That most certainly is an engaging theory. However, I was born in the mid 1950s, and it was a thing to go and meet the new neighbors and bring them some goodies to eat. In fact, when my hubby and I bought our very first house, we were greeted in a very similar manner. We were also very pleased to learn that on our block alone there were at least thirty children for our kids to play with. We have lost so much in society by neglecting these little gestures of kindness. I know we felt very welcomed in our new home. We had moved several miles away from family and friends, so this helped relieve any sense of loneliness.
I have only, to my knowledge, had one neighbor, in the early 2000 to actually come to our home and introduce themselves. Things have certainly changed, and I would have loved to have had a welcome wagon, and even feel like I was part of a neighborhood. When I lived in a small town, of around 300 people, I did (somewhat) feel that way, but we moved into the house that my grandparents use to live in and people already knew us. I never had the chance to experience something like that. Every so often I watch a movie from the late 80s about a real life haunting in Pennsylvania (one that I saw on TV ages ago) in the 70s and early 80s, and the neighbors brought brownies over.
