New research has found that front yards with friendly features, such as pink flamingos and porch furniture, are more connected to happier neighbors and correlated with a greater “sense of place.”
Robert Sullivan/AFP via Getty Images
hide caption
toggle caption
Robert Sullivan/AFP via Getty Images
New research has found that front yards with friendly features, such as pink flamingos and porch furniture, are more connected to happier neighbors and correlated with a greater “sense of place.”
Robert Sullivan/AFP via Getty Images
The medicine to alleviate America's loneliness epidemic could be right at home.
In many parts of America, front yards are a staple. Lush plants, porches, and knick-knacks can attract the attention of passersby and spark conversation. Other lawns have “stay away” signs, even if they have good fences or ominous signs.
But what can gardens tell us about the people who tend them and how they feel about their homes, neighborhoods, and cities?
A study of nearly 1,000 front yards in Buffalo's Elmwood Village neighborhood found that the more vibrant and open the front yard was, the happier and more connected residents were.
develop a sense of place
Our vestibular research is part of a larger investigation into how America's neighborhoods foster a stronger sense of place, which refers to the attachment we feel to our homes, neighborhoods, and cities. and refers to a sense of belonging.
For decades, psychological, geographic, and design research has linked a sense of place to improved neighborhood well-being and stronger bonds between neighbors.
For this particular study, I decided to focus on Elmwood Village in Buffalo. Of course, there was also the convenience factor. We are both professors at the University at Buffalo. However, in 2007 Elmwood Village was also named one of America's 10 Great Neighborhoods by the American Planning Association.
We wanted to know what Elmwood Village had to offer.
This leafy neighborhood north of downtown Buffalo is known for its parkways designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, a landscape architect who also helped plan New York's Central Park and Boston's Emerald Necklace. Elmwood His Village is relatively affluent, but has a diverse mix of renters and homeowners.
Elmwood Avenue is the area's commercial hub and is surrounded by a dense residential mix of single-family and multi-family homes. Previous research had already shown that Elmwood Village residents have a strong sense of place. They particularly appreciated the parkway and the area's large historic homes built along tree-lined streets.
But we wanted to know whether residents expressed a sense of place from their homes, especially from the parts visible to all passersby.
In the precious few feet of space in front of their homes, residents display their values and interests, including garden gnomes, small free libraries, elaborate landscaping, and sports and political allegiances. can do.
Residents can easily chat with neighbors while hanging out or working in the garden. A 1997 study found that more than three out of four of her new contacts in her neighborhood were made from her front yard.
These spaces are like bridges to the neighborhood, allowing each resident to decide how much they want to express themselves to their neighbors and passersby. At the same time, the front garden can also be used to screen off the house by blocking views or preventing access with fences, hedges, warning boards, etc.
Front yard living at Elmwood Village
In the fall of 2022, we assigned a team of 17 students from the University at Buffalo's School of Environmental Design to observe how residents created 984 front yards along 25 blocks of Elmwood Village.
Pilot studies demonstrated that elements such as flags, expressive signs, flower pots, landscaping, toys and games, seating, porches, fences and hedges, and welcome and unwelcome signs can be reliably measured. Lawn care and home maintenance could not be reliably tracked because different researchers had different opinions on countermeasures. (Unfortunately, garden gnomes and small free libraries are too rare in this region to include.)
They then compared the data from the students' fieldwork with responses from a survey that asked residents about their attachment to their homes, neighbors, and neighborhoods. Did you think there was a strong sense of identity around you? and whether they felt a connection with nature.
We found the results to be surprisingly consistent. Whether it was proudly displaying a Buffalo Bills flag or simply placing a few flower pots on the front porch, residents who expressed themselves with items in front of their homes reported feeling a greater sense of belonging.
Locations with obstacles, such as fences and hedges, were correlated with a lower sense of place. Interestingly, unwelcome signs such as “No Trespassing” or “Smiling on Camera” were not.
Even simple objects like toys and plastic playthings left in the front yard seemed to indicate a strong sense of place. For us, this says a few things. Homeowners trust their property won't be stolen, and parents seem less worried about letting their kids play outside with friends in the neighborhood.
This leads to our most powerful results. Elements that promote socialization, such as garden chairs, porches, and benches, were associated with significantly greater residents' sense of place across all aspects we measured, including how they viewed their home and how they viewed their home. streets and neighborhoods.
Building a more connected community
Our research tests urbanists' decades-old argument that vibrant front yards create more connected neighborhoods.
And it turns out they can play just fine in places with a small front yard, or even none at all.
A study in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, found that residents of the port city decorate their sidewalks with chairs, planters, and knick-knacks to express themselves, even though they have little space in front of their densely packed urban homes. It turned out that there was. The study found that these small actions can strengthen community bonds and improve the happiness of residents. This also means that while socio-economic factors influence how much and what kind of space people set aside around their homes, vibrant, expressive displays and social connections also suggests that the connection will persist across different income groups as long as designers do so.
In our view, our findings encourage architects, planners, and developers to create spaces for shared values and conversations before the home when designing homes and neighborhoods. It should serve as a gentle reminder of what you need to create. That means prioritizing a porch over a parking lot, and a canvas for self-expression over saving space or money. American designers and builders are under tremendous pressure to produce more housing, but they must remember that only residents can turn a house into a home.
Humans have an amazing ability to shape their environments to suit their needs.
But Elmwood Village residents already know this. They're busy hosting the upcoming Porchfest, an annual front yard arts and music festival that enhances the area's reputation as one of the best places to live in America.
Conrad Kickert I'm an associate professor of architecture at the University at Buffalo.
Kelly Gregg Associate Professor of Urban Planning at the University at Buffalo.
The origin of this story is conversation, A nonprofit, independent news organization dedicated to unleashing expert knowledge in the public interest.
