Neighbors destroying my mental sanity
Moved in a small house. The house is in one of those neighborhoods where the houses are built extremely close together.
Directly across from me there are other houses, with only enough space between us for maybe two cars. The neighbors right in front of my house — two families — spend all their time standing outside at the gate. Even though they’re relatively young, around 40 years old, they stand there every single day without exception, from March until November, every evening and all weekend long. They never go anywhere; their whole life seems to revolve around standing at the gate.
There is not a single day when I can walk out of my house without running into them. I have absolutely no privacy. If someone comes to visit me, we basically have to greet each other right next to them — it feels like they’re checking tickets at the entrance to my own house.
I’ve gotten to the point where I don’t even feel like leaving my house anymore. Even when I’m in my yard, I feel uncomfortable overhearing all their gossip. I asked them if they could move into their own yard instead, but they almost became violent with me, basically saying they can do whatever they want. One of them even told me, “I’ll even f*** at the gate if I want to.”
I should mention that I’m a woman living alone, while they are a large group (they also invite two other families over), and they gather exactly in front of my entrance gate. So the discussion became me versus three or four men, all acting like they were ready to beat me up just because I dared tell them where to stand.
The houses and gates are so close together that when I walk out of my house and take a few steps, I practically bump into them physically.
What can I do? It’s been like this for four years and I feel like I’m going crazy :( Am i wrong for confronting them or for feeling suffocated? is it all in my head?