the Wave Method of Neighborhood Improvement

Our neighborhood is considered sort of semi prestigious. It was built at the same time by the same builder as the Indian Ridge neighborhood, which was built as a kind of cheaper less exclusive sister of the Tucson Country Club. So, our neighborhood, like Indian Ridge, was initially home to generally professional families of Doctors and Lawyers and that sort of demographic.

Even the the neighborhood is fifty years old, we still have a high ratio of resident home owners, especially compared to other midtown neighborhoods. This ration bodes well for the safety and valuation of the homes.

Still, we have some wild people that come through from time to time.

So, one of the Deputy County Attorney's I met suggests this tactic for most any neighborhood. He calls it the Wave Test. Basically, it consists of waving at the people you see in your neighborhood. This accomplishes a couple of things. First, it makes your neighborhood appear more friendly. Secondly, it generates the impression that you are waving because you expect to know the people driving through your neighborhood.

This also provides some benefits to your neighborhood. People in your neighborhood might wave back, making it actually a little bit friendlier. those that are checking your neighborhood out, either to live there or for other purposes will gather that everyone knows one another and keeps up with who is in the neighborhood. Those that are looking for a friendly community oriented sort of neighborhood might decide to live there, while those that want their deeds to go unnoticed will move along to other areas.

So, wherever you live, you can help out a little bit by waving at folks as they go by. Try it out.