I think that's a side effect of our living very mobile lives in big towns where neighbors don't know each other's business.

Heh, heh... the neighbor kids (single-digit ages --4, 5, 6, 7) check on me relatively often, bringing my mail to my door, or bringing me flowers they've picked, but their parents hardly ever do (I think maybe a grown-up knocked on my door once, to give me some heads up about something). I think it's 'cause the grown-ups are worried about doing what's "proper" (not "butting in"), and the kids only worry about doing what feels "fun" or right...

I think it's a side effect of modern city planning. Where we work is zoned far away from where we shop or live, and there are no sidewalks in suburbia anymore, so to do anything, you have to go from the bubble of your car to the bubble of your cubicle to the bubble of your house... whereas, if we walked, we'd see each other out in the open...