Genre: Instruction

get connected Connect with neighbors and improve your neighborhood's safety on the 29th annual National Night Out on Tuesday. For more information visit, www.natw.org/nno/about.html , or to go to WhitePages at neighbors.whitepages.com, to look up and get in touch with neighbors or to use the site's Block Party Invite and RSVP System to coordinate get-togethers. WhitePages partners with the National Association of Town Watch to make reaching out to neighbors easier. JENNY BRITT admits she doesn't know her neighbors in Ghent on the Square in Norfolk - not the ones upstairs who occasionally used to leave loud music on when they left their condo, or the ones who walk their dogs when she walks Scooter, her Welsh corgi. Ironically, though, she knows the neighbors' dogs' names. With a bid on a single-family home under consideration, Britt and her boyfriend are hoping with a move comes change. "I'm trying to be better when we meet (neighbors) by saying their names over and over in my head," she said. "I have a lot of work to do." Britt shouldn't be embarrassed by her admission; She's far from alone. According to a survey conducted online in June 2011 by Harris Interactive on behalf of WhitePages, 41 percent of participants could identify their neighbors' first names, while 27 percent knew their neighbors' pets and 24 percent their neighbors' kids. WhitePages provides contact information for millions of people and businesses in the U.S. Activities and gatherings such as the annual National Night Out by the National Association of Town Watch - being held Tuesday - started in 1984 to promote neighborhood involvement in crime and drug prevention, strengthen police-community relations and encourage camaraderie among neighbors. Since its inception, the event has grown to involve more than 37 million people from more than 15,000 communities, according to Town Watch's website, natw.org. "In our fight for a safer nation, National Night Out has proven to be an effective, inexpensive and enjoyable program to promote neighborhood spirit and police-community partnerships," said Matt Peskin, the association's executive director and National Night Out creator. "If you look at the 1940s and the 1950s, neighborhoods were safer places because people knew each other. Neighborhoods today are not as tightly knit as they used to be, even with Facebook and other social media tools at their disposal." For Brenda Armitage, a real-estate agent with All Pros Realty in Virginia Beach, a close call with tragedy ignited her passion to connect with neighbors. Six years ago, Armitage's then-3-year-old daughter was hit by a car on her bike in front of the family's Carolanne Farms neighborhood at the Beach. Armitage began advocating for the neighborhood children by trying to get a sign installed warning drivers to go slow because children were at play. This effort led Armitage, a mother of three, to revitalize Carolanne Farms' civic league, organize block parties, and start an annual luminary event called "Share Your Light Night" and an annual Fourth of July parade in the Kempsville neighborhood. "Create a village," said Armitage. "The meaning of your life day-to-day is enriched" by neighbors, she said. Armitage also advocates the use of social media to communicate with neighbor. It's successful, she said. On Facebook, the Carolanne Farms - Arrowhead Neighbors page is rich with comments; 357 people are members. Neighborly posts include a missing-dog notification, an inquiry about a reliable auto mechanic, a yard-sale post and a warning that cars had been broken into and registrations, or a phone, stolen. "Honestly the most effective communication tool is Facebook or email," said Armitage, who recently used the Neighbors' page to find a tiller and a teenager to help her whip her flower beds back into shape. "In a community everybody has a set of skills that can be utilized," Armitage said. Armitage's passion carries over into her profession. During a recent sale of a house in Indian Lakes, she asked the neighbors selling their house to compile a list of four neighbors on either side, and eight across the street, plus other information, like which neighbor kids baby-sit, which mow lawns and other pertinent information for the buyers. It's all about making an effort, she said. But not every neighbor is cooperative. There's the neighbor who doesn't pick up after his or her dog, or uses the leaf blower at early hours, or blares music in the middle of the night. Denise Holden, who lives with her family in Hunt Club Forest in Virginia Beach, has seen - and heard - it all. "I was block captain, and as soon as people found out I was in the civic league, they would bring me their issues," wrote Holden on Facebook. "At first, I tried to be helpful, and then I thought, 'Why am I always the bad guy?' " The department's inspectors have the power to decide if something is bad enough, and fine the home owner if the problem continues, she wrote. "I used them to get rid of some drug dealers" because it's much "faster to go after the house," Holden said. Cities' animal control divisions also are a good source, she said, because they try to help smooth things over with neighbors and animal lovers. "You are insulting someone's 'family' when you complain about their barking dog," Holden wrote. And, of course, there are the police. "If you're unsure, if you don't feel comfortable talking to someone, the best thing to do is pick up the phone and call us, and we'll send somebody out there, and we'll go out and talk to them," said Sharon Brady, custodian of records for Emergency Communications, Citizens Services 911 Division with the Virginia Beach Police Department. But, Brady said, it's much better to have a rapport with your neighbors so you don't have to call the police to mediate. "Strike up a conversation with them," Brady suggested. But, "if you're uncomfortable, and you don't know them well enough, send a police officer, it's what we do." While Holden said she has called the police about things like fireworks being shot over their house and kids egging cars, she and her husband know "almost all of our neighbors, even vacation with them. We remember birthdays, celebrate events, and borrow mowers." Holden said you'd be surprised at what having a good, old-fashioned conversation can do. "Let them know what's important to you," she said. "Inviting (neighbors) over for a beer in the driveway works wonders!" As for Jenny Britt at Ghent on the Square, connections and relationships are important. That's why, if the house sale off Lafayette Boulevard in Norfolk goes through, she will make the effort to get to know her neighbors. "To not have a connection to people who are right next to you is strange to me," Britt said. COMMENTS ADVISORY: Users are solely responsible for opinions they post here; comments do not reflect the views of The Virginian-Pilot or its websites. Users must follow agreed-upon rules: Be civil, be clean, be on topic; don't attack private individuals, other users or classes of people. Read the full rules here. - Comments are automatically checked for inappropriate language, but readers might find some comments offensive or inaccurate. If you believe a comment violates our rules, click the report violation link below it.