Neighbors who keep an eye on your house when you’re gone are a kind of security system you can’t buy.

Neighbours keeping an eye on a house is a kind of security nobody installs. It runs on attention rather than equipment, and it only exists where people know who belongs on the street and who does not, which takes years of ordinary contact to build. No purchase replaces it. Being known is the entire mechanism.

Contribute to it rather than only drawing on it. Learn which car belongs to which house, say hello in both directions, mention anything that looks wrong. When a neighbour goes away, offer to watch theirs before they have to ask.