Today we are drawn inside to our climate-controlled environments, hypnotized by our hundreds of television channels. Suburbs boast homes with only decorative front porches at most, and giant backyards enclosed by privacy fences–if you want to be outside you can do so without opening yourself to the world. There’s something to be said for that, but I think there’s more to be said for putting yourself out there. Maybe the way to approach this analogy for an online community is from the opposite direction: Figure out what the online equivalent of a privacy fence might be and try like crazy to make sure Spout doesn’t become an enclosed suburban nightmare.

But before the Second World War, we have the Arts & Crafts movement. This movement was about simplifying the home from the Victorian era and integrating it more with nature and it’s surroundings. Therefore the front porch was an important part of the Arts & Crafts movement. It was looked at as an extension room from the home into the outdoors. So my neighborhood, built in the 1920’s, has a very walkable and neighbor friendly feeling, but is still urban because it’s walking distance to a “main street” downtown area.

Anyway, fun stuff. I really like your point that the FPE (thanks) is maybe just evolving in an online community. You are right, front porches were an evolution coming out of a certain demand for new ways of living in a neighborhood. I guess you could argue that people moving from apartments were looking for a way to keep interacting with their neighbors. Or maybe they just wanted a cool spot to sit in the summer time.

Front Porches didn’t always exist. In the beginning we had the city experience, where eveyone was clustered together. A lot of people lived in area on top of stores. Rural areas were spread so far apart (farms and such), that even people that had front porches couldn’t really get a front porch experience, because no one would just happen by their front porch.

The Front Porch Experience (one of my favorite bands of the 80’s, by the way) EVOLVED over time, and it may be difficult to create one from scratch at the start. Certainly, Myspace seems to have little new things pop up on my home page all the time. Maybe eventually something online will evolve into a FPE, but it definitely going to be difficult.

However, there’s more bad news. The FPE grew from one important development. Zoning regulations. As new societies built in the spaces between rural and urban, new zoning restrictions created designated areas where people live, and where people work.

The separation of home and mall led to the FPE, in creating more single-family dwellings, and closer knit communities. But, at what cost? Certainly the fact that no one can walk to where they need to go anymore is one of the costs, which means less exercise for American, more pollution in the form of more cars driving anywhere. I seriously wonder sometimes if the car or oil companies weren’t behind the concept of Suburban Sub-Divisions.

To bring it back to spout, I think the separation of home and mall is exactly the opposite of what you guys are trying to do. Commerce is important to you guys, and not just because you’ll probably be in the business of selling things to people. It’s important to you that good filmmakers make their money back, and make MORE movies.

I’m not completely sure how all of this information relates back to spout. Just offering up the way I see the situation.