Guess it depends on your ward really. I have several neighbors that hang out and we chat together. Same with our FC house. We see the folks who own the surrounding houses on a regular basis and get to talking.
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I too have made several friends through housing. Its why I hate the idea of Instanced housing. I even got a sad tell from my neighbor when I moved because I went from a small in Shiro to a me in Mist. I think Instanced housing would loose a lot of the charm.