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Feb 2, 2024 12:18:12   #
cahale Loc: San Angelo, TX
 
Bridges wrote:
Driving through our neighborhood about 60% of the homes have a porch. All these have a couple of chairs, sometimes rockers, sometimes sofas, or porch swings. There is never anyone in them! People seem to never sit out front of their homes anymore. Years ago people would sit outside and enjoy the cool of the evening, wave at neighbors, and occasionally come across the lawn to talk to someone from the area walking by. At times they would invite them to sit on the porch with them and offer tea or something else to drink.

We seem to have lost a lot by becoming more involved with our computers and televisions. It's one of those romantic nostalgic pieces of life we seem to be continually losing like steam engine trains and soda fountains where we could order a black cow or fizzy or a milkshake made with real hand-dipped ice cream.

We can't turn back time but in so many ways it would be nice if we could.
Driving through our neighborhood about 60% of the ... (show quote)


Air conditioning is the main cause, with TV #2. Back when, it was cooler, usually, to sit outside.

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Feb 2, 2024 12:23:41   #
jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY
 
Bridges wrote:
Driving through our neighborhood about 60% of the homes have a porch. All these have a couple of chairs, sometimes rockers, sometimes sofas, or porch swings. There is never anyone in them! People seem to never sit out front of their homes anymore. Years ago people would sit outside and enjoy the cool of the evening, wave at neighbors, and occasionally come across the lawn to talk to someone from the area walking by. At times they would invite them to sit on the porch with them and offer tea or something else to drink.

We seem to have lost a lot by becoming more involved with our computers and televisions. It's one of those romantic nostalgic pieces of life we seem to be continually losing like steam engine trains and soda fountains where we could order a black cow or fizzy or a milkshake made with real hand-dipped ice cream.

We can't turn back time but in so many ways it would be nice if we could.
Driving through our neighborhood about 60% of the ... (show quote)


You'll generally find porches in older neighborhoods.

How much time would you spend in a rocking chair on a porch in 20° weather?

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Feb 2, 2024 12:23:58   #
twowindsbear
 
Bridges wrote:
Driving through our neighborhood about 60% of the homes have a porch. All these have a couple of chairs, sometimes rockers, sometimes sofas, or porch swings. There is never anyone in them! People seem to never sit out front of their homes anymore. Years ago people would sit outside and enjoy the cool of the evening, wave at neighbors, and occasionally come across the lawn to talk to someone from the area walking by. At times they would invite them to sit on the porch with them and offer tea or something else to drink.

We seem to have lost a lot by becoming more involved with our computers and televisions. It's one of those romantic nostalgic pieces of life we seem to be continually losing like steam engine trains and soda fountains where we could order a black cow or fizzy or a milkshake made with real hand-dipped ice cream.

We can't turn back time but in so many ways it would be nice if we could.
Driving through our neighborhood about 60% of the ... (show quote)


Most of the houses in my neighborhood have more of a 'stoop' than an actual porch. They're perhaps 4 - 6' square, more of a 'transition' from the yard to the door. What really plucks on my nerve, though, is there is no walkway from the sidewalk near the street TO the front door. The walkway connects the driveway to the front door, or the kitchen door. I see this a lot in many, maybe even most, of the neighborhoods in town. Even more extreme, my cousin had a home in a rather 'upscale' neighborhood in Naples, FL that didn't even have sidewalks! If a resident or visitor to her neighborhood wanted to actually WALK in the neighborhood, they had to do their walking in the street & play dodge-em with traffic!

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Feb 2, 2024 13:18:20   #
RKastner Loc: Davenport, FL
 
fourlocks wrote:
Front porches are likely a throwback to pre-industrial times when home owners would sit on their front porches to greet and talk to their neighbors who were out for a stroll. Now-a-days you sit on a front porch and what do you see? Noisy cars and trucks passing by.


Also back in the day when people sat out on the front porches, they essentially had small or essentially no backyard. When I was a kid in the 60's and 70's that was the case for us. We lost our front porch when we moved into a house that had a backyard.

I live in Florida...with a pool. When I want to be outside, I'm sitting by the pool or I'm in it.

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Feb 2, 2024 13:21:27   #
gouldopfl
 
Damn the bugs.

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Feb 2, 2024 13:25:59   #
jimkolt Loc: Sun City, AZ
 
Depends on the neighborhood. We live in Sun City, AZ and it isn't unusual to see someone sitting outside in front of their house. We know our neighbors and generally help each other when help is needed. However, we've lived in places where we seldom saw our neighbors. Even then we knew our neighbors and would offer help when we were aware of a need. I wonder if it isn't up to each of us to "be neighborly"?

