help, so sometimes I offer to go, to take them to the supermarket, stuff like that, or to the doctor. Because they won’t ask, even though they need it. There’s one lady across the street, she’s got rheumatory [ sic ] arthritis; she can’t even turn the doorknob... See more

The first pattern of public realm interaction (Lofland 1998:29) refers to the habit-ual practice of “cooperative motility” among strangers in public. That people are mindful of each others’ bodies and spaces while moving around

communicate personal recognition and, second, to convey the impression that the other is considered a friendly neighbor. In other words, the parochial version of a greeting requires a focused, individual effort that pays tribute to the special bond that exists between neighbors via their shared territory and community membership.

The proactive favors I observed ranged from small gestures, like putting back the trash can for a neighbor who usually returns home after dark, to extended inter-ventions during which individuals take on serious risks and make sacrifices in order to assist somebody else.