Front porch in our old neighborhood in Capitol Hill

When we were considering moving to Rochester, we looked at a lot of houses in various neighborhoods. And one of the things we kept coming back to was the front porch. We love front porches and everything they represent. When the houses in your neighborhood have front porches, people hang out on them. You say “Hello” to passersby and wave at your neighbors. If you have kids, they will romp in your front yard and be social too, while you are hanging out on the porch. We know many people do not like the front porch model, prefering a little more privacy. And we respect that. But in doing our own values clarification about what we wanted from a house and a neighborhood, a front porch was vital.

Weather-permitting, we and our neighbors are out on our porches. We play guitar and sing songs on our front porch. We hang out and have cocktails or a casual dinner. Our kids climb the trees out front and play with the dog. Some of our neighbors have room for full tables and chairs and eat dinner on their porches in the summer. Others sit and read with their dogs by their sides. We have a fair number of young renters on our street and there is a lot of beer pong and other games going on in front yards and porches. Our front porches bring us all together in a casual and friendly way.

In a way, I guess RocVille is like our front porch. Without the cocktails and music.