About the Front Porch Forum

Front Porch Online

Past Archived Projects

1994

The Porch is born: 1994

The Front Porch Forum was introduced with the goal "to print your stories, questions and ideas, and to relate them to how our communities, governments, political campaigns and news outlets are running." The project included a statewide poll on what people like and dislike about living here, about their hopes for the future and what can be done now to make those dreams more likely. Porch stories then made connections between this "people's agenda" and campaigns for ballot initiatives and political offices during the election season. Key stories:

The Seattle Times

The Public Reconnects (May 22, 1994)
Step onto the porch; folks have a lot to say (May 31, 1994)
Frustration with schools among hot politics issues (September 18, 1994)
Unfiltered: Sims, Gorton and five undecided voters -- citizens' own questions make for thoughtful session with candidates (October 27, 1994)
Like politicians, readers divided over election (November 20, 1994)

Tackling controversial issues: 1995

That year, the region was facing three costly, and contentious proposals for major public projects: a $6.7 billion transportation plan; a proposed new outdoor baseball stadium; and the Seattle Commons proposal. The Front Porch Forum tackled the job of getting the community involved in our coverage of these topics, holding focus groups and forums on the issues and publishing a series of articles about what we found:

The Seattle Times

Tracking commuters' options: Readers comment on the transit plan (March 5, 1995)
Four like transit plan, but with reservations: A citizen panel questions the supporters and opponents of the new plan (March 10, 1995)
Stadium vote is bigger than baseball, panel says: A dozen citizens debate the stadium proposal (September 4, 1995)
Who will gain from Commons? Members of a Front Porch focus group aren't sure they see anything in it for them (September 5, 1995)

Taking the campaign back from the politicians: 1996

With a major U.S. Senate race and two significant Congressional races in 1996, not to mention the Presidential campaign, the Porch looked for ways to let the people -- rather than the candidates or the pundits -- set the agenda. This resulted in campaign coverage very different from the traditional sort, including extensive polling about issues rather than about horse-race positioning in the campaigns, and providing opportunities for ordinary citizens to be the ones to question candidates. Articles included:

The Seattle Times

Values, kids top worries across state (April 28, 1996)
Michael R. Fancher's column: It's an election year and time again to talk about issues on front porch (April 28, 1996)
Voters worried about our kids (July 7, 1996)
Story on forums in Seattle, Burien and Yakima on money, values and government.
Will conventions play at home? (August 12, 1996)
Front Porch Forum enlists ordinary citizens to watch the national political conventions on TV -- and share their reactions.
Porch citizens watch the Republican convention (August 13, 1996)
Porch citizens watch the Democratic convention (August 27, 1996)
Questions for Democratic gubernatorial candidates cut to core (September 10, 1996)
Republicans running for governor grilled about issues close to home (September 11, 1996)
Moral breakdown: It's real, most say (October 13, 1996)
Craswell, Locke split on cause of moral dilemma (October 15, 1996)
Politics and the pulpit: Can faith guide civil life? (October 23, 1996)

KUOW

"Our Schools, Our Kids": 1996

This was another limited-run Porch project. The Seattle Times, KUOW and KCTS-TV sponsored a public forum on the state of education, using the brand-new Seattle Times Guide to Schools as a foundation.

Leadership, expectations drive school performance (December 16, 1996)

Puget Sound 2020: 1997

In 1997, the Front Porch Forum engaged the region's citizenry in the "Puget Sound 2020" project. The project's objectives were to find out what citizens treasure most about the region and what they consider the greatest threat to those assets; to find out what citizens need to know before they can develop strategies for protecting those assets, and provide that information through news coverage; to engage a representative sample of citizens in a public deliberation to learn what strategies they favor -- not just in terms of public policy but individual lifestyle choices; and to introduce these strategies into the civic dialogue without engaging in advocacy journalism.

Activities included pizza parties convened by citizens who gathered to discuss their neighborhoods, the Puget Sound region and what assets they hope will characterize our quality of life in the year 2020. Their comments were used to create a region-wide public opinion poll on the Puget Sound area's future. Finally, a demographically representative group of 97 citizens from King, Pierce, and Snohomish counties was convened as a "jury" on the adequacy of the region's planning process. After listening to testimony from expert witnesses and deliberating in small groups for two days, this citizens' jury found the leaders and citizens of our region guilty of insufficiently planning for the region's future.

The Seattle Times

Planning for Puget Sound 2020 (May 18, 1997)
1974: Before yuppies, Alderwood Mall or the bus tunnel (May 18, 1997)
Pizza parties reveal slice of life in region, serve up ideas for shaping better the future (June 11, 1997)
Growth, traffic spoiling region, residents fear (September 21, 1997)
The welcome mat is out (September 21, 1997)
Poll: Newcomers are upbeat, hopeful (September 22, 1997)
The jury is in -- and the verdict is guilty (October 19, 1997)

KUOW

"Enough Already!": 1998

This 1998 project was a followup to Puget Sound 2020 -- a several month effort to explore "longstanding assumptions about growth."

The Seattle Times

KUOW