Sitting In The Front Yard

OP lives in a holler.

What if these neighbors happen to be attractive young men allergic to clothes? Not a problem then, right?

Yes it’s tacky but very American.

Op I don’t give a shit if it’s classy or trashy! I’m gonna live my godamned life the way I want and to hell with everyone else! Including you!

R4 = typical American.

R5= typical sheep-ass.

Sometimes you just wanna see what's doin', OP.

It's OK to sit in chairs in your front yard, just don't pee in your front yard. And that goes double for you gals.

For decades the neighbors would gather out front to socialize and cool off.

It's only with the rise of suburban culture and air conditioners that people took to their fenced-in backyards and air-cooled dens.

It's only one step away from having livestock or a car on blocks in your front yard, so yes, low class.

How on earth does it impact you? I don't sit in my front yard, but I sure in the hell don't care if others do.

My Pa used to do that. He would sit in the driveway in the front and watch the neighborhood. he said it was more interesting than sitting by himself in the backyard. We had a pretty yard but he only went out there when we were all out there or when we had company. We were middle class people not low class trash.

Of all the things to worry about in this world,cunty OP picks this ?!?

Op is just some ol overinvolved, judgemental queen, wanting to feel superior. They’re a dime a dozen on the DL.

[quote]How on earth does it impact you?

How your neighbors behave affects the sale value of your home.

It is trashier when people open their front-facing garage and set up chairs in there.

Especially tacky. for the people whose garage is full of stuff from the floor to the rafters, and they sit amid that junkyard.

Downright dangerous when they also fire up the BBQ surrounded by that mess... A very special episode of Hoarders and Top Chef.

And this is why suburban houses with lawns and gardens are so contemptible.

What the fucking fuck is the point of having a front yard, if it's considered unacceptable to hang out in it?

R15 I sincerely hope all of YOUR neighbors sit outside in their front yards and stare at your ass!

Yes, it’s trashy, OP. It is distinctively lower class. You can move to a gated community with a strict HOA which states in its bylaws that lawn furniture in the front of the house is prohibited. That’s what I did. You have to pay for distance from people.

A lot of old people do this, R12. My father would have in his elder years except the front porch gets direct sunlight most of the day, particularly bad western exposure for hours, so it was too hot for him. He'd sit by the windows and look out. Another elderly neighbor around the corner sat on his porch when the weather was nice and in his Chrysler K car (remember those?) when it got colder in the winter. The bitch neighbor lady across the street (who had issues with everyone, yours truly included) bitched about him to everyone who would listen. We were all bewildered about her complaints about a sweet old guy. Another neighbor in his 90s does this, as well. It's a nice middle class neighborhood...

I grew up in the rural south in the 1950s and there really wasn't anything else to do than sitting out on the big front porch watching the cars drive past. The highlight of the week was Saturday night when you could go down to the Kroger's and watch them unload the trucks.

Don't cry for me, though, I escaped to Manhattan in my early 20s.

It’s called community, OP. It’s a good thing.

Make up your mind, OP. If they sit in the back yard you bitch about music/animal/kid noise and cigarette/ BBQ smoke. If they sit in front you think they're low class. It would be fun to know what your neighbors think of you.

It's not as bad if the person is sitting in the yard staring into space. It's more unsettling when they gawk or leer at other people. If you want to stare at someone, it's better to to peer at neighbors from your window, pulling up one of the slats in your blinds to be able to see.

R15 - how they "behave?" SITTING in the front yard is a bad behavior. You must be fun at parties.

Fake pretension is worse than the real thing.

I have a net up in my front yard all summer and regularly play volleyball and badminton with my friends. Mostly very good looking fit men. Don't care what the neighbors think.

it's called community, op

It's ok as long as you're not suckin up beers and throwing the empties at passing cars.

or flying the traitors' flag and yelling racist epithets

I built a small patio off the walkway to the front door with a settee and chairs. In the summer the sun in my backyard is gone by 4:00 and I like to sit in the late afternoon sun, talk on the phone or read. I would love a front porch but it doesn't lend itself to the style of my house. I really like how the patio came out though.

