Starting Relationships with Neighbors After a Move Later in Life: An Exploratory Study

The authors examined eight personal and contextual conditions associated with starting new relationships with neighbors after short- and long-distance moves. A total of 625 Dutch movers and 1,936 non-movers (57–93 years old) were selected from the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam. OLS linear regression analyses showed that short-distance movers mainly started relationships with neighbors when they did volunteer work. Long-distance movers who moved to rural areas and felt safe in their new neighborhood or moved to areas with lower priced homes also started new relationships with neighbors. Contextual conditions appear to play a larger role than personal ones, especially after long-distance moves.