Contest Submission #5 “No More New Neighbors”

By Daneel Kutsenko

Generations have passed down homes and the sacred right to suspicion. In many neighborhoods, including Takoma Park, residents talk about property lines not as boundaries but as borders. Local resident Alex Le solemnly stated at a gathering, “We have been here for generations and shouldn’t have to deal with the new people on the block.” This was in reference to the newcomers down the street. Heads nod in agreement, with many holding maps that are decades old.

Officials claim the main concern is safety. However, the definition of “safety” has gradually widened to include anything unfamiliar: new languages, different foods, and new music coming from open windows. In response, government initiatives have increased, inspired by statements made during Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.

Funding for agencies like “Neighborhood Security” has skyrocketed this past year (2025) from about 175 billion USD over the last three years to nearly 397 billion USD. Reports now measure risk not by crime rates, but by “cultural deviation indexes.” Entire departments monitor lawn decorations, mailbox styles, and whether new residents wave “appropriately” to passing neighbors.

The most ambitious proposal is to build walls around every city. These walls are expected to be 150 feet tall and include a retractable dome modeled after SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles. The purpose of these structures is to keep sameness in and outsiders out. City planners have described these buildings as “snow globes of stability,” where everything stays the same unless approved by city committees.

Inside these domes, life is expected to go on just as it always has—unchanged, uninterrupted, and increasingly artificial. Children will learn from textbooks that treat diversity as a historical phase rather than a current reality. Neighborhood watch groups will turn into neighborhood memory groups, responsible for making sure traditions stay frozen in time. New residents, if they can gain entry, will have to participate in “assimilation rehearsals,” practicing acceptable small talk and approved holiday decorations before moving in.

Experts have started to question whether the effort to preserve the past has gone so far that it has erased the present completely. After all, a neighborhood without change is less a community and more a museum exhibit—carefully curated, rarely touched, and ultimately disconnected from the world outside its walls.

Still, supporters are hopeful. “We’re not against people,” one official clarified at a press conference. “We’re just in favor of things staying exactly the same forever.”