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I live adjacent to a pretty swanky residential neighborhood with some of the most expensive and beautiful homes in my city. I take daily walks all around the area and often admire the beautiful balconies, decks and verandas of these upscale homes. It's particularly beautiful this time of year with lovely green lawns, flowers in full bloom, wonderful summer breezes, etc. During my dozens and dozens of walks through this area, I have yet to see anyone using their outdoor spaces adorned with what appears to be very expensive outdoor furniture. A couple evenings ago, I made a point to count how many homes I passed with NO ONE outside. I stopped counting at about 60 homes.
Are these spaces just for show? I am oddly fascinated by the sheer lack of people using their outdoor spaces. Why do people spend thousands on these spaces and the furnishings and not use them?
We've often said the same thing of beachfront owners... Everyone says in personal ads and Hallmark Cards that they like to walk on the beach... but very few actually do!
It's because people can't see their laptop or iPad screen in the sunlight. They also also can't invite guests over to entertain due to Covid19. So everyone is nside enjoying the A/C, and on their computers.
It may depend on what time of day you go. I went walking in the weekend morning recently and saw many people outside, but in the afternoons/evenings, I tend to see fewer people.
They have twice as big a space with twice as much decor in the back where they can get some privacy from those lookie loos who are always out walking and checking them out.
It may depend on what time of day you go. I went walking in the weekend morning recently and saw many people outside, but in the afternoons/evenings, I tend to see fewer people.
Right. Why should we have to use every available space 100% of the time to make that space valid to have?
It's like I say about my Chevy Suburban: if you see me in it by myself, you might assume that I'm wasting all that space and work capacity, but you're not seeing me when I'm towing my travel trailer or fully loaded coming back from Home Depot or whatever. I only use the truck a few times a month, if that, but when I do use it, I really like having it. Same with furnished outdoor spaces. I won't use it when it's 100 degrees out OR when it's below, say 60 degrees. But when I do use it it's really nice to have it.
They have twice as big a space with twice as much decor in the back where they can get some privacy from those lookie loos who are always out walking and checking them out.
I have an enclosed back deck overlooking a small lake and spend a lot of time out there even though it's not air-conditioned.
I used to live in an expensive neighborhood in Bergen County, NJ and saw so many "lemonade porches" (that's what the realtors called them- basically large front porches) with picturesque white wicker furniture, including a little table with a pot of colorful flowers. Never saw anyone sit out there- they were just for show.
Here in North Texas, a lot of people who've immigrated from other places watch TV shows from California and think it's a great idea to set up "outdoor rooms". They spend a bunch of money through the winter; then they enjoy the area for a couple weeks in the spring, then late in May the temps go up toward 100F and the mosquitoes come out in swarms - and suddenly all those "outdoor rooms" are magically deserted. As a native Texan (and I have no trouble doing physical work outdoors all day in 100F heat) I really am not very interested in sitting outdoors in the evening when it's still 95 and the bloodsuckers are thick as they can be. (These mosquitoes laugh at citronella.) Even less am I interested in the new trendy thing of opening up the whole back wall of the house to your "outdoor room". It'll take you days to get the bugs back out of your house if you do that.
There's a reason why older houses here all had screened porches, and there's a reason why as soon as AC became common, all the screened porches got enclosed.
If you feel like spending a ton of money to set up an area that you can comfortably use four weeks a year, that's your prerogative, but I have to work for my money and I'd rather get better use out of it.
In places with more extreme climates, this kind of thing may seem cool and hip and "as seen on TV" but they rarely have the advertised benefits that they would in places like coastal CA where the trends emanate from.
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