It was once a given that your front yard should be small but welcoming, with chairs on the porch to make it easier to talk to people walking by, while the back yard is a private family spot for vegetable gardens, cookouts, and children's toys. Now science is looking into what a front yard has to do with the wellbeing of the people living inside.
The hypothesis was that front yards that showed a sense of the resident's personality led to stronger ties among neighborhoods. This sense of personality could be anything from carefully planted flower beds to chairs to flags to holiday decorations to welcome signs. A group of researchers rated homes in Buffalo's Elmwood Village neighborhood by their openness and personality, while a different group contacted the homeowners and had them take a survey on their sense of place. The results show that front yards with personality and a sense of welcome correlated with the residents's contentment, attachment to the neighborhood, and stronger ties with their neighbors. Homes that had fences or hedges in front showed a negative correlation. It makes plenty of sense to me. I met most of the people in my neighborhood just by being outside near the street. Those who were home to see the eclipse ending up all observing it from the same yard. Read about this study and others that corroborate it, plus ways you can make your front yard appear more welcoming at The Conversation.
(Image credit: Reading Tom)