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Feb 2, 2024 13:32:43   #
gouldopfl
 
I live in Indiana, but we can only put up the black fences. I only have one for my dogs and many have them for their kids. When I lived in Florida, we all had privacy fences. These shouldn't be a problem because they use texts. I have seen families at restaurants texting those at the table

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Feb 2, 2024 13:45:19   #
spaceytracey Loc: East Glacier Park, MT
 
Bridges wrote:
Driving through our neighborhood about 60% of the homes have a porch. All these have a couple of chairs, sometimes rockers, sometimes sofas, or porch swings. There is never anyone in them! People seem to never sit out front of their homes anymore. Years ago people would sit outside and enjoy the cool of the evening, wave at neighbors, and occasionally come across the lawn to talk to someone from the area walking by. At times they would invite them to sit on the porch with them and offer tea or something else to drink.

We seem to have lost a lot by becoming more involved with our computers and televisions. It's one of those romantic nostalgic pieces of life we seem to be continually losing like steam engine trains and soda fountains where we could order a black cow or fizzy or a milkshake made with real hand-dipped ice cream.

We can't turn back time but in so many ways it would be nice if we could.
Driving through our neighborhood about 60% of the ... (show quote)


Probably afraid of getting shot. The world has gotten so unfriendly over the past few years. You never know what might set someone off.

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Feb 2, 2024 14:04:33   #
robertjerl Loc: Corona, California
 
Bridges wrote:
Driving through our neighborhood about 60% of the homes have a porch. All these have a couple of chairs, sometimes rockers, sometimes sofas, or porch swings. There is never anyone in them! People seem to never sit out front of their homes anymore. Years ago people would sit outside and enjoy the cool of the evening, wave at neighbors, and occasionally come across the lawn to talk to someone from the area walking by. At times they would invite them to sit on the porch with them and offer tea or something else to drink.

We seem to have lost a lot by becoming more involved with our computers and televisions. It's one of those romantic nostalgic pieces of life we seem to be continually losing like steam engine trains and soda fountains where we could order a black cow or fizzy or a milkshake made with real hand-dipped ice cream.

We can't turn back time but in so many ways it would be nice if we could.
Driving through our neighborhood about 60% of the ... (show quote)


I use the chairs on the porch to sit with my camera and take pictures of birds and bees on the flowers at least once a week.
As a kid on weekend visits and the first two years of college when I lived on the farm with my Grandmother, the porch swing was often my reading spot. For writing I had to move into the dining room to use the table as a desk.

The farm house also had an enclosed back porch (with an "indoor" cistern) for sitting and reading on bad weather days.

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Feb 2, 2024 16:46:02   #
KillroyII Loc: Middle Georgia
 
Bridges wrote:
Driving through our neighborhood about 60% of the homes have a porch. All these have a couple of chairs, sometimes rockers, sometimes sofas, or porch swings. There is never anyone in them! People seem to never sit out front of their homes anymore. Years ago people would sit outside and enjoy the cool of the evening, wave at neighbors, and occasionally come across the lawn to talk to someone from the area walking by. At times they would invite them to sit on the porch with them and offer tea or something else to drink.

We seem to have lost a lot by becoming more involved with our computers and televisions. It's one of those romantic nostalgic pieces of life we seem to be continually losing like steam engine trains and soda fountains where we could order a black cow or fizzy or a milkshake made with real hand-dipped ice cream.

We can't turn back time but in so many ways it would be nice if we could.
Driving through our neighborhood about 60% of the ... (show quote)


We have a small front porch and a larger back porch. In years past, we have spent time on both. After our daughter went back to work, subsequent to having her 1st child, my wife kept the boy during the day. After he began to walk the front porch got a lot of use as our grandson played in the front yard.

Now, the only time we use either porch is to take a break when doing anything outside. Some of our neighbors will come over and talk during our breaks at times.

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Feb 2, 2024 17:25:31   #
SAVH Loc: La Jolla, CA
 
I concur with your observation. We live in California in an HOA that was built in 1978. There are no front porches in the entire 59 unit complex. Furthermore, essentially none of the homes have living room windows looking out toward the street. Every home is focused toward the back of the house where there are a few pools but mostly just nice seating areas. Reflects the times, I guess.

Scotty

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Feb 2, 2024 17:28:17   #
gouldopfl
 
We have a front sitting area, but in the back, we glassed in our porch so that we could use it year round.

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Feb 2, 2024 19:39:54   #
Bridges Loc: Memphis, Charleston SC, now Nazareth PA
 
jerryc41 wrote:
You'll generally find porches in older neighborhoods.

How much time would you spend in a rocking chair on a porch in 20° weather?


About the same amount of time, I would spend if the temp. was 100!

This neighborhood is around 45 years old so it isn't a new neighborhood. It looks like the newer neighborhoods only have porches on houses that want a farmhouse look or Southern style with a wraparound porch.

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Feb 2, 2024 20:10:03   #
halraiser
 
Air conditioning and television moved people indoors.

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Feb 2, 2024 21:36:52   #
usnret Loc: Woodhull Il
 
Guessing porch pirates don't count as visitors seeing as how they never stay long.

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