Down with television and air-conditioning! Up with the rocking chair and the banjo!

August 1, 2006 7:46 AM

The blooms, the iced tea, and the gossip. This summer, NPR gives the front porch the credit it is due - although it’s not the first time.
While some are contemporary professionals of the porch, others simply accept that we have become a "back deck" society. Andrew Jackson Downing would surely prefer this view. If you find yourself in Washington D.C., be sure to visit him in front of the castle. Pictures of porches. Previous.
posted by RobertFrost (16 comments total)

You can't smoke dope on your front porch, nor can you get crazy naked.
posted by absalom at 7:52 AM on August 1, 2006

Any good college student will tell you quite the opposite. [grin]
posted by RobertFrost at 8:03 AM on August 1, 2006

I live in an old Victorian section of a small town in Pennsylvania. I have lived in houses with porches on and off throughout my life, and I prefer to have a porch. I do know most of my neighbors and I didn't know any of my neighbors in my last apartment. Everyone says hi to each other and it's very friendly.
posted by jefeweiss at 8:03 AM on August 1, 2006

The Porches Inn at MASS Moca.
posted by ericb at 8:18 AM on August 1, 2006

I am a professional porch-sitter, although I had no idea it had a name. My neighbors and I organize a sitting-room social once a month. In addition to the TV and air conditioning factors, people are just so dang busy these days. They need to sit around and listen to the elders tell stories. Getting to know your neighbors is also good for neighborhood security.
posted by zennie at 8:29 AM on August 1, 2006

*so not going to quote a joke from Clerks II*
posted by keswick at 8:40 AM on August 1, 2006

I'd love to have a porch. A screened porch. I could sleep on it.

However, I thought that to be a professional something-or-other, you had to get paid for doing it, not just profess that you're a professional.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 8:48 AM on August 1, 2006

The only ground I ever owned was sticking to my shoes
Now I look at my front porch and this panoramic view
I can sit and watch the fields fill up
With rays of glowing sun
Or watch the moon lay on the fences
Like that's where it was hung
My blessings are in front of me
It's not about the land
I'll never beat the view
From my front porch looking in
-- Lonestar, "My Front Porch Looking In"

You can't smoke dope on your front porch... Come check out a few neighborhoods in DC sometime....
posted by inigo2 at 8:52 AM on August 1, 2006

Well, I should say I can't smoke dope on my front porch, then. Not since I moved from Knoxville, anyway.
posted by absalom at 9:40 AM on August 1, 2006

We get paid with lemonade.
posted by zennie at 9:45 AM on August 1, 2006

Was it here that someone linked to a NYTimes article on a family who created a porch on top of their apartment building in Manhattan? It was really cool, but I can't find it on either site...
posted by echo0720 at 10:50 AM on August 1, 2006

Yes. -- A Porch and Flowering Meadow, 6 Floors Up


posted by ericb at 11:05 AM on August 1, 2006

posted by ericb at 11:07 AM on August 1, 2006

Thats fantastic. I thank ye.
posted by RobertFrost at 11:08 AM on August 1, 2006

Thanks ericb!
posted by echo0720 at 11:35 AM on August 1, 2006

I'd love to have a front porch, but the road I live on makes it somewhat impractical.

Even with the older homes in my town that do have porches, the traffic and bad element have driven people inside or around the back.
posted by madajb at 1:59 PM on August 1, 2006