I spent 365 days living a 5-minute walk away from my friends 🫶🏻

Key Concepts

Spontaneity in social life
Campusification (sense of belonging through frequent run-ins)
Aftercare (bookending social events with shared travel/debriefing)
Favors and errands (reciprocal support system)
Community care (increased involvement in local issues)
Multiplying effect (social network growth)
Importance of befriending neighbors
Data breaches and online security (Aura sponsorship)

Study Results: The Impact of Moving Closer to Friends

Spontaneity

Problem: Living far from friends (40-50 minute bus ride each way) required rigid scheduling, hindering flexibility and spontaneity.
Solution: Moving within a 5-20 minute walk enabled impromptu meetups, like sunset viewings or last-minute beach trips.
Example: Texting a friend at sunset to hang out on their balcony or spontaneously joining a friend for a walk on a Saturday morning.
Benefit: Allows for more playfulness and creativity in social activities, avoiding the rigidity of pre-planned events.
Quote: "It really allows for a lot more freedom in terms of what you both mutually feel like doing."

Campusification

Definition: Experiencing frequent, unplanned run-ins with acquaintances and friends, creating a sense of belonging and familiarity.
Identifying Question: "Whether or not you're experiencing a Spate of runin."
Examples: Running into multiple friends during a single outing, seeing familiar faces at local events.
Data: Aggregated data of run-ins, including encounters at dinner, in the park, at comedy shows, and while biking.
Benefit: Fosters a sense of community and reduces feelings of atomization.
Quote: "At this point I cannot leave my house without running into somebody I know and that Embrace of familiarity is so grounding and rooting and in and it's Irreplaceable."

Aftercare

Definition: The unexpected delight of jointly traveling to and from social events, extending the social experience.
Benefit: Provides companionship during travel, allows for debriefing and analysis of shared experiences.
Example: Walking back from an event with a friend, splitting an Uber, or meeting equidistant from apartments to decide on an activity.
Quote: "We get to debrief we get to have a little bit of cheese may get to you know talk shop a little bit or even just you know if we went to a comedy show or concert like really decompress and analyze it together and that is what it's all about to me."

Favors and Errands

Benefit: Living close to friends facilitates a reciprocal support system, reducing reliance on consumerism and external services.
Examples: Plant-sitting, sharing leftover food, lending tools or camping gear, spontaneous grocery runs.
Analogy: Friends acting as a shared storage unit or a lending library.
Quote: "In many ways living close to my friends kind of feels like we have one shared storage unit."

Co-working

Impact: Moving closer to friends improved work life by providing companionship during remote work.
Example: Easily meeting up for lunch with friends who work traditional 9-to-5 jobs or co-working at a coffee shop.
Benefit: Combats the isolation of working remotely.

Community Care

Impact: Increased involvement in local issues and events due to proximity and existing social connections.
Examples: Rallying support for a park, fundraising for a local business, attending neighborhood events.
Benefit: Lower barrier to entry for hyper-local activities and a greater sense of community engagement.

Multiplying Effect

Observation: The number of friends in the neighborhood grew over time due to increased social interaction and meeting new people through existing connections.
Key Point: Not just moving closer to friends, but also making the people you moved closer to your friends.

Befriending Neighbors

Importance: Actively engaging with and befriending neighbors significantly enhanced the overall experience.
Examples: Hosting a housewarming party, lending a thermometer, sharing mail, celebrating holidays together.
Benefit: Creates a sense of community within the building and provides a support network.
Quote: "It's very ordinary acts of care but they become infra ordinary they become special when you pay attention to them and they Mount to something bigger."

Negatives and Risks

Financial Consideration: Higher rent in the new neighborhood (approximately $300 more per month).
Fear: Friends moving away from the neighborhood.
Reality: Most friends had lived in the neighborhood for several years, and those who moved tended to stay within a 15-20 minute radius.
Overall: Minimal negative externalities were observed during the first year of the experiment.

Aura Sponsorship

Problem: Data breaches are common, and companies often take months to report them, leaving personal information vulnerable.
Solution: Aura alerts users if their phone number, email, or Social Security number are found on the dark web.
Features: Monitors credit and bank accounts for unauthorized access, provides online security features.
Offer: 14-day free trial at aura.com/ctherout.
Quote: "It's dark sided that living in these modern times means that we do not have control over our own data and have autonomy over that and it's overwhelming to consider all of the ways that we need to protect ourselves but in this realm Aura can help make you less vulnerable."

Conclusion

The experiment of moving closer to friends was overwhelmingly positive, significantly improving the subject's social life, sense of belonging, and overall happiness. The key factors contributing to this success were increased spontaneity, campusification, aftercare, reciprocal favors, community involvement, and the multiplying effect of social connections. While there were some financial considerations and potential risks, the benefits far outweighed the drawbacks. The experiment demonstrated the importance of actively creating a supportive and connected community, both with friends and neighbors. The subject concludes that this decision was one of the most impactful in terms of improving their quality of life and would make the same choice repeatedly.