“Why are you trying to divide us?” That was the opening question from ABC Radio Adelaide’s Jo Laverty when our CEO, Danny Gorog, joined her on SA Afternoons to talk about our national Neighbours Survey. His answer:
“We’re not trying to divide, we’re just trying to understand what’s happening in the neighbourhoods.”
To find out, we asked around 17,000 Snappers two simple things: how friendly are your neighbours, rated out of 5, and what’s the single issue causing the most friction? The good news is that most people get on well with the folks next door. The national average was 3.84, and South Australia came in at 3.82, a whisker below.
So what do South Australians nominate as their biggest neighbourly bugbear? Around 26% said rubbish and cleanliness, making bins the clear number one. Building and development came next at about 16%, with noise and animals each on roughly 15%. Danny says that’s pretty similar to what we see across the country.
Danny’s theory for why scores vary is density. Tasmania came out friendliest, and he thinks the more room people have between them, the fewer sparks fly. He admitted SA’s result surprised him a little, since Adelaide isn’t as densely packed as Melbourne or Sydney.
Jo asked about Danny’s own street, and it sounds like a good one. A big street WhatsApp group means neighbours let each other know when the water or power goes off. His one gripe is being over-notified, which he put down to people getting used to social media. Back in the studio, listeners texted in their own pet peeves, from boundary fences to big cars parked out the front.
Listen to the full segment below.
