New TownConnect member (and our first Canadian member), Heather Ross, blogs on Neighbours:

“Think about this for a moment. Under any other circumstances, would you be friends with your neighbours (assuming of course that you are friends with them now)? If you worked at the same place or went to school together, but didn’t live within shouting distance, would you be friends with your current neighbours?

Most would agree it depends on the neighbor. My family has been fortunate to have some great neighbors. Before technology, proximity was the only way people could socialize. Neighbors, like work colleagues or schoolmates, are first “friends of convenience.” Some may become real friends only to be truly tested after you leave that job or move away. There is a certain quantity of friends people need that once fulfilled allow them to focus on forming quality friendships.

On Heathers’ blog Rob comments: “yeah, I think the lack of social contact in “First Life” is what drives people to make those connections in their online “Second Life”. We are social animals and social contact is one of our most basic needs.”

Agreed.

What if you could do both? What if the best friend(s)of your life lives only one mile away?
Physically close enough to share activities together but out of your daily line of sight.
How would you meet that person? How would you learn more or qualify them as a potential friend?

We hope TownConnect will help you make local friends easier and get to know your neighbors a little better.