House & Street
The house plays a crucial role in the development of an active street. In many ways, the street is defined by the houses that front it and act to enclose it as a public space. Be attentive to the character of your street, both in terms of what it currently is and what you and your neighbors might like it to be. Zoning setbacks will have to be considered, but keep in mind the difference between streets that have houses set against the sidewalk as compared to streets with houses set back 4, 10, or even 20 feet.
In general, narrow streets (especially in cities such as New Orleans) tend to have homes right on the front yard property line. These streets have a more intimate feel to them and traffic tends to move at a slower speed. In this case, homes usually have a set of stairs or a 4-to-6 foot front porch which act as a buffer to the street activity, as well as a transitional zone from the street into the more private home. These streets can seem like stages for public activity and interactions, often full of children riding bikes, people on stoops, and a variety of activity.
As houses get farther away from the streets, the streets tend to widen, traffic moves faster, and the scale of the neighborhood has a larger feel. These neighborhoods can tend to discourage walking but offer the possibility of a front yard.
Neither of these two extreme examples, or all of the in-between scales, is correct. They are just describing different conditions and how you can think about your home and how it plays a part in creating and defining the street.
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