You’re probably thinking about how you might distancing the most valuable home in your neighborhood, but that’s not a good idea.
According to a new study, you should not even try to distance your home from your neighbors.
The study from the University of Pennsylvania and the University at Buffalo found that the most effective way to reduce neighbor interference is to stay out of their way.
“Our research showed that if you’re going to be out of a neighbor’s way, you can actually reduce the probability of them having an impact on your home,” said study co-author and Penn associate professor of environmental health, John Wiebe.
“We found that when you stay out, the probability is actually significantly lower than if you just move in.”
In other words, even though the neighbors have less influence, the study showed they’re actually less likely to cause harm.
“In the end, the fact that we can make a positive difference in a neighborhood doesn’t mean we should ignore the threat of neighbors,” said Wiebbe.
Instead, he said, it’s better to focus on protecting the safety and security of your home and your family.
“If you’re in a situation where neighbors are acting aggressively toward you, you have a greater likelihood of being a target for attack,” Wiebo said.
The best way to protect yourself from being targeted, the researchers said, is to remain quiet and stay inside your home when you’re not there.
“You can also try to stay as close as possible to your home, and you can do this in a way that protects the health of your family, the safety of your house, and your property,” Wiesbbe said.
“What we found is that it’s not just about staying in your house.”
The study looked at 5,000 residents in the city of Pittsburgh and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the months before and after the construction of the Pennsylvania Turnpike.
The researchers took the average number of nuisance calls a person received from neighbors each day from the previous three months.
They then divided those calls into two groups.
The first group, the “noisy neighbors,” received only four nuisance calls from neighbors every day.
The second group, “moderate neighbors,” got six calls per day from neighbors, and the third group, a “troublemaker” group, received 30 calls per week.
The average number was 3.8 nuisance calls per person per day, the team reported.
The authors said the data indicates that the loudest neighbors, those who were aggressive, were actually less of a threat than the “moderate” neighbors.
“They were more likely to provoke a complaint,” Wiedbbe explained.
“So, the loud neighbors had the greatest impact, the neighbors with the most aggression, were the ones who were more dangerous.”
The researchers said the findings were “surprising” because most neighbors are friendly.
But Wiesbe said that’s only because they’re generally the ones that have the greatest amount of influence in a particular neighborhood.
“Even though you might have a very good relationship with your neighbors, the only reason you’d be doing that is because you have the right to do so,” Wielbbe added.
“The reason you would do that is so you can be heard and to have your voice heard.
So you don’t want to be doing things that are against your neighbor.”
You can read more about the study on the study’s website.
Follow Sarah on Twitter: @SarahChenoweth