[ashwinaj]

I don't think the point of the article is to go and become "pinky swear" friends of your neighbors (which seems to me that most comments here are alluding to). I just don't get the aversion of neighbors in the Western world. Sure there are annoying neighbors, but if everyone claims that their neighbor is annoying (with whatever criteria that may be) isn't there something wrong with you? Having an active social life is not the same as having meaningful relationships with people (NOT activity partners: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7632094).