Ways You Can Make Your Neighborhood Safer

Of course, we all want to live in a safe, secure neighborhood, but when we’re parents that can become an even more important priority. 

Safety starts with our own choices and behaviors, and the example we choose to set. For example, just backing out of your driveway carefully and driving slowly on the streets of your neighborhood is a good place to start. 

Beyond that, there are other things you can do and efforts you can put into place to create a safe and happy neighborhood environment for your own family and everyone else. 

Start a Neighborhood Newsletter

A neighborhood newsletter is such a valuable way to make your community safer. You can share concerns that you may have and ask other neighbors to do the same. With a neighborhood newsletter, whether printed or digital, everyone can stay in the loop about possible risks in the neighborhood. 

It also helps neighbors feel connected with one another, and strong communication is a key part of having a safe community. 

You can also create a blog or social media page for your neighborhood. With social media pages, the benefit is that messages can be conveyed quickly and easily.

Nextdoor can be a great resource to use if you want a safe neighborhood, so leverage it. Nextdoor is a neighborhood social network, and it verifies that the people who join the network actually live in your neighborhood. 

Nextdoor can be used as a way to warn neighbors about something going on, and you can also share your thoughts as to the appropriate ways to behave, drive, and engage in the neighborhood. 

Get Out and About

Too often in our modern, technology-driven world, we don’t get out and get to know our neighbors on a personal level. When you don’t know your neighbors, it’s more challenging to hear about concerns people may have, or know when something is off or out-of-the-ordinary. 

In a safe, secure neighborhood, neighbors watch out for one another, but you can’t make that happen if you don’t know the people who live around you. 

You could be the person who spearheads efforts to get more neighborhood involvement happening.

Host events such as a block party or barbecue so that people will come out and talk to each other. 

Post Safety Signs

If your neighborhood has children, you should work to encourage people to drive safely. One way to do this is by posting bright signs that let people know children are playing. 

What’s good about these signs is that it not only serves as a warning to drivers, but it can also serve as a marker that lets your kids know where they shouldn’t go past when they’re playing. 

Start a Neighborhood Watch Program

If you have a group of neighbors that you think are especially interested in safety and security, get them together so that you can form a neighborhood watch program.

Then, assign members of the group with specific tasks. For example, maybe one neighbor who is home during the day keeps an eye on the kids in the neighborhood getting off the school bus, and another person might look for suspicious activity around parked cars. 

You can have monthly meetings, and it’s always a good idea to contact your local police office because there are often local guidelines your community watch program will need to follow.

Other tips to keep in mind when it comes to forming a neighborhood watch include:

• Go door to door and recruit members of the neighborhood and also let people know how the program will work. 
• Create a plan of action for the group itself and also how you’ll handle certain situations that you may face. 
• Arrange a meeting between neighborhood watch representatives and local police. 

Keep Your Home Well-Maintained

When you have a yard and a home that looked well-maintained, it’s going to discourage criminal activity. It shows people that your neighborhood is active, and that’s a deterrent. It also reduces the possible hiding places for criminals. 

You want clear sightlines to your home’s entryways and you always want your trees and bushes to be trimmed. 

If there’s an empty house on your street, get together with neighbors to make sure it looks kept-up as well. Finally, there are things you can do to help your neighborhood be safer, but ultimately there’s only so much you can do as a group effort. Work on making sure your home is as secure as possible, and that will go a long way too.