When Paradise Gets Crowded

With Neighbors Moving In

So you've found your paradise and it's lovely; clean water rushing in streams and rivers, lakes and ponds, room for your dream to come to fruition.

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It's the best kept secret, but then others discover it too, and the place, once so beautiful and expansive, gets more crowded.  Now what? Let them push you out and move to yet another place? Or try to adapt?

This experience can be difficult to deal with, especially for the new people, but also for the existing old timers and pioneers. 

Through the ages, this has been a problem.  The new people want what the established people have, and may not realize that it's not something that they can achieve instantly; it takes time to get accepted into a community, no matter its size.

As it happens I have had first hand experience on both sides of this coin.  I moved into a small town in the Chilcotin, and it took a long time to be accepted and approved of.  In some cases, it can take years and years, if ever.

The reverse happened after twenty years on the mountain in a little backwater.  The neighbors kept to themselves but were welcoming, most of them moving to the area themselves much earlier.

Then, two years ago, two new families bought some land there and the community changed forever.  As our time had come to an end there and we had planned a move for a while, even though it was a wrench, we sold up and moved on.

So the two choices you have as an established resident, are to either accept the changes graciously, and welcome the newcomers, or pull the pin and use the impetus to move on and do something different.

If you choose the first option, keep in mind that this could take a while to settle out. Not everyone will be amenable to your efforts to include them - some people are very suspicious at first.

The second option, hard as it is to pull up stakes and try something new, could be the best thing that ever happened.  If you have done your best to add value to your homestead, it may be worth more than you anticipated, allowing you to follow a long held dream.

Dealing With Privacy

If you decide you absolutely can't bear to leave your hard work behind, then some additions to your homestead may be in order.

Things like maintaining your privacy with screens like shelterbelts and hedgerows can help.

If a neighbors wandering pets are visiting, fencing them out may be the only option, or get an unfriendly goose, dog or donkey.

Choose your battles!  I can't emphasize this enough.  If newcomers to your neighborhood feel that you're nagging and complaining about every single thing they do, there is little incentive to fit it.





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