I recently made a trip to Scotland, and one thing I really enjoyed was that the bars fill up after work in a way that doesn't happen here. Not that people don't drink in the afternoon in the US, but it felt like more of an afternoon social meetup featuring all the neighborhood's middle aged men, quite a friendly environment actually. I love drinking, and I love bars. But I really hate (*hate*) so call night life, so that style of drinking really suited me.
Yeah, you know that whole neighborhood feel is really great, but to have that in America, I think we'd actually have to know our neighbors (in addition to having towns and cities geared toward pedestrians). This past summer, I met my parent's neighbors who have lived across the street since we moved there in 1996. First time ever. The only reason I did meet them, was because I locked myself out and needed to use a phone, as my phone was in the house. Since then, I've been conscious about making an effort to say hello to neighbors and people I see often, at the store or on the way to work, etc. Honestly, it feels a lot better. That alone makes me wonder how much I've missed out on, how many opportunities went unrealized and how much more limited my network is simply because I'd never thought to speak to people who live around me. Live and learn, I guess.