I am realizing that she sees being nice as weakness and an invitation to keep pursuing her agenda until she gets her way. I like to be around people who bring out the best in others. She brings out the worst in me, through constantly baiting me. I will continue to ignore her, and hope she stays out of my way. She definitely has Narcissistic Personality Disorder so there is no hope that she will ever improve. Actually she is getting worse with age which I believe is what making me get to the point I just can't stand her any more.
I realized this with my neighbor, sibling and a few family members. They have an outsized sense of entitlement and act like it's their right to dominate you by any means necessary. You're right -- being cooperative and kind makes you look weak and pliable -- ripe for the picking, especially since no one is looking.
My neighbor pulled a trick which made it difficult to take my trash to the curb. Instead of writing or talking to them, I reported it. You could say that my refusal to talk is spurring retaliation. But the negging was worse when I was a nice neighbor. There were outlandish demands, verbal abuse and ridicule. I could see she enjoyed acting like this. You can't trust someone like this.
And like you said, zachira, I just can't stand her anymore. Silence is golden.