Photo credit: Pavel Danilyuk
by Arline L. Bronzaft, Ph.D., Board of Directors, GrowNYC, Co-founder, The Quiet Coalition, and Honorary Chair, Quiet American Skies
When talking with people looking for apartments to rent or homes to buy, you often hear that they would like to find a place located in a quiet neighborhood. Thus, you can readily understand why a realtor eager to sell a home in the Niagara Region of Canada chose to add “Quiet neighbors across the street” to a For Sale sign.
We quickly learn that these “quiet neighbors” were people buried in the cemetery across the street from the house. Now, do you think people would live near a cemetery to gain quiet in one’s home? Interestingly, the overall response to a video of the sign advertising the house and the rows of headstones across the street was positive. It garnered more than 200,000 likes in a few days. Accompanying the likes were positive comments, including one that stated: “Highly sought after area. The neighbors are dying to get in.”
The realtor was pleased that his sign received such a positive response. We have to wait and see if the house gets sold quickly. We already know that many individuals want to live in quiet neighborhoods, but we don’t yet know whether they’re willing to live near a cemetery.
While this article focused on the quiet of a cemetery, we must also consider times when cemeteries are not quiet. Potential homebuyers should inquire about the frequency of visits to any nearby cemetery, as well as the frequency of funerals which is dictated by the number of remaining plots. The maintenance of the cemetery should also be considered. Like any home purchase, many factors must be considered.
