Your neighbor’s garage is swept and ready. Rows of crock pots will soon line borrowed card tables. This can mean only one thing. The familiar late summer ritual known as National Night Out (NNO) is nearly upon us.

Thinking about skipping?  Think again...

Takeaways:

  • National Night Out parties are scheduled for Tuesday, August 2nd

  • Across the West Metro neighbors will gather to share dinner and conversation

  • Four reasons make it worth your while to attend 

 

Four compelling reasons to attend your National Night Out.

Connect with Civil Servants
Many NNO events like Plymouth’s Night to Unite and Minnetonka’s A Night For Neighbors include a chance to meet police and fire department personnel and see their equipment up close. Building these relationships can not only be fun for kids, but also give you a chance to discuss any questions or concerns. Police know neighborhood level crime information and can share valuable anecdotal information about your specific area. Knowing how to protect yourself and your property begins by knowing what the threats are.


Establish a Feedback Loop
Living in a community means sharing. That could include lawns that border, school bus stops, parks and city services. This can occasionally lead to issues over time. The only hope you have of effectively navigating challenges is by investing in relationships before trouble arises. While it won’t make it easy, it will make it easier to address items like a messy dog, unkempt lawn or loud party. This also helps when you are the one hosting the loud party, as a friendly text trumps a visit from the police every time.

Enhance Neighborhood Security
Even the best West Metro Police Department lacks the personnel to be a constant presence in your neighborhood. Neighbors can help fill the gaps by serving as an extra set of eyes and ears to recognize unfamiliar vehicles or activity. Identifying anything unusual means a familiarity with what is usual. The best way to create this is with a relationship with neighbors. While these relationships can be greatly enhanced using social media, a great start is a face to face.  National Night Out can serve as that entry point.

 

Build Multi-Generational Connections
Busy career-minded families typically spend time with other busy, career-minded families. Retirees spend time with retirees. Rare are the opportunities to build relationships with those people outside of our demographic groups. National Night Out is a notable exception. Getting to know the young family down the street or the widow on the corner can not only help when you need to borrow a chainsaw, but also may lead you to recognize the value you might add for someone else. Living in community requires all of us to get out into that community and that starts with neighbors.

The Bottom Line
People are busier than ever, and in the social media age we connect differently than previous generations. Because of this, real connections with neighbors matter more than ever before. They offer a unique chance to be part of a community in a tactile and personal way. This revived focus on community is not only affecting things like National Night Out, but also where we choose to live and why.

Many homebuyers are changing the way they search for a new homes. The days of targeting a large area are over and have been replaced by a new focus on communities and even specific neighborhoods.

Zachary Adams and Associates site is being enhanced to support this new breed of homebuyer by providing both city snapshots as well as neighborhood level detail. Our new city and neighborhood sections include demographic information and customized neighborhood-level real estate reports that show current listings, pending and completed sales.

This provides homebuyers all the information they need to make an informed decision about the next place they choose to call home. Check out our new Plymouth City and Neighborhood Page, and stay tuned for similar pages for Minnetonka, Eden Prairie and Maple Grove.