Fire pit.
Kiddie pool, as long as you have kids, otherwise creepy!
Ask for help, something small. Ask if someone can help you move a couch or straighten a photo when you move in. Offer drink/slice of pizza. Friendship made. Offer to help back in your own specialty.
Small BBQ for your direct next door neighbors.

Taking the natural course is slow and years could go by before you get to meet your neighbors. I'm totally in favor of the plate of brownies or cookies to deliver to neighbors when you're the newbie. If newcomers wait for the old timers to reach out it could be a long wait.
I love this approach!
My dad re-established his friendships and cemented his good standing as a neighbor by taking his own homemade Scottish shortbreads around to the neighbors each Christmas. Failing that he'd take a lump of coal around on New Year's Day morning and teach the beloved Scottish tradition. If no answer at the door he simply moved on.
Good intentions and offers of food go a long way to break the ice but not all (many?) firmly planted neighbors remember to do this.

I still feel really bad that we didn't go and introduce ourselves to the neighbours... It's a difficult one - to go as the newbie or wait until they say hello.
Around here you're a 'comer-in' until you've been here a few generations! Yorkshire! :-)

sit on your front stoop on sunday afternoon. My first week in the new place, I must have met 40 new neighbors! Of course, city living means lots of foot traffic & the house was on the market for a year & a half.

Ugh! I am going through this right now. We have lived in our house for almost a year and barely know anyone on our block because we have been knee deep in renovating our house. If we are home, we are working. But, I am starting to get lonely! Is it too weird to introduce ourselves after a year? Maybe I can wait til Christmas and flex my baking muscles to introduce myself. Thanks for posting about this!

I'd like to un-meet my neighbors at this point. I'd rather be know as the neighborhood recluse and be left alone then continue dealing with them. Then again, all my neighbors are a bunch of drunks. I live in a small condominium association so its hard not to deal with them or ignore their antics.

Before my husband and I purchased our home, we went to the neighbors to introduce ourselves and ask about the neighborhood. By the time we signed the papers, we felt like we knew our immediate neighbors and we all celebrated together.

Last week my husband and I moved to a new city where we didn't know anybody. Seeing as I am 8 months pregnant and will be at home for the next few months, I wanted to prioritize living in a community with lots of immediate neighbors over a possibly roomier but secluded home. We found a brand new complex where everybody is moving in together, so there's always a chance to strike up conversation when you pass someone in the halls or at the pool. The complex also hosts lots of social events for the residents, including one this weekend. I'm hoping we find a few others with similar interests - wish us luck!

Turns out we live in a very dog-friendly neighborhood (score!) and our great dane puppy has helped us meet a lot of new neighbors. Even now, I meet someone new on almost every walk (and we walk him twice a day!).

Still wish we'd gone around with cookies, though.

We knew a lot of our neighbors when we moved in to our new house. However, we have invited neighbors over several times and the best one was making s'mores in the driveway with our fire pit. Many times it does take the newbie to reach out and meet the neighbors.

A few years ago, two college students moved into an apartment on my floor. Most of the residents are a mix of seniors, young families, or sort of middle aged professionals. The college students, very nice young women, came around and invited everyone on the floor to an open house party at their apartment. Nice, right? The problem was that they didn't really understand the kind of community into which they had moved. The open house was a college kegger, basically. Oh, the neighbors were NOT amused.

Some good ice-breakers if you see someone on the street/backyard/parking lot...when's trash day? What time does the mail come? Where's the nearest hardware store? Is there a dog park/vet/pet store nearby? If you're like me you hate just walking up to someone and doing the whole dorky "Hi I'm new here!" thing, so if you ask a normal question it will get the conversation started.

Can't I just have that dog on the porch??

Monstergirl,

I wouldn't think it was weird at all; as a matter of fact, if you've been renovating, neighbors are dying to know what you are doing. Maybe have an open house for the neighbors as a kind of meet and greet. We do this every year at the December holidays--we ask all the neighbors we know or who are close to us (within the block on each side), as well as anyone who has moved into the neighborhood in the last year. It's a great way to build neighborhood coherence.

I always just knocked on the doors on each side, introduced myself, shook hands, and asked if there were any circumstances we needed to take into consideration while moving in and renovating, etc.: things like baby's nap times, children's bed times, and residents that work shifts and sleep odd hours. But that's here, in the Netherlands, where most homes (our last two, anyhow) are terraced and most walls thin. I like a certain degree of anonymity, too, and often contact continues at the greet-on-the-street level, but this sets a considerate note.

I second GretaGrace -- gimme that dog! And I also agree with ifmyheartwasahouse - we have a Newf and live in a dog-friendly area, too. You can't not meet people walking a giant 160 lb. pup around the block.

I like this one.

I'm basically a shut in from illness so its hard to throw parties & get to know people. I had big dreams when we first moved in
but we too were spending so much time inside remodeling it didn't lend to a lot of hiyas on the street.

When I moved out on my own for the first time after college, I baked cupcakes and took them around to my immediate neighbors. It was a good way to meet people, plus my roommate already knew everyone nearby. I used to walk his dog too, which was a good way to meet nearby dog-owners.

Right now I live in a crowded apartment complex. It's my first time living in an apartment, and everyone pretty much keeps to themselves. 1 gal introduced herself to me, but that's about it.

Spend plenty of time in the garden or out front (stoop if applicable). Also "shop local" should be at the top of this list. It's absolutely the best way to get to know people well. Block parties are a great idea, we still do them in our neighborhood in Chicago...

Walk the dog/kid/spouse around the block.
Wash the car.
Mow the lawn.
Trim the bushes.
Plant some flowers.
Paint the shutters...
...and when the neighbors drive/walk by - smile, wave and say "Hello".

The husband and I just moved into our mid-century home in Atlanta 8 months ago. We've managed to meet some folks through a neighborhood web forum via www.i-neighbors.org. We found out one of our neighbors went to the same daycare as the husband. Small world. We also might quite a few folks through the local pool social club and the yearly neighborhood tour of homes.

My friends and I are musicians, and we get together for bluegrass jams regularly. A few times this summer, we sat out on the front stoop to play. The neighbors have loved it. They come and introduce themselves, thank us, and ask us to play more!

I never get to know my neighbours. I'm a quiet person and keep to myself. I might chit chat in the elevator, but that's about it.

Our neighbours were round our house, giving our fencing people cups of tea, before we barely knew what had happened :-) They are two elderly ladies who were both friends with the lady who used to live in our house and were used to popping in and out of all three houses without warning! Took some getting used to but it's a lot more welcoming than our previous area. The other neighbours in our cul-de-sac are nice too and I always make a point of waving or saying 'hi' when I see people. We are now hoping we have put in enough groundwork that they will look favourably at our renovation plans :-)

The house next to me, with which I share a wall, has just been moved into. They must have moved in on Monday when I was at work, and either I've gotten home late every night this week, or they have. I am DYING to meet them and just introduce myself, because what kind of neighbours they are will make such a difference to how I feel about my house... my first owned house! I'm hoping to have time to go over there on the weekend, possibly with baked goods. I've never done that before, and I feel like a bit of a dork, but leaving it to chance seems risky. Hopefully it will be appreciated!