Rooftop Porch: The new front porch?

In our past newsletter, we discussed the idea of urban planning and how we use our public spaces for socializing, recreation, and work. This blog posting adds the influence of the new home private contractors and developers in their building around North Denver. Along Quivas Street in particular, there is one startling design element that has not been present previously in any Denver architecture: rooftop porches. These were right next door to the more traditional and ubiquitous front porch. In LoDo, rooftops are easily accessible by walking across the bridge. In the new restaurants along Tejon and 16^th Street, rooftop porches on bars and restaurants are coveted spaces, perfect for enjoying Colorado summer. Some folks have decided to bring the feeling of looking out over the city to their own homes by creating rooftop patios and ridding themselves of traditional front porches.

rooftop patio and living space

rooftop patio and living space

rooftop patio and living space

During a one-on-one with a community member, he brought up an observant description of how we use our homes. He said, “We drive home, park in our garage, go in through our garage door, and never have to speak to our neighbors. Then we repeat this process to leave our houses.” Where a front porch might help create a space where residents could sit and watch the neighborhood, now some are opting for the rooftop because of its undoubtedly cool look, and trendy location for entertaining or relaxing.

front porch on same street

But how does this influence how we interact with our neighbors? Even outgoing residents may feel odd to call to a neighbor on a rooftop three stories up from the street. And side-by-side rooftops don’t lend themselves to easy mobility from one to the other. It resembles a type of castle fortress, with the owners calling down to potential guests that need keys or passwords or codes to get to it. We may be bold in saying this, but it’s exclusive. It does not open the opportunity to meet your neighbors.

What are your thoughts? Do you think a rooftop porch is hindering our ability to befriend our neighbors? Are trendy and neighborly mutually exclusive? Does your dream home contribute to community development?