Friendly Fronts (http://www.friendlyfronts.com) is a nationwide movement, sprouted in St. Paul, MN, that provides people with a step-by-step process and support system to transform their front yards into places that make them and their community feel alive. The movement is transforming the most ubiquitous and underutilized space in America - the front yard - from empty expanses of grass into dynamic places that are loved, used, and facilitate relationships between neighbors. By creating more inviting front yards (and boulevards, stoops, etc.), people will spend more time in them and in turn build more and deeper relationships with their neighbors and neighborhood.
Funded by a Knight City Challenge Grant, the first version of the Friendly Front Yard Toolkit was launched in the Summer of 2016. The toolkit and process was piloted with 22 households from the Frogtown and Hamline-Midway neighborhoods of St. Paul and four apartment buildings owned by Blaisdell Housing and Common Bond in the Whittier Neighborhood of Minneapolis in partnership with the Whittier Alliance. Through this pilot we found that:
Single-family home dweller participants
Renter Participants
It is now time to bring the Friendly Fronts process and ensuing benefits beyond these nodes to the nation as a whole.
Front Yard Placemaking Toolkit in the News:
Funded by a Knight City Challenge Grant, the first version of the Friendly Front Yard Toolkit was launched in the Summer of 2016. The toolkit and process was piloted with 22 households from the Frogtown and Hamline-Midway neighborhoods of St. Paul and four apartment buildings owned by Blaisdell Housing and Common Bond in the Whittier Neighborhood of Minneapolis in partnership with the Whittier Alliance. Through this pilot we found that:
Single-family home dweller participants
- Met on average 5.4 new neighbors
- 43% saw people more frequently in their neighborhood (0% less so)
- 38% felt safer in their community (0% less so)
- 91% plan on continuing to make socially-focused improvements to their front yards in future years.
Renter Participants
- 43% felt safer in their building
- 77% were more interested in staying in their apartments long term
It is now time to bring the Friendly Fronts process and ensuing benefits beyond these nodes to the nation as a whole.
Front Yard Placemaking Toolkit in the News:
- Lawn Socials and Voting Stickers Win Knight Cities Challenge Grants in St. Paul (Star Tribune) article
- St. Paul project Aims to Turn Front Lawns into Meeting Places (Pioneer Press) article
- St. Paul Groups Awarded in Knight Cities Challenge (Finance & Commerce) article
- 37 Knight Cities Challenge will Share 5 Million in Funding (Knight Foundation) blog
- Knight Cities Challenge Front Lawn Placemaking Toolkit project (Knight Foundation) webpage
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Sign Up to Try the Friendly Fronts Placemaking Toolkit!Transform your lawn into a center of community, connection, and invitation this summer! Help us test and refine our Front Lawn Placemaking Toolkit by signing up to receive a copy by signing up for our mailing list below.
Participation is not limited to any particular geography or type of dwelling unit. Renters and those in larger buildings are welcome and encouraged to participate. |