Porchfest, Ithaca, 2007

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Originally uploaded by Rebecca C

From Rob Steuteville via email:

My walkable, urban neighborhood of about 40 blocks just north of
downtown in Ithaca, NY, just had one of the best community events I have ever seen yesterday.

Excuse me for gushing, but this ought to be copied. It's called Porchfest. We have a lot of musicians in our neighborhood, and somebody had the brilliant idea that they would all perform on their porches at the same time on one day. They printed up maps and distributed them in a few key locations.

There were 17 porches where performers played for three hours. The event needed no venue, no security, no vendors, no permits, no money, beyond a few dollars in printing costs. A few enterprising kids had lemonade stands. I'm guessing 700 to 800 people walked or rode bicycles around from street to street on a beautiful day from 3 to 6 p.m.

In many cases, the streets were entirely taken over from curb to curb with the audience. The performers had a ball. Afterwards, there was a big picnic on the only detached green in the neighborhood surrounded by houses. I met so many neighbors, and had a chance to catch up with many that I already knew. This is going to be seriously popular, and I'm guessing that people will come from all around next year. This couldn't take place in the suburbs.

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