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5 Types of Neighbors and How to Handle Them
You can pick your friends, but not your family -- or your neighbors. Here's what you need to know.
By Geoff Williams, FrontDoor.com | Published: 9/22/2008
If you have a neighbor who may be dangerous, know about his dislikes and boundaries, so you don't cross them.
The Dangerous Neighbor
Who they are: Sad but true, some neighbors are not worth getting to know well -- but it's still good to know something about their dislikes and boundaries, so you don't cross them. In 2006, for instance, headlines were made when Charles Martin, an elderly man living in a suburb of Cincinnati, Ohio, shot a 15-year-old boy to death because he had apparently made the error of walking across his meticulously manicured lawn.
How to handle them: Martin -- who is in jail -- may have been destined to snap no matter what his neighbors did or didn't do, but he was well known for the care he lavished on his lawn, and in theory, if that 15-year-old had been more aware of the kook's devotion to his lawn, it might have kept him from going anywhere near the home.
You can't consume yourself with worry looking for red flags in your neighbors. However, if you're aware of them, it may help you from igniting their fury.
And if you have young kids, you really should look at www.familywatchdog.us, the website for the National Sex Offender Registry. If there is anyone in your neighborhood you need to be aware of, and they're on this list, they'll pop up on a map of your community.