Here’s Your New House. It Comes With Friends.

Kiara Aponte and Samir Husain loved everything about the Tudor-style house they bought in a leafy Houston suburb. It had a brick fireplace in the sunny living room and a yard with climbing roses. Upstairs sat a pair of Jack and Jill bedrooms where Ms. Aponte imagined future children quarreling over the connecting bathroom.

But beyond their property line, something was missing. There were sidewalks, but nobody walked on them. They identified their neighbors not by name but by the car in the driveway. No one ever popped over to borrow eggs.

“There weren’t a whole lot of interactions, period,” Ms. Aponte said.

“Just like a smile, wave and move on type of type of situation,” Mr. Husain added.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/27/business/heres-your-new-house-it-comes-with-friends.html