Living With Respect for Property

We live in a residential area where a number of residents own horses on their property. As neither the horses nor their owners trespass on our land, I am not the least bit bothered by them. They even add to the diversity that makes life all the more enjoyable. A few years ago, Whole Foods proposed building a store on a parcel of land in a commercial area of this city (a major grocery chain already has a store a half-block or so away from this site). Many residents of the city showed up at a city council meeting to either oppose or support Whole Foods’ project (I made my first legislative appearance in nearly fifty years on behalf of Whole Foods). With major opposition coming from the horse-owning area, the city council rejected the Whole Foods project.

Recently, some of the neighbors in this portion of the city in which we live started an informal, non-political, on-line website to facilitate communications among residents on whatever matters were of interest to any in the neighborhood. I see this as further evidence of the decentralizing processes taking place throughout our society, and support the effort. Recently, however, a number of comments have appeared on this site that resurrect the Whole Foods issue, with most still opposing the presence of one of their stores in the community. I sent the following comment:

“The strength of neighborliness is found in the willingness of neighbors to respect the inviolability of one another’s property interests. The hostility to Whole Foods reflects an attitude that can be used against anyone whose property interests some might not respect. Today’s antagonism to a Whole Foods store in the neighborhood might, tomorrow, turn into a hostility to people having their horses in a residential area. We live in a time when division and conflict – fueled by politics – are destroying peaceful relationships with one another. Might mutual tolerance for our differing lifestyles and preferences help us rediscover genuine neighborliness?”

The numerous outpouring of comments from other neighbors has been encouraging. Perhaps we may one day discover that a “neighbor” is more than just a person who happens to live next door to us!