Build your own stoop culture
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Illustration: Maura Losch/Axios
Cities with row homes are among my favorite in the U.S. Looking at you, D.C., Philly and Brooklyn.
The big picture: A key part of those cities is their stoop culture: the art of sitting outside, observing the street scene — and chatting with passersby, who might eventually go from strangers to friends.
Zoom in: Longtime San Franciscan Patty Smith wrote recently for the newsletter Supernuclear about how she and her husband Tyler set out to meet more neighbors by making a de facto stoop.
- The approach was radically doable: Instead of drinking coffee in their house on the weekend, they set up folding chairs on the street.
What blossomed was a more interconnected community and new traditions, including sidewalk potlucks (like a pancake party), a TV watch party, a cookie swap and a parent hang at a brewery. Plus, an active WhatsApp chat for future planning.
- All it took was one neighbor joining them on the "stoop," and then another... and another.
Why it matters: Research shows that knowing your neighbors comes with all sorts of perks, from better health to safer streets. But the share of Americans who know their neighbors has fallen over the last several decades. Committing to stoop culture could be a fix.
- "Our neighborhood community is now a group of people that we rely on and who rely on us for emotional support, last-minute child care, home-cooked meals, general camaraderie and much more," Smith writes.
Try it!
- Keep it simple. "To avoid burnout, we've intentionally kept our community-building as low-lift as possible," Smith writes. You don't need to plan a party. Just start having your coffee outside.
- Think of sidewalks and streets as places to gather. Those who live in smaller spaces know this concept well. An unused parking spot can be a place to hang out.
- Don't overlook the front yard. Our default is to host gatherings in our backyards, but simply shifting them to the front can be an easy way to meet new people. "You capture some traffic walking by ... and then they see you out there and they wonder what it is. Before long, you've got more people in the group," Laura Carlson, a mom looking to build community in San Francisco, told Axios' Carly Mallenbaum.
My thought bubble: My partner Andy surprised me last year with a patio in our tiny patch of front lawn space shared with other condo owners, who luckily consented.
- With a table and chairs, we've gathered to pass out candy on Halloween, eaten dinner and even brought our laptops outside to work.
- We've met more of our neighbors and learned more about them than we would have from the requisite greeting in the hallway.
