The Front Porch is Making a Comeback

I woke up early, a fitful sleep, with my grandson Nathan crying and waking me up in the night. Groggy, I set out to open the cafe for 8. Slow start, crappy day out, so time to read the Daily Hampshire Gazette. Next month they turn into a morning paper, I think this is going to be a huge boost for them.

I found a story about front porch sitting. There is actually a Professional Porch Sitters Union, based in Louisville, KY, ‘a sort of do-nothing organization whose motto is “Sit down a spell.” I’ve always loved a second floor porch, sitting and watching the world.

“The porch was a place to catch the last light of the day, and it was your form of entertainment,” said Crow Hollister, the organization’s founder. But as Americans turned their backs on the porch in favor of the backyard deck, they shut themselves off from their communities. This turned into the ‘private area,’ the place between the front door and the public world.’

A new community in Seaside FL requires that all homes have a front porch. “It’s a political movement,” said Hollister. They’re tearing down old housing that is unhealthy and rebuild healthier living spaces that includes porches.”