I live in a multi-generational residential neighborhood. There are homes with young children, with single or childless middle-aged adults, and with older adults living with spouses or living alone. The people on my street help each other out as much as possible.
If there is a household where the occupant cannot push her garbage bin to the curb on trash pick-up day, someone will do it for her. Another person will take the garbage bin back in after it's emptied. If a neighbor will be out of town for a few days and needs one of us to collect the mail or the newspaper so that they do not pile up, or to water the plants, there's always someone willing and able to do it.
For those of us who work full time, it is reassuring that there are so many retirees on the street. They are like the eyes and ears of the block I live on. I'm glad I don't live on a street where every household is empty during the daytime because its occupants are off to work.
We don't have an official Neighborhood Watch or Personal Safety Net program, but we've evolved in a group of homes that take an interest in each other's well-being. Even our dogs get into the picture, alerting us to strangers walking down the street. Fortunately these are usually just people walking for exercise or walking their dogs. I like living in a neighborhood where people know each other.
Being part of a neighborhood's Safety Net does not have to be time consuming and energy depleting. Our social interactions are not frequent and extensive, but we look out for each other and each other's homes in often small but important ways.
Kevin K., Hawaii