Apparemment la notion de "bon voisin" est assez révélatrice de nos différences...
Pour vous, un bon voisin semble être quelqu'un avec qui vous pouvez avoir de bonnes relations et même des relations amicales. Alors que pour nous, un bon voisin semble être quelqu'un qui ne nous dérange pas. (il me semble que c'est nous qui avons le mauvais rôle dans cette histoire ...)
D'une manière générale, je pense que c'est assez représentatif de l'opinion française ou du moins de l'opinion parisienne (je ne peut pas parler pour le reste de la France...).
Cependant je vous rassure tout de suite, il existe encore des spécimens français qui ont de très bonnes relations avec leurs voisins et qui peuvent compter sur eux en cas de besoin. Certains réussissent même à se lier d'amitié avec leurs voisins...
Il m'intéresserait de savoir comment un américain gèrerait le fait d'avoir un voisin avec lequel il ne s'entend pas. Cela rendrait-il les choses très difficiles pour lui ?

I think the root of being a good neighbor comes from the preferred living situation. For the Americans, we seem to prefer the suburbs, while the French seem to prefer the cities. On the American side, it is natural to separate oneself from the bustle of city life. However, we value close personal interactions. It is thus also natural to associate and befriend one's neighbors. In addition, especially in young neighborhoods, where young professionals hope to raise families, families will often raise their children together. Being good neighbors is vital to this sense of a close-knit community. Indeed, when neighbors do not get along, it is very troublesome. In the end, neighbors always compromise and resolve their differences. So even if your neighbor is not receptive to attempts at friendship, people compromise to make life bearable.

I think both of us have the same ideas for about a good neighbor. We both include respect and help in our descriptions. In addition, we are both concerned with privacy.

I noticed that there are many similarities in what we consider to be a good neighbor, for example being helpful, respectful, and friendly. However, I also noticed that for the French students it is more important that a good neighbor be quiet and not bother you. Amerian students didn't seem to mention this as often as the French. I was wondering if the French students thought of good neighbors more as being friendly and helpful or simply people who live nearby who should leave you alone?

So I don't see the ultimate friendliness that some of you find in our answers. "Friendly" and "helpful" seem to be one-sided, somewhat formal and only when needed ("helps you when you ask him to", "knows their boundaries", "lends a helping hand if and only if they are needed", "minds his own business, but helps you when you ask for help", "doesn't buser you"...). Not to mention that friendly is often defined as a simple "hi" when they meet you. So while the French prefer their neighbors just to be tolerant, we go further and expect help. However, both of our groups seem to imply privacy. I can understand this attitude in the American sprawling suburbs (Timmy, your described perfect suburb does exist, but the predominant picture is unfortunately quite different from this), but I am surprised to relate it to the urban density preferred by the French. By the way, where do most of you live right now - in university housing/rented apartments/at home with your parents? Also, wow, you seem to be great party people! Is this predominantly a university-life phenomenon or do middle-aged French people still have big noisy parties?

A propos de la banlieue américaine, je voudrais savoir si vous avez vu deux films américains, excellents à mon avis: "Arlington road" et "American beauty". Ces deux films se passent dans une paisible et calme banlieue américaine comme vous la décrivez, mais la suite des événements prouve que concernant ses voisins "il faut se méfier de l'eau qui dort" -surtout les terroristes effrayants de Arlington road!-. Bien sur, ce n'est que de la fiction, et je ne voudrais pas passer pour un oiseau de malheur, mais votre description des paisibles et familiales banlieues américaines m'y a fait penser... Que pensez vous de ces films (si vous ne les avez pas vus, je vous les conseille vivement!!)?

I noticed that both cultures, american and french, share common opinions of what is considered to be a good neighbor. The only thing that was a little different was the issue that the french have with noise...Like for instance you say that a good neighbor is someone that accepts that you make noise when you have friends over... Is this really considered a big issue in France? Do neighbors complain a lot when someone makes some noise?