Fronts and Backs

Abstract

With New Urbanist ideas reshaping the form of American and Canadian suburban development, this research surveys residents of three Toronto-area neighborhoods to explore how residents use the streets, yards, and alleys immediately adjoining their houses. Despite the presence of attractive front yards and streets, because most of the residents surveyed rely on automobiles stored in alleys for traveling to work or shop, the backdoor is the de facto main entry to their houses. Backyards are also used more frequently and for a wider range of activities than are front yards, and alleys are sites of informal socializing with neighbors. These patterns, however, are not tied to rates of recreational walking or the use of the front yard as an intentional social space, something many residents clearly value.