[quote]or flying the traitors' flag and yelling racist epithets

It's usually done as an excursion, with the flag affixed to a pickup truck and the drive careening through town, drinking., hollering racial epithets and hurling empties. I suppose it could also be done properly as a stationary activity from a lawn chair though.

Remember that MAGA hat wearing frat boy who flipped out and ate the couple in their driveway? They liked to open up the garage doors and sit in there and watch TV. The neighborhood probably breathed a sigh of relief that the tacky twosome wouldn’t be doing that anymore.

“No front porches. My uncle says there used to be front porches. And people sat there sometimes at night, talking when they wanted to talk, rocking, and not talking when they didn't want to talk. Sometimes they just sat there and thought about things, turned things over. My uncle says the architects got rid of the front porches because they didn't look well. But my uncle says that was merely rationalizing it; the real reason, hidden underneath, might be they didn't want people sitting like that, doing nothing, rocking, talking; that was the wrong KIND of social life. People talked too much. And they had time to think. So they ran off with the porches.”

[quote]Make up your mind, OP. If they sit in the back yard you bitch about music/animal/kid noise and cigarette/ BBQ smoke. If they sit in front you think they're low class. It would be fun to know what your neighbors think of you.

If they're fond of the internet, they likely think he's DL's Bad Neighbo(u)r Troll (who, as I recall, has started this same damned thread a couple times already).

Seeing as it's here again, I'll describe a birthday card I once bought for an elderly woman. On the front, an elderly woman sat in a rocking chair on the front porch, looking outward. The caption said, "You're not one to sit on the front porch and watch the world go by."

Inside, it said, "You're one to yell stuff and make rude gestures."

I don’t see anything wrong with it.

It could be a good way to develop a sense of community and get to know your neighbors.

I love sitting on a porch in summer during a heavy summer storm.

I am weird in that I kind of agree with OP. I don't like eating or drinking outside. I very occasionally like having drinks on a patio, but even then, I'm not that into it. I know it's odd.

It's a normal thing in black neighborhoods. My dad and his friends with nothing better to do just sit on the porch or hang out on the lawn. My family is Creole, when people tell me they don't know what that is then I just say Beyoncé, anyway and from New Orleans they moved to LA and I grew spending time on the porch with my grandparents and watching the neighborhood lol

It's not something I would do OP, but that is my own personal preference. If I sit anywhere outside, which isn't very often, I would sit in the back yard because I like my privacy. If the neighbors want to sit out front on their own land that is their prerogative and if it's a front porch, then that is what porches are for. I agree that if they are causing a disturbance to others, then yes, they need to mind their own business. Are you one of these people who believe clotheslines in the back yard for air drying clothes outside are unsightly?

R38 is correct that this is common in black neighborhoods.

That’s why racists like the OP tend to view it as low-class.

I is very low class unless you have an upholstered sofa on your front porch. That is a welcoming sign for all your neighbors to join you.

We had a deep front porch that ran the width of the front of the house. We had a double swing and a rocking chair in addition to a table and other chairs. In the summer it was so much so much cooler with the outside breeze and the shade compared to inside the house, despite the attic fan, which did help.

I'm an older gay guy (late 50s). Just last year, a new family moved into the home next door. I got to introduce myself to them, and they're very nice, and want to be part of the neighborhood. Recently another couple moved into the duplex next to my new neighbors. I've been rather suspicious of the weird looking guy who's always wearing sweats, and never cuts his hair. The other day, I saw my next-door neighbor's wife and kids introducing themselves to long-haired dude two doors down. When I got back from the store, long-haired dude was in a lawn chair on my next-door neighbor's stoop, reading from some kid's book to one of the younger children living next door. I had never seen long-haired dude smile before. Now that I have, I've very happy.

I try to be a good neighbor. I never have conflicts with my neighbors, who are pretty diverse, but almost all are pretty nice. When I was growing up (same house, yes) it was my (late) former next-door neighbor who taught me to tie my shoes. I told that to my new neighbors, and they were really happy that they had a neighbor who has lived here (on and off) for over 50 years. . Instead of complaining about neighbors, try to be a good neighbor.

I have no problem with it unless the people in question hanging out have an almost *confrontational* or*adversarial* attitude about them like the ones described up thread with the Confederate flag/ throwing beer cans. It's like there's an unspoken attitude of menace emanating from them- very different vibe from the 'ole folks at home' hanging out. Pisses me off when I walk my dog at night- who the fuck are you to survey me up and down? Creepy.

I was just thinking R41 is the old sofa on the porch more of a Southern thing, since they often don’t have basements? Not that poor taste is ever exclusively limited to any region.

I hate it if I can hear it from inside my house. Go inside. I don't want to listen to your inanities.

OP complained about people sitting in lawn chairs in their yards. That is different from sitting on a porch.

Some planned communities are designed to facilitate front porch sitting as a means of community building.

However, don’t put your shabby old flea-bitten sofa out there unless you married your cousin.

On a porch is fine. Lawn chairs on grass, or more likely, dirt? No. Also, grilling on or next to a three-foot wide walkway between the driveway and the front door isn't something that should be done.

Standin' on the corner watchin' all the girls go by. Standin' on the corner, givin' all the girls the eye.

Oh god R42,you mentioning an attic fan brought up so many memories of my dear great aunts old farmhouse in Georgia. Even in the hottest summer you had to sleep with a light blanket at night . They would leave the doors and windows open (can you imagine in this day and age?) and turn that thing on and the breeze just roared through the house.I spent many a summer night laying there listening to that thing and feeling the cool breeze rushing over me.Smelling that fresh country air,all snuggled in crispy clean sheets (she starched AND ironed hers) ,sheer heaven.

What about a nice wrought iron table and chair set in your front garden, like many of the houses on Rainbow Row in Charleston?

My friends have a neighbor, an older woman who wears skirts and sits on her front steps with her legs spread, and no panties.

I always thought it was tacky, but some wealthy older couple built a beautiful little house with a porch and they sit out there waving to everyone and engaging them in a quick chat. Their dog Oscar comes out sometimes. I think it's great, homey and safe. I wish we all did it, our neighbourhoods would probably be safer.

I suppose some people have few friends and sitting in the front porch or yard is their way to socialize. Though plan to move to a new neighborhood if you see they own a pickup with a gun rack.

I sit in the front sometimes because it’s cooler than the back. I guess the backyard fences keep the breeze out? I prefer to sit in the backyard, there’s a nice deck and I like the privacy. I also like to listen to music and read and just have some time to myself in an outside setting but sometimes it’s nice to sit in the front and say hey to the neighbors.

Fuck you asshole, when I was young we sat out in front of our place all the time...neighbors would come over and we would just enjoy each other.

[quote] some wealthy older couple built a beautiful little house with a porch and they sit out there waving to everyone and engaging them in a quick chat. Their dog Oscar comes out sometimes

I mentioned a neighbor in his 90s up at R20 ad this is exactly what he's like. His wife is also in her 90s and they live with his son and wife, who are in their late 60s. They didn't build a house as our neighborhood trends old because families have lived here for decades. He sits on his porch with a super-friendy Rat Terrier Chihuahua mix, Sky, who runs out to greet passersby. We all chat and it makes the neighborhood more like a "community." Incidentally, the family lives on a somewhat busy street and someone who drives by tried to dognap Sky. Imagine the balls and disregard it takes to remove a beloved pet from a good household.

r57 should have spent more time inside. He might have learned to write non-run-on sentences.

OP hasn't been out of the basement in years. He probably doesn't remember the last time he saw yellow face.

Oh that Angela Lansbury, r53!

I love sitting in my front yard “eye screwing” my neighbors. Judging them mentally. Bring a bitch can get quite enjoyable.

Honestly! The lengths that some of you will go to to bring all the boys to your yard…! Do you waggle your wiener at 'em?

Happened where I lived OP and oddly enough the people doing it were unemployed.

On another thread someone pointed out that it's men trying to create dominance on the street.

op, it is so fucking bizarre behavior. i find morons who do this are fools in their 20's and 30's and others are ghetto trash. all are ex apartment dwellers .

My grandparents used to do this on summer evenings. Most of the neighbors would go on walks in the early evening, and this was how they socialized.