It’s a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (Classic)

The Atlas Obscura Podcast

In this episode of the Atlas Obscura Podcast, host Dylan Thuris presents a collection of listener-submitted stories centered on unusual neig

Key takeaways

• A former UCSB student recalls a 'toxic' but memorable college romance in Santa Barbara dorms.
• Listeners in Chicago and New York experienced the luxury of hearing professional opera singers practicing daily.

Main topics

• Unusual Neighbors
• College Nostalgia

Notable quotes

We were basically Jim and Pam from the office before Jim and Pam.

Conclusion

The episode serves as a heartwarming tribute to the eccentric characte

Transcript preview

Speaker 5 (0:00) For many of us, going further isn't a choice. It's a feeling we can't ignore. Because ambition has a way of outgrowing where it began. Turning dreams into direction. Every journey brings us closer to the life we imagine. So, where will your journey take you? Etihad. Beyond Borders. Speaker 2 (0:32) This is Dylan Thuris, and you have reached the Atlas Obscura podcast line. I'm not home right now, but leave me a message telling me a story about your neighbors. Tell me all about your neighbors, the good, the bad, the ugly. After the beep. Speaker 3 (0:47) Hi. So in the late 90s, I was going to college in Santa Barbara, UCSB, go Gauchos, and I was staying in the dorms. I was a little older, I was in the transfer dorm, and there was a girl next door. And the way our dorm was built, there were two ways in, and I had a crush on this girl, the neighbor girl, and I would sometimes take the long way around for my night job. just so I could pass her window. Sometimes just wave, just to look at her, just to wave at her, and she would wave back. She was pre-med, so usually that's all she would do, but maybe twice a week she would, like, indicate, hey, come on in. And I would come in and just basically, you know, BS and watch her study. We were basically Jim and Pam from the office before Jim and Pam. We were never... single at the same time. We never saw the clues. We were constantly breaking each other's hearts the way that only people in their early 20s could. The word toxic hadn't existed yet, but we were definitely bad for each other, again, in the way only people in their early 20s could be. We definitely loved each other, but at a certain point we realized, let's just be friends. And at pretty much the moment we decided that, we stopped talking. in the way people only in their early 20s could. I realize that might not be the most exciting neighbor story, but it's making my heart beat fast just thinking about it. You know, I'm happily married now. My wife knows that story. She rolls her eyes. She says, oh, the Amazon? Oh, because by the way, she wasn't an inch tall. They made me up a pretty tall guy. But I think about her sometimes, you know, now and then. We will send a message. You know, she's got her own thing going. She's like a very accomplished doctor and I'm less accomplished than whatever I am. And yeah, that's my neighbor's story. You know, she was the light in the window and I'll come around for work at three in the morning. Speaker 5 (3:03) My name is Kat, and I'm calling in from Baltimore, Maryland. And I want to tell you about some of my neighbors that I've had over the years. I have been lucky enough to live in many different places around the United States and around the world. And twice now. I have had neighbors in my apartment buildings in both Chicago and New York who