live in them, _

wos

Vve had ‘opportunity. - -to o.

LES 8 consider that. they
- subject over the pastfew .

learn quite a bit about. the

months, since we moved into
one of the handful of private
houses: still remaining along ©

West. Van’s - waterfront —

“highrise alley.’ The. fact.
that our modest home ‘still
sits on its own little lot with a
pocket-handkerchief' of a
garden -amid: the ‘soaring
piles of concrete all around.
appears to make us an. object
of fascination for some of our
apartment-dwelling “neigh-
bors. ; aie
‘Surprisingly often, if we
happen to be outside, they
will pause as.they pass our
fence to exchangé a few
words, which | sometimes
develop into quiet a lengthy :
conversation. A few have
actusiiy knocked on . cur
door..“‘iust te intreduce
myself, because Fd noticed

you's moved in recently.”

 Bvery. now £ and again, On.
walks along the Seawall,
some tiny incident will

provide the excuse for one or.

_acouple of them to pause for
a brief moment’s chat. And
during the week. ‘My | wife,
who works in one’ of the
Village’s _ browse-around.
specialty shops, talks with.
still more of them. —

‘“UNFRIENDIINESS” :

The good folk in question |
belong almost exclusively to
‘“‘the older generation.’’
Couples whose children have

grown up and who have sold..:: tc
the family -home for the
‘‘convenience”’ of apartment |
living. Retired couples. And _

a lot of widows and older
Single women. Nine times
out of ten they teil the s same

story.

The story of how much
they wish they still had a
little house of their own. Of
how much they dislike
apartment living because of
its impersonality, its rules
and regulations, its ban on
keeping pets and, above all, ‘
its “unfriendliness.”’ “We
don’t really know any of the
other people there.,.it’s so
lonely.”’ That's the kind of
comment repeated time and
time e again. ,

page 6- -Febrasry 8, 1978 - ‘North Shore News.

CS

only. have to walk the length ©

of a. carpeted: corridor to"
contact four or five immed- -

iate - neighbors, and that
there may be 50-60. others on .

_the -floors above. and “below |
them. Many. of. those neigh- ©
bors, -moreover, feeling ex.

however, is that the strictly

regulated, supet-equipped, 7
high-density avartment block :

ae Oe oy | 7 oe Be Carte Sede

—with its, locked | ‘oors: and pushed | them. ‘under: ‘the .

impersonal. : ‘egterphons— ~

Wan ea Er S cteeatiemne teen

induces im its occupants:

- quite unnatural shyness and
fear of .“‘intruding.’’ The
‘entrance lobby. ‘and =the
‘elevator (which: they hope
will be empty) don’t belong |

to them. Up above, the silent

broadioomed . passageway = is”
bereft of any sign of human.
life. The: only ‘safety and
personal reassurance. lies in
- the ‘number on their own —
door, behind | which | they.
scuttle ; as fast as they can.

"REPRESENTATIVE?

-Pve- no idea, of course,

pee

Set mont iwollers in pgen- .
eral. For all. I: know, there

may be a huge silent majority

suite occupants who would

never dream of speaking to

lowly neighbors like our-

‘selves in the first place. In

any case, once you’ve opted
for a_ highrise lifestyle,

‘there’s nothing can be done

about the regulations, the
ban on pets, the absence of
your own front door and few
square feet of good earth.

But I think there may often

‘be something’ to be done

about the ‘“‘loneliness’’—if
only someone: is prepared to
break the ice.

_a soulin the S0-suite building

* entrance we got the names of.

_and those immediately above
and |-below—18_ in’ all—and
__ wrote our invitation...‘‘We’d
_ love you to drop by for a chat’
“and a little refreshment next
- Sunday: evening, - any time
i from 8 DB. m. onward .

What scems io happea,.

ago we had our.

erienne: of

rm aera

vealined that ‘we didn’t. hed, we:

‘we. decided to try: holding: a.
“fittle “‘floor’’: party to. mark.
. the season of goodwill. From
the enterphone: list..at. the

_all occupants of our own floor

MR, MRS., MISS, Ms?

_ Addressing the: envelopes |

owas trickier, because the:
- enterphone list didn’t show

whether. the occupant. was.

male or female, Mr., Mrs., 7 i
_..Miss-or Ms. So we wrote all _

four tities on the envelopes

with a. ‘Guestion-mark atier |

each, followed by the name
of the invited . mest, and

Gnawa, tie | Crs

aecrs.

. SRCASa

During the ensuing week |

we had only one response.

- We resigned ‘ourselves to a.
very quiet: ‘Suadey-before: 4

Christmas | evening—uniil -

the knocks began tc to » sound on |
the door. :

All i in all about 15 people ae
came from the 18 suites we'd [jf
invited. All of them most |
attractive, likeable human.
beings. Some even bringing

little token gifts. We had a
most enjoyable get-together,

and a. number = of them |
entertained us in return.
- during -the next couple of
weeks. Three of the couples |
‘became our’ close friends.
But that wasn’t quite «all.
there is to the story.

of perfectly satisfied highrise _

The most interesting fact

that revealed itself was that |
hardly any of our guests.’ |
knew. any of the others—let _ |
alone had exchanged visits in

each others’ suites—even |
though almost all of them
had lived there for at least a -

year and im some cases

considerably longer.
NICE PEOPLE
- How long they would all

have continued to co-exist as .

complete. strangers if two
even stranger new neighbors.

hadn’t been brash enough to a |

break the ice is anyone! 'S
guess.

The moral of this _ little
personal ancedote, I think, is
that all highrises probably
have'a large majority of very-

nice people living in. them—
many of them just as lonely

as their neighbors; people

who would love to pet
fA © acquainted but are just too

shy of ‘‘intruding”’ ever to-
make a start.

If you happen to be one of

the North Shore’s ‘‘lonely’’

~ tower-dwellers, such people

may even be right there on
your own floor. How will any
of you ever know until you

knock on a neighboring»

door...or push a little invita-
tion card under it?

aattaiashied eid adaeed loth Reistd dlatntd caret nea Oe RE CTT r x

afore mentioned will include items for

| TOWN & COUNTRY >

RESIDENCES -

and furnish your

rome your way! 1?

yer’s Mayle Shop |

2423 Marine Drive, West Vancouver

A)

ABUL Bat R APES oem

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