Submitted by Brenda Willman
BACK OR FRONT, YOU DECIDE – for entertainment purposes only
I am re-hashing and re-editing one of my previous articles from years ago, for the benefit of those who didn’t have the chance to read it and ponder the answer to the question “where is my front door?”.
Slide back years and years to grid-style neighbourhoods, such as the one we currently live in, where
· the front door of the house is on the street/avenue, and the living room is at the front, and the mailbox is at the front, with a fenced, shorter yard; and
· the back door of the house is on the side of the (back) lane, and the kitchen is on that side, and a longer yard, with a garage, or at least space to park the car. Until people in grid style neighbourhoods started commandeering their back yards for gardens, and their garages for suites, people parked in the back and didn’t militantly guard the spot in front of their houses on the street/avenue.
(Grid plan neighbourhoods have been in existence since 2600 BC – they’re hard to beat!)
Fast forward to the post-war era, with its accompanying boom in personal ownership of automobiles, plus a post-war house-building boom. “Curvilinear” street designs are thought to have been an early response to worrisome pedestrian/automobile encounters, which had become more frequent (and fatal). The design pattern was like a tree, with the main road being the trunk and the sub-roads were branches of that tree, including cul-de-sacs, and semi-circles, and bays, with garages attached at the front of the house- with the result being a back lane was unnecessary. The traffic was “quieted/subdued” and the vicinity around the house was quieter as well. The ‘burbs were born, and in those ‘burbs you will find:
· the front door of the house is on the cul-de-sac, mews, circle, bay (what-have-you), and the living room is on that same side, with the mailbox AND a garage???, with not much of a yard, and no back lanes; and
· the back door of the house opens onto the main yard – no parking here, and the kitchen (and more recently the great room) are located on that side as well.
So I sit today gazing out what I fondly refer to as my back window, looking at what I would define as a ‘back lane’, all while sitting in my unit located within a housing complex which is completely based on a grid style set up. What also happens to be located on the same side of the house I am presently sitting in are:
· the kitchen – CHECK –it’s supposed to be right here, at the back
· the mailbox - ??? – it’s in the wrong place????
· the parking spot – CHECK hmmmm – maybe?? – could be either front or back!
Most Co-opers would argue that I was looking out of my front window and I often have confusing conversations with my neighbours as I constantly refer to the ‘yard’ side as the front, and the driveway side as the back, having simply conceded that, for whatever reason, the designers accidentally placed my mailbox by the back door. In fact, when I first came to view my unit, I went to the balcony/garden side, assuming that was the front, and rang the doorbell, only to be met by astonished people who asked what I was doing at that door, and to please go around to the other side. Come to think of it, the gas meter was/is on that side, and that is DEFINITELY a ‘back yard’ sort of installation. Ooooh it’s all so confusing.
Anyway, in an attempt to truly understand where is the front and where is the back, I tried to look at the front v. back in another, more logical, way - through the actual location of streets, avenues and lanes (and where they would be if they still existed). But looking at it that way led to only more confusion.
For ease of following my logic, I will refer to the location of the mailbox when determining which is front or back.
Members on Third Street
For members living on the 700 block of 3rd Street there is no question as to which side is which.
· there is a front street (3rd Street) on the side where their driveway, mailbox and kitchen are located and
· there is a back lane on the other side, where their living rooms are located
· CONCLUSION – THE MAILBOX IS LOCATED BY THE FRONT DOOR (even though, much to my chagrin, so is the kitchen)
For the people living on the 800 block of 3rd Street we have a VERY mixed bag:
For 801 – 813, were 7th Avenue still continuing along its previous course, the driveway and kitchen would be at the front, and the living room would, by default, be at the back (and we would be living on 7th Avenue and not 3rd Street, but I digress…).
· CONCLUSION – THE MAILBOX IS LOCATED BY THE FRONT DOOR (again much to my chagrin, and I steadfastly stand by my decision that is my BACK door)
For those in 815 – 827, the balcony/living room side of the unit would have faced 7th Avenue, making the kitchen/driveway side the back.
· CONCLUSION – THE MAILBOX IS LOCATED BY THE BACK DOOR
For those in 837-849, following similar logic as to 4th Street continuing along its previous course (even though they have an address on 3rd Street – it rightfully would be 4th Street), their balconies and living rooms all would face 4th Street – making the kitchen/driveway side of the house the back
· CONCLUSION – THE MAILBOX IS LOCATED BY THE BACK DOOR
Members on Fourth Street
For members living from 734 – 748 4th Street, we find a similar situation to the 700 block of 3rd Street.
· there is a front street (4th Street) on the side where their driveway, mailbox and kitchen are located and
· there is a back lane on the other side (which again must be extended in one’s imagination), where their living rooms are located
· CONCLUSION – THE MAILBOX IS LOCATED BY THE FRONT DOOR
For those in 762-768, the balcony/living room side of the unit would have faced 7th avenue, making the kitchen/driveway side the back.
· CONCLUSION – THE MAILBOX IS LOCATED BY THE BACK DOOR
Members on Sunnyhill Lane
This one is tricky!! For those in 2-28, following the logic as to 4th Street continuing along its previous course their balconies and living rooms all would face 4th Street – making the kitchen/driveway side of the house the back, where in fact there an actual back lane to support this conclusion– named though it is -(is it the only back lane named in the City of Calgary – THAT would be something to investigate)! But I fact, they wouldn’t really live on 4th Street, being slightly pushed west to align with the existing back lane (which was even given a name “Sunnyhill Lane”, so one could argue Sunnyhill Lane is a “front street”, having a name and all – but it clearly serves as a back lane to the people who live on 4A Street, and it lines right up with the back lane just to the south, so how to clearly interpret the status of Sunnyhill Lane?)
· CONCLUSION – THE MAILBOX IS LOCATED BY THE BACK DOOR
Finally we have the members in 30-44 who have no former street nor back alley to ‘align’ with so those people get to choose which is back or front.
Summary
On a purely mathematical scale, and if one were to agree with my logic of deciding what side of the unit is facing “front” based on where 3rd Street, 4th Street and 7th Avenue would each presently be located if not gobbled up by the coop:
26 Mailboxes at the ‘front’ side of the unit
32 Mailboxes at the ‘back’ side of the unit
8 Mailboxes ????
“Back side” takes the majority……yay! I am correct. My mailbox is at my back door. Amirite?
To make it more confusing, we have spots in the coop where the units are balcony-facing-balcony (making it easier to concede that the balcony side is the ‘front’, as houses usually face each other – but nope, on SHL we call that space the ‘big back yard’ and not the ‘big front yard’ even though half of those units are definitely looking at someone’s back yard when they look out their “front” door). For those on 3rd and 4th Street who share the back lane on their balcony side – well I really can’t argue that. But we also have spots in the coop where the units are balcony-facing-driveway.
I have to admit in all my years here only one other member agreed with me that the north side of my unit (a.k.a. the “mailbox side”) was the back door! It’s my back door! I know it is! It has all the hallmarks of being at the back of the house – maybe?!?!?!
I must have way too much time on my hands, having spent hours and days and possibly years thinking about which is which.
But I leave it up to each member – back or front, you decide.