I'm ashamed to admit that I couldn't identify most of my neighbors' vehicles. I've often pondered the idea that I could be parked right next to a neighbor at Kroger and never even realize it. I'd like to blame it on rear-entry/alley access and the separation created by everyone's tall fences, but maybe that's just suburban wishful thinking to ease my conscience.
It does seem like suburbia is conspiring against us, though-- houses in straight rows make it tough to view anything beyond the neighbors flanking one's own house. Even window placement-- ensuring one neighbor's view isn't peering directly into another's. All these little things designed for our privacy so that our houses don't feel like they're separated by a ten-foot patch of grass. Somehow we're simultaneously closer and more distant than ever before.
