Living close by

Got to hang out with Jamie today.  Growing up stinks as you can never see your friends as much as you'd like.  We talked about how cool it would be to gather all of our friends and live in a condo community like her mom's.   That would be so cool to be so close to friends.  Right next door or down the street.  It would certainly make for some pretty rocking block parties.  Sometimes I think about the apartment complex we live in and how so many of our neighbors know each other.  Many of them are Indian and they all hang out together.  Their kids play together.  At times I want to join them.  I doubt they'd mind but they normally speaking in Indian which I can't even begin to figure out.  

What would it be like to live among family and friends without actually living together.  Just staying nearby.  We can each return to our individual homes with our small families but together, we'd be one big family.  I suppose there would be some negatives.  Sometimes it's not always obvious when one is not welcome or it can make it more difficult saying that you just want to spend some time with your family without someone taking offense.  The possibility of drama is also very likely when close friends live almost as close.   Like college only different since it would involve more than just ourselves but husbands, wives, children, parents, or siblings.  Still, I think it would be nice especially once we figured out each other's personal boundaries.