Getting on with the neighbours?

[JAS_OH1]

I bought my house 9 years ago, and in my budget most of the houses we viewed were built back in the 90's. None of those houses had a front porch or seating area. This suggests to me that the trend of sitting in front of one's house and being sociable with the neighbors was already out of fashion by the 90's in my part of the state.

The original part of my house before we added on to it was built in the 1950s. No front porch or seating area, just a small deck with steps to get up to the front door. And there were no sidewalks then, it just isn't feasible. Plus there are only 5 months out of the year where it's warm enough to be able to sit outside comfortably (and some of those months have a lot of rain or the temperatures are uncomfortably hot).

I imagine where you live there are 7 months out of the year where it's uncomfortably hot, maybe more? Not to mention humidity! Living in NE Ohio not far from lake Erie and with lots of smaller lakes and rivers, the humidity is high here as well. But I lived in NW Florida for 35 years and the humidity here is not quite as intense. That's the nature of Florida, though, humidity and mosquitoes!

 

[caseydog]

The original part of my house before we added on to it was built in the 1950s. No front porch or seating area, just a small deck with steps to get up to the front door. And there were no sidewalks then, it just isn't feasible. Plus there are only 5 months out of the year where it's warm enough to be able to sit outside comfortably (and some of those months have a lot of rain or the temperatures are uncomfortably hot).

I imagine where you live there are 7 months out of the year where it's uncomfortably hot, maybe more? Not to mention humidity! Living in NE Ohio not far from lake Erie and with lots of smaller lakes and rivers, the humidity is high here as well. But I lived in NW Florida for 35 years and the humidity here is not quite as intense. That's the nature of Florida, though, humidity and mosquitoes!

When my paternal grandparents were alive, they lived in West Palm Beach, FL. They had what people there call a "Florida room," which is basically a big screened in porch. They sat out there almost every evening, and when I visited, I did, too. South Florida isn't that bad in the evenings, as long as you have a screened in area to keep the mosquitos away.

CD

 

[JAS_OH1]

When my paternal grandparents were alive, they lived in West Palm Beach, FL. They had what people there call a "Florida room," which is basically a big screened in porch. They sat out there almost every evening, and when I visited, I did, too. South Florida isn't that bad in the evenings, as long as you have a screened in area to keep the mosquitos away.

CD

Everybody had a Florida room or a lanai. Not the same thing as a front porch. And I and most people I knew had theirs out back by the pool, not in the front.

Mosquitos are just as bad in NW Florida where I lived. They always found a way to get in, but I had a bug zapper. That didn't help with palmetto bugs, though.

 

[caseydog]

Everybody had a Florida room or a lanai. Not the same thing as a front porch. And I and most people I knew had theirs out back by the pool, not in the front.

Mosquitos are just as bad in NW Florida where I lived. They always found a way to get in, but I had a bug zapper. That didn't help with palmetto bugs, though.

My grandparents lived in a double-wide mobile home, and all of the Florida rooms were in the front.

CD

 

[Yorky]

When I'm at home, I spend the majority of the day sat on the stoep (from around 06:00 to 21:00). The rest of the time I'm either cooking or sleeping or watching specific programmes on the television. Sometimes I nod off on the stoep.

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[CraigC]

When I was in my early 20's, I didn't socialize with my neighbors as I didn't want them hanging around our house. Although I had all the permits I needed, I just didn't like the idea of them knowing about all the venomous snakes I kept. Most would have "freaked out" had they known. Even sharing my "Q" with them still kept me from inviting them in the house.

 

[CraigC]

Once I got rid of the venomous, it took me a while to get back into snakes and my preference was South American Arboreal Boas, Emerald Tree Boas exactly, both Northern and Amazon Basins. Still didn't wan't neighbors hanging out. Our collection at one time had over 40 individuals.