Rediscover Your Front Yard
Ideas
Do you feel a little nostalgic when the characters in a movie sit on a front
porch and drink lemonade? The American front porch "was a place where
neighbors saw one another and were present to one another," writes
historian Michael Umphrey.9
That changed in the 1950s, when the first suburbs were developed to provide
inexpensive homes for World War II veterans and their growing families.
The front porch was replaced by the garage and over the next 50 years,
Americans moved their indoor-outdoor living to the backyard. Neighbors
became more distant, and the front yard became something to look at.
The front porch is making a comeback in forward-thinking developments
across the country focused on sustainable living. Most San Diego County
homes have a garage out front, but we can redesign our front yards to be the
new American front porch, where we connect with neighbors and create
the kind of street we always wanted to live on.
"I tore up the lawn 26 years ago for
veggies. What I like most is the neighbors'
interest in what I'm doing!"
Susan
La Mesa
32
