You're lonely.
You sit in your gravel-scaped dream home and wonder why you don't know any of your neighbors.
A researcher at Arizona State University may have a solution for you: Plant some grass.
Scott Yabiku's theory is that desert landscaping, which has come to dominate new Valley housing for the past 20 years, reduces social interaction in neighborhoods. Grass and trees, he believes, promote community.
"It's sort of common knowledge how people affect the environment," the assistant professor said, "but do landscapes affect the people?"
Yabiku's theory seems common sense: Grass and shade draw people outside to play and work, which leads to more social interactions. But he's relying on more than intuition.
ASU has converted the front yards of 24 graduate students' homes on the Polytechnic Campus in Mesa in an effort to test the theory. The landscapes range from grass and shade trees to native plants with no watering. Some yards mix the two. Researchers started in 2004, and they interview the residents every other year about their behavior.
The study is part of a larger grant funded by the National Science Foundation that runs through 2010 and looks at how urban areas function.
The results could influence homeowners' and home developers' choices of landscapes or city planners' design of parks and setting of landscape regulations.
Arizona is known for its desert and gravel front yards and walled-in backyards. Although some people like the ease of maintenance and clean look, others see the landscape as sterile and impersonal.
What homeowners say
Many homeowners say they think Yabiku's theory makes sense.
The Banks family of Avondale has lived in a desert-landscaped home for a year. Its yard is mainly a layer of granite bisected by a river-rock channel.
"It definitely looks nice but is not user-friendly for playing with the kids," Mike Banks said.
The family's previous home near Metrocenter had a grassy lawn, and the family was often out front talking to neighbors. Now, "we're rarely out front unless we're going for a walk," Banks said.
Other Valley homeowners say the situation is more complicated.
Paul Jungel of central Phoenix has a grass yard and bushes that he lets go dormant in winter. He said other factors, such as personality, play a larger role than landscape. Outgoing people will socialize with neighbors regardless of their type of yard, he said.
And what about other factors? A basketball hoop in the driveway may bring kids and parents out front in spite of the gravel. Grass will not attract neighbors if you work until dark, hire a yard crew and stay in the backyard pool in the summers.
Yabiku said his study will cut across seasons and control for differences such as front-yard elements and yard crews. ASU installed the yards, and workers maintain them.
Some early findings
The ASU study could affirm the look and feel of the old Valley.
Lush lawns were common until the late 1980s and are still prevalent in areas such as central Phoenix and Mesa. Concerns over water prompted cities and developers to move toward granite rocks studded with native and low-water-use plants. Many cities offer rebates to homeowners who convert their yards.
The study also looks at how landscape design and irrigation influence the neighborhood's climate, insects and bird activity.
Although it's too soon to conclude which landscape is best for interaction, Yabiku and his team have made some interesting findings so far:
- Women generally preferred lawns, while men liked desert landscaping. "When men see desert landscape they think, 'Great! No mowing,' and women see all that dirt being tracked into the house," Yabiku said.
- Families with young children liked grassy yards because the children have somewhere to play.
- Newcomers to the Valley were more amenable to desert landscapes. The longer people lived in Phoenix, the less they liked desert landscapes. Yabiku thinks it's because people who have lived in the Valley more than 20 years may have first lived in older areas where grassy lawns were more common, so they are used to grass. Newcomers expect the landscape to be different because they are moving to the desert.
Findings on the first phase of research are scheduled to be published in the Environment and Behavior journal later this year or early 2008.
Until then, you are on your own about what to believe. Just to be safe, rake the gravel.