May 30 through June 5 of 2020 is Porch Placemaking Week. At the MML Foundation and the Michigan Municipal League, we have been working with placemaking for a long time. The new threat of COVID-19 has us (and a lot of people, especially MML members) thinking about what the future of public spaces looks like. So far, reports from countries that are contact tracing are showing that the risk of contracting COVID while in open-air public spaces is low. That’s some good news. But what does this mean for peoples’ trust in – or fear of – public spaces and the commons? People frequently tie their perception of their hometowns to public spaces. As Peter Kageyama calls them in his new book, The Emotional Infrastructure of Places, they are the “psychic centers” of our communities that we stop to congregate at or rest on any given day, where we hold events (in the Before Times), and what we “show off” to visitors arriving into town.

Enter Porch Placemaking Week, a micro-placemaking or even a “tactical urbanism” approach to placemaking in response to COVID-19. It’s a way for people across the globe to engage in activities that are physically distanced, activate spaces, brighten up their blocks (or apartment buildings, condo associations, etc.), and maybe even get to know their neighbors. Here in Michigan, we’re able to congregate (for the time being) in groups of ten or less if we follow social distancing guidelines – and preferably congregate outside.

In a world that was already isolating in many ways before the pandemic, the power of the front porch to connect people is deeply important as we now must physically distance for the sake of our health and others’. (I also prefer the term “physically distance” over “socially distance” as we can – and should – still be social while physically apart.) Growing up in the suburbs of Metro Detroit, personally, I didn’t have a front porch close to the street like I do now in my 100+ year old home in the Eastside Neighborhood of Lansing, Michigan.

Just this past weekend, I experienced the strange magic and simple joy that is sitting on one’s front porch. We bought our home almost two years ago and admittedly, we have spent more time on the back deck than the front porch. As the intense sunlight and humidity pushed us from our normal spots in the sun on the back deck to the welcoming shade of the front porch, we noticed our new neighbor across the street on his front porch. And rather than sit directly across the street from each other on our own front porches and not talk, we invited him over for a beer. And yes, we did sit 6 feet away from each other.

He moved in just before the pandemic really hit the U.S. It was the day that my husband and I hosted a Leap Year party for neighbors. We had intended to do more entertaining this summer and organize some block parties – plans that clearly have to be modified now. As we talked with our neighbor and watched a pair of robins feed their brood in the nest they made in the corner of our porch (I also now know a lot more about robins than I ever thought I would thanks to the pandemic), I had what seemed like an undue feeling of elation over the fact that we just said “hello” and invited a new neighbor over. And it likely would not have happened without our front porches.

This of course is not a new concept. Many have written on the power of the front porch such as this 1975 essay from Richard H. Thomas, or this 2018 blog from Strong Towns, or even the entire annual event dedicated to front porches in Mississippi. As the “nuclear family” was idealized and over the larger sense of community and our homes in the suburbs were being built with back patios and back decks instead of front porches, and sitcoms portrayed neighbors as nuisances, we lost a sense of what it means to be a neighbor and part of a community.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is no denying that the pandemic is causing suffering around the world. In many ways – from the household level to the national policy level – this pandemic will become what we make of it. We must take the chances that we can to create silver linings. And while we won’t deny the grief, anguish, and fear, we must – to maintain sanity – point out the silver linings and hold them up as shining examples of what to bring with us into the post-pandemic world that we absolutely have the chance to co-create.

Thanks to some micro-placemaking activities in my neighborhood, I now know that our new neighbor is into gardening like us, another has a daughter who just graduated from high school, and I discovered that another neighbor has been sewing face masks like myself – but she has been (unknowingly) doing some micro-placemaking by hanging her homemade face masks outside by the sidewalk for people to take if they need them. They may be small or unimportant details, but they’ve brought me a sense of connection to those who live their lives right next to me in these trying times. And now I know my neighbors beyond a cursory “hello” as we walk down the street with our dog.

We’re still brainstorming some ideas for our porch placemaking project, but I’ll be sure to share them once we’ve activated our front yard, porch, and sidewalk.

So, take this weekend to gather some chalk, plants, paint, or other supplies and get ready for Porch Placemaking Week. We hope you share your projects with us on social media by posting photos and tagging the MML Foundation, the Michigan Municipal League, and Porch Placemaking Week. And be sure to use the hashtag #porchplacemaking.

Happy placemaking!