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 “b... See more

s in the case of sympathy—participants will be keenly aware of the account balances on either side of the fence.

A folk example of helpfulness in the parochial realm is the famous “cup of sugar” that good neighbors supposedly can, but rarely do, borrow from another. Nevertheless, the “cup of sugar” is a symbol for any kind of assistance that does not cost the giver much yet may mean a lot to the receiver because of a particular situa-tional constraint. Actual... 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

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.

four distinct practices indi-viduals enact to treat each other “as neighbors”: friendly recognition, parochial help-fulness, proactive intervention, and embracing and contest ing diversity.

withholding friendly recognition among mutually known neighbors is interpreted as a notable act of hostility, thereby further reveal-ing the normative power of this principle.

In local communities, residents are much less prone to ignore any threat or dis-comfort a neighbor might experience. Instead, locals are more willing to get in-volved on an assumed victim’s behalf, especially when the neighbor is absent or somehow unaware of what is going on.