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Front Porch
Oct. 20th, 2007 07:09 pmI've been trying to imagine my "perfect" place to live, and determine whether it exists. Someplace where I can see a stranger walking down the street and think friendly thoughts, and not suspicious "stay out of my space!" thoughts. I know, most of that is in my head, but there may be an environment which would be therapeutic.
And an idea came to me: I need a front porch. I don't get enough of a chance to simply observe people; instead, everybody I meet is a potential interaction, someone who may get in my way or get too close or who knows what. It's tiring. If I sit on a bench in public, someone might come over and sit on it too, and waiting for that person is also tiring. If you have a front porch, however, in a neighborhood where people actually venture outside, then you can watch people go by, even interact with them if you wish, but there's still a sense of personal space. And you can set up the porch with comfy chairs and whatnot, so you can be productive while you sit.
Last year I read a book called "Suburban Nation" which is about the rise of sprawl and the resulting problems, and one of the things it pointed out is how houses don't have front porches on them anymore. Porches have all moved to the back of the house. That, combined with the fact that people are away from home more often (because they have farther to drive to work) reduces the amount of interaction between neighbors, so that people don't really interact with their neighbors anymore, and a sense of community is lost.
I might try taking Miriam to a park somewhere and sit; that might give me some of the benefits. One difficulty: I'd like to bring something to do with me, and it's hard to juggle work when you're sitting on a bench with no table. Maybe if I convert the stroller into a table? Hmm....
And an idea came to me: I need a front porch. I don't get enough of a chance to simply observe people; instead, everybody I meet is a potential interaction, someone who may get in my way or get too close or who knows what. It's tiring. If I sit on a bench in public, someone might come over and sit on it too, and waiting for that person is also tiring. If you have a front porch, however, in a neighborhood where people actually venture outside, then you can watch people go by, even interact with them if you wish, but there's still a sense of personal space. And you can set up the porch with comfy chairs and whatnot, so you can be productive while you sit.
Last year I read a book called "Suburban Nation" which is about the rise of sprawl and the resulting problems, and one of the things it pointed out is how houses don't have front porches on them anymore. Porches have all moved to the back of the house. That, combined with the fact that people are away from home more often (because they have farther to drive to work) reduces the amount of interaction between neighbors, so that people don't really interact with their neighbors anymore, and a sense of community is lost.
I might try taking Miriam to a park somewhere and sit; that might give me some of the benefits. One difficulty: I'd like to bring something to do with me, and it's hard to juggle work when you're sitting on a bench with no table. Maybe if I convert the stroller into a table? Hmm....
