Drive through an older neighborhood residental neighborhood, preferably one with single family homes built before the Second World War. On the front of nearly every house, you will see a porch. The porch may not be the veranda at Tara, but it will quite often be large enough that the house's residents can put out a porch swing or some wicker chairs, maybe some plants and a wrought iron table. Now, drive through a newer neighborhood. Barring custom built homes, you will likely see few if any porches. Entry into the house is usually gained from a small stoop or a couple of steps. Where did all the porches go? Why, to the BACK of the house, of course! The porch has been rechristened "the deck" and folks put their patio furniture, plants and wrought iron tables and such on those.
The front porch seems such a happy invention. It conjures up images of Mrs Jones standing on the top step and speaking to the letter carrier, teenaged couples in poodle skirts and letter sweaters rocking slightly as the sun goes down, and smiling graduates in caps and gowns waiting for their pictures to carry them forever into a moment of family lore. Decks are probably happy inventions for many people; personally, I could take em or leave 'em. I suppose it is more seemly to barbeque on the back deck than it would be on a front porch. The deck is more private, I will admit. I'd have to say that most of them look rather uninspired, though. They tend to be made of wood, and seem almost an afterthought. One may have a white colonial style, or a spit level, a ranch, but the decks tend to be plain old wood, sometimes stained to look like redwood. They are generally simple and unadorned, and where aesthetics are concerned, I have seen few decks that enhance the appearance of the houses they often seem slapped up against.
So why a backyard deck, instead of a front porch? What prompted the move change of the outdoor living space from a frontward looking one to a rearward one? I think it has a lot to do with more interest in our private lives. Once upon a time, neighbors often relied on each other, they knew each other, they chatted about the weather or what fertilizer to use on the yard, and brought food to each other when there was a death in a family. My grandmother could drive past a house she lived in 30 or more years in the past, and tell who lived in each of the surrounding houses back then, what they were like, some anecdote about them. I've lived in the same residence now for over two years, and I've never even met some of the neighbors who lived in their homes before I moved here. I don't think the neighbors care to meet me any more than I do them. I see few of my neighbors talking to each other, except for the kids playing or hanging out with each other; presumably, they know each other from school, where familiarity is more likely to breed. I think people today are less trusting of other people, and there are far more outlets for socialization today than ever before.
Perhaps it is a generational thing, to some extent. I do a lot of walking, for fitness sakes, and there are many nice streets in my part of town to walk down. I see older people working in their yards, and older people seem to talk to their neighbors more. I rarely see younger homeowners out talking to their neighbors. If I pass someone on the street, younger people don't wave, nod, or say hello, nor do I do so. However, when I pass an older person, they almost always wave, nod or say hello; when they do I do so in return. But I rarely initiate the greeting.
In the end, I'd much rather live in a house with a front porch. I may not use it all that frequently, but just knowing it is there makes it seem an asset. Perhaps if I had a porch, I'd be more inclined to chat with the letter carrier and my neighbors.
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