A line in the grass

People choose to live in neighborhoods for a hundred reasons -- the house, the commute, the schools -- but almost never the neighbor. The people next door are the luck of the draw, and most of us don’t want to take chances.

That’s a big reason why there are still fences.

“There’s little doubt people want to know their neighbors,” said Douglas B. Currivan, a sociologist at the University of Massachusetts, Boston, who’s studied neighborhood dynamics in city and suburban settings. “But they really only want to know them just a little bit.”

Fences are a stake in the ground, a marker that says, “Mine, not yours.” They let us step outside in our pajamas with our hair mussed and not feel self-conscious. They let us wave hello and part a chance encounter without a full-blown conversation. They let us walk more easily the line between privacy and sociability -- a line that in Southern California is increasingly tested as more newcomers arrive and builders cram ever more homes into smaller spaces.

Oddly, when the size and design are appropriate, fences can even promote a certain amount of neighborliness. Because when people think of neighbors, they more often think of what they don’t want rather than what they do. They don’t want a neighbor who can see in their bedroom window. They don’t want a wacky neighbor who barges in unannounced. And they don’t want their neighbor’s dogs or kids, and their attendant noises, roaming into their yard.

Fences are full or partial remedies for all of these potential intrusions. “The clearer the territorial system, the better the parties function,” said Daniel Stokols, a professor of social ecology at UC Irvine. “Antagonisms between neighbors are more likely to occur when there aren’t clear boundaries.”

About the most neighborly thing people expect from each other is to watch their property and call the cops if someone is breaking in, according to Currivan, who researched neighborhood expectations in the Boston area. In the end, if people didn’t know the name of their neighbors, as was often the case, particularly the more urbanized the area, it was probably not the fence standing between them.

“I don’t think a fence is really going to keep anybody from becoming friends,” Currivan added. “They just weren’t interested.”

But while physically separating neighbors, fences can also foster a sense of togetherness. Cohesive communities are built upon a feeling of security, and fences have been shown to deter crime, studies have shown.

Barbara Brown, an environmental psychologist at the University of Utah, interviewed criminals about houses they targeted for burglaries. While other factors weighed in upon their decision, Brown noted that burglars invariably chose homes without fences.

“Even a small ornamental fence, one that wouldn’t keep out any self-respecting burglar, discourages a break-in,” Brown said. “It’s a very strong symbol.”

A fence, too, is often viewed as a welcome home improvement project in most neighborhoods. Brown found that they’re often regarded as an embellishment on the order of Halloween decorations or an ornamental mailbox.

“It really says to people that they care about their property and that they are good neighbors,” she added.

If it’s true that good fences make good neighbors, the reverse is also true -- that good neighbors make good fences. In other words, one should keep in mind the feelings of their neighbor when selecting fence materials.

A 12-foot wrought-iron fence topped with razor-wire says one thing, while a 3-foot-high masonry wall says quite another. Even less obtrusive ways to delineate space between properties are “living fences” or plants, such as ficus trees, hedges or shrubs.

“People can get easily offended by the wrong kind of fence,” said Robert Cornell, a Pasadena landscape designer for 25 years. “Sometimes they might think it says, ‘I don’t care about you, I just want my privacy.’ ”

Fences that deliberately disregard, or indeed seek to punish another neighbor, are called “spite fences.” Defining what constitutes one is the source of much legal wrangling, but generally it’s a barrier that unreasonably blocks the views of a neighbor’s property.

In other cases, though, nothing brings neighbors together like putting up a fence. A couple of years ago, Karen Pace of Pasadena realized it was time to tear down a wall of overgrown ivy that had served as a border for more than 15 years. But when the plant came down, her defenses shot up. “I like being able to have a cup of coffee in my pajamas,” she said. “They could see everything.”

Pace made plans for a new fence with a concrete base and wooden redwood planks that would reach as high as 9 feet in certain places to accommodate their sloping backyard. She consulted with her neighbor, whom she saw infrequently, about the project. In a neighborly gesture, there was an offer to pay for half the fence, but Pace declined. During the three-month construction, the neighbors spoke more regularly and saw more of each other than before.

Since the fence went up a couple of years ago, they’ve seen each other less, but that’s been OK. “If you don’t have a fence, you don’t get to choose when you interact or not,” Pace added. “I like having the fence and the choice.”

When a fence goes up, the opportunities for chance encounters and spontaneous conversations that often spark or nourish friendships are diminished, said Bill Berkowitz, an associate professor of psychology at the University of Massachusetts, Lowell. Although he’s long studied community organizations and neighborhood development, he knows this from personal experience.

When he moved into his home in Arlington, there was a hole in his backyard fence. It was an easy way to get back and forth from his yard to his neighbors for his children and theirs. They also used