Our team listens to a lot of stories. One of the many benefits of the work we do is having the ability to share these stories. To help spread the good parts of neighboring around the country, and to use those collective “good parts” to help make the “hard parts” a little less hard.  

So, as the holiday season approaches, we want to share our 5 Favorite Neighborhood Traditions for the Holidays that we’ve heard from you.    

1: Sharing Goodies 

“Goodies” might be an antiquated term, but it seems to fit the holidays. This is a time when many people do their only neighboring act of the year, giving a gift to their neighbors. They share baked goods, tins of popcorn, or packaged gifts they picked up from their local drugstore. And, while we of course encourage neighborliness all year, this is one of our favorite things about the season; it brings even reluctant neighbors into our neighboring circles.  

2: Light Displays  

All types of neighborhoods have homes that decorate for the holidays, and many make it into a community event. Christmas tree lightings are popular in some neighborhoods, while others have contests between neighbors on the best decorated houses (Google “Christmas movies with a neighborhood light contest” and you’ll get tons of results!). In movies, these contests always get a little too competitive, but in most real-life neighborhoods, it is a friendly competition that brings joy, and pretty displays, to everyone. Apartment dwellers get in on this one with door decorating contests, too! 

One neighborhood asks neighbors to sign up to put trees on their porches, each decorated with a theme. Then, they publish a map that encourages neighbors to go around the neighborhood and look at the beautiful designs.  

As an unexpected upside to this holiday tradition, there is a scientific study that shows people who decorate outdoors for the holidays are perceived as friendlier. So, if you are a neighborhood leader who wants to help people feel at home in your neighborhood – encourage those outdoor displays!  

3: Living Advent Calendar 

This is such a neat idea for bringing art and creativity together in a seasonal celebration. It works in many different types of neighborhoods and always brings people out to admire the homes around them. To make this work, 24 homes need to commit to decorating their windows and unveiling them one night at a time until Christmas. Then, most neighborhoods leave all of them up for the 12 days of Christmas. Some even produce maps to show the homes that will participate, along with their numbers. Others, with more foot traffic, have turned this into fundraisers for their communities. There are many ways you can get creative with this basic idea. It takes some coordination but is a wonderful way to get people out and about for the holidays!  

4: Holiday Gatherings  

Gathering a few neighbors together for a cookie swap, holiday baking, a hot chocolate bar, or anything festive makes the list because it is such a good way to build connections among neighbors. Last year, one family on our team hosted a few neighbors for a concert put on by their children. The kids printed a program, dressed up, opened the door in welcoming, and served hot apple cider. Neighbors brought cookies, chatted, and listened to carols sung and played on the piano. The program itself was very short, but the conversation lasted well into the evening and provided so much additional connection between the people present.  

5: Progressive Dinner 

We love progressive dinners because everyone shares the work – and the fun! The basic idea is to have four to five homes participate. Each home has a different “course” and the group stays at each place for about 45 minutes. You can coordinate with a theme or just compare notes on the dishes so you don’t duplicate. Usually, the first home starts with an appetizer, the next offers salads, then the main course and, finally, dessert. This is a fun event for the holidays because it is too cold in many places to gather outside, and you can observe each family’s holiday decorations.  

There are so many ways you can celebrate with your neighbors and in your neighborhood for the holidays. You can go with a traditional idea or come up with something uniquely you. You can do something fancy and Pinterest-worthy, or something simple that just brings people together. We’ve shared our 5 favorite neighborhood traditions for the holidays, what are yours?