Steve Bankes had a remarkably simple idea for reaching out to his neighbors: he decided to put a patio in his front yard. A Chicago Tribune article showed a picture of five adults relaxing on chairs on a small patio under shade trees near a suburban street. A couple of kids were there, too, and a dog sleeping under one chair. Barbara Brotman, the writer of the column, said, "It would have been charming, but unremarkable, if it had been in their backyard, the usual spot for patios. But this patio was in their front yard."
According to the article, the front yard patio became like a friendship magnet for Mr. Bankes' neighbors, "especially when Steve had … set out a fire pit and built a bonfire. So people began to wander over, sit down and talk. It was so easy and low-key. No invitation required; if you saw people out there, you joined them." Steve called his patio "the Conversation Curve," and he told the paper that his goal was "fishing for people."
A year later, almost to the day, Ms. Brotman wrote a follow-up article. Apparently, Keith Speaks from Hammond, Indiana, read the story and immediately called Bankes to discuss his "fishing for people" front yard patio concept. Keith Speaks works in community development, and he wanted to use the concept to build friendships in his town. So Speaks started the "Please, Have a Seat!" program, which gives grants for homeowners to create "micro parks" in their front yards. The follow-up article the next year described the unveiling ceremony for some of these micro parks: "Rev. Stephen Gibson, whose [church] has two benches of its own … gave a benediction. 'I ask God to bless this bench as a symbol of the spirit of welcome.'"
