Disputes with neighbors

The online version of the News-Tribune has an article about ridiculous disputes between neighbors, in Waltham and elsewhere in eastern Mass. Reporter Peter Reuell points to cases involving neighbors who argue about where trash should be put, mowing the lawn, and even the location of a rock across a property line. A particularly icky case in Marlborough: some guy living in someone else's basement without a toilet would dump a bucket in the backyard every morning, which alerted neighbors to the problem. When town officials looked into the matter,

"... An investigation confirmed the man had been sleeping on a mattress on the floor and was using a space heater, which was set up mere feet from a propane grill he had been using to cook on, and a lawnmower filled with gasoline."

For some reason Reuell says "sky-high property values" are one of the root causes of neighborhood disputes, but doesn't give a single example of how this issue creates disputes, much less an example. In my opinion, regardless of whether houses are expensive, people still care when neighbors don't take care of their property, or have tenants living in illegal setups. It can lower neighboring property values, and that's a legitimate concern if you try to sell your house in a hot housing market, or one in which houses are relatively inexepensive.