How Air Conditioning Contributed To The Downfall of the Neighborhood Community
Is this seemingly benign technology increasing rates of social degradation and unhappiness?
In the southern parts of the United States, it is not uncommon to see large covered porches adorning houses both new and old. Porches have been a part of southern living, and American living, for centuries. In modern America, porches are seldomly used for their original intended purpose which was to escape the heat building inside of the house during the hot humid spring and summer months. Air conditioning effectively eliminated that problem and in doing so eliminated a common source of local bonding.
Hot houses
Before the advent of air conditioning and the prevalence of electric fans, it was not uncommon for houses to become extremely hot and stuffy during the summer. As the heat of the day waxed through midafternoon the heat inside poorly ventilated houses became unbearable. Cooking only added to this miserable condition. By evening, most houses were so hot that they were nearly uninhabitable.
Dinner time saw people pour out of their homes and onto their porches and into their yards to escape the heat as the houses cooled off. In the south, this was usually accompanied by a…
