It's interesting, I had the opposite experience. When I lived in SF in my 20's, I knew all of my neighbors: some I'd party with, some I'd walk my dogs with, and

It's interesting, I had the opposite experience. When I lived in SF in my 20's, I knew all of my neighbors: some I'd party with, some I'd walk my dogs with, and later, when I was older, we had a nanny share with the family who lived next door. I knew the brothers that ran the corner store and I knew the family that ran the coffee shop next door. When I lived in smaller town, I didn't know any of my neighbors. People walked from their side door to their cars and would only say hello if they happened to make eye contact. My wife and I prioritized walkabilty and bikability when we chose our house, but even then it was a struggle. There are exceptions, but now that I'm back in a city I once again know all of my neighbors. I regularly have lunch with another dev who works from home down the street, and we hang out with the family across the street a few times a week. Our neighborhood isn't the "NYC in the 70's" image of an urban area that some people from small towns think of when they think of big cities, it's cute tree lined block with 2k sqft houses.