Here's my understanding. - 側 (かわ): "side". So 側に means "on something's side" or "adjacent to", often for buildings and other installations. - 近く:　related to ちかい, means "in the vicinity" which can be vague and may mean a rather wide range. - そば: emphasizes being "close by" or right next to it. そばに = next to, beside, by someone's side, etc. - Next to the school was a bank:　学校の 側には 銀行が あった。 - Is there a taxi stop nearby?: この ちかくに タクシ 乗り場が ありますか? - Please stay close by me: わたしの そばに いって ください。

Thanks for your response Angela, I probably will understand things a little better with more practice and as I study more and more. I have watched some Miyazaki films before including Totoro, but I haven't looked up their japanese titles yet, so its really cool that I just learned the written japanese name for it ;), thanks!

となり　is also often used to say "neighboring," which should be easy to remember if you are a fan of Miyazaki films because My Neighbor Totoro is となりのトトロ.

lol, I can't believe genki would use "near", one of the most vague English words for describing location, as the definition for words without giving examples. そば is closer in meaning to となり. Both words mean "next to" or "beside". ちかい can be better understood as "close (by)".