I was struck this week by how little I really know my neighbors. One couple's full names and a bit of their backstory, and a few other neighbors' first names -- and that's it. My parents, by contrast, know most of the people on their long street.

If you're in the same boat I'm in, you might want to take a moment on Thursday to introduce yourself to the folks who live near you. HUD is proclaiming it "Know Your Neighbors Day," because the agency thinks that "building the bonds of neighbors" will "build stronger communities."

It's harder to build those bonds in a transient world, but it's not impossible. The thing is, it usually takes at least one enthusiastic person to say hello for the first time, to invite near-strangers over for dinner, to organize block parties.

When I think of neighborliness, the example that always pops to mind is Patterson Park, where neighbors so missed the restaurant that was the community gathering spot -- complete with weekly trivia nights -- that a group of them pooled their money to purchase the vacant building that had housed it.

But neighborliness can be as simple as knowing enough about the people around you to be aware if something's wrong next door -- and to help out, if so.

How well do you know your neighbors? Do you consider your neighborhood a neighborly place -- and does it matter to you if it is?