Living in an apartment and having neighbors is totally different from living in a house and having neighbors. In a house, you have more space between the homes where there’s more privacy. With apartments, your living spaces are right beside each other making it easy to hear what’s going on next door, or across the hall.
Mr. Rogers would always ask “won’t you be my neighbor?” as if we all had the luxury to pick and choose who we wanted to live next door and across from us. That option isn’t available whether you live in a house or an apartment, so you have to kind of just be aware of who your neighbors are, what type of neighbors they are, and try to deal with them as best as you can.
In having neighbors, you also have to remember that you are also a neighbor to others as well so you definitely don’t want to be the neighbor you ultimately despise. It’s all about respect for each other’s living spaces, and it’s especially important, being that you live in such close proximity of each other.
Whether you’re moving into a two bedroom apartment or studio, the neighbor types will not change. Check out the common types of neighbors you will encounter while living in an apartment, and see how you can all live in harmony.
The Quiet Elderly Neighbors
These are your dream neighbors. A lot of times, senior citizens move into apartments because living in a house is just too demanding for them in their older age. They may not be able to financially handle the expenses associated with the maintenance of a house. It’s a lot more feasible for them to call maintenance to fix or replace the water heater in their apartment than to shell out the thousands of dollars it would require to fix or replace a water heater in a house.
Your elderly neighbors typically won’t bother you. If anything, you might see them out, either going to their car or leaving their car, and you might a friendly wave or “Hi, how are you?” For the most part, that’s the extent of living amongst elderly neighbors.
Of course not all elderly neighbors may be this ideal image, but for the most part, elderly neighbors are the least of your concerns. Simply saying hello in passing, or helping them with groceries is always a kind gesture on your part, and it’s definitely a great way to be a good neighbor to a senior.
The College Roommate Neighbors
These types of neighbors can be your worst nightmare. They’re young and on their own, they don’t have to answer to anyone, and they have the freedom to do WHATEVER they want. To be young and have that type of freedom can be scary for neighbors of any type!
Out of all the neighbor types, these are the ones you want to tread softly with. It helps to build some type of rapport with them, and be friendly with them in case you need to address them for not being neighborly with you and your living space… after all, you attract more flies with honey, right?
With college roommates for neighbors, you can expect loud music and parties. With the loud music and parties, you can look forward to possibly not being able to hear your own TV or sleeping too good, as well as parking spots being taken due to all the people they’ve invited over.
For situations like that, it’s time to revert to your leasing agreement. Most apartments have “quiet hours” where after a certain time of night, you have to respect your neighbors by limiting the noise in your apartment. Apartment complexes also sometimes have parking requirements too.
You don’t want to cause any type of friction or animosity between you and your neighbors, but at the same time, if you’re respecting them as a neighbor, they should do the same for you. You can speak with your noisy neighbors directly, first to see if they’ll ease up.
It’s situations like this where your friendliness can really make a huge difference in how this plays out. They will also appreciate you more for coming straight to them, versus going straight to the leasing manager. Now, if the issue continues, then it will turn into a situation that the landlord handles.
The Neighbors With Kids/Dogs
This type of neighbor is the most common type of neighbor and should be expected with apartment complexes. The common denominator with these types of neighbors is noise. Whether it’s barking or crying, or both, it’s to be expected.
Now it also helps to build a rapport with these types of neighbors too, because most of the time, they’re very aware that they have a crying baby or loud barking dog and are apologetic towards you, and it also helps you to not be so “on edge” about the noise. You know dogs bark, and babies cry, so it’s not that the noise is this big surprise to you, but it does help to be prepared, and it also helps in getting to know your neighbors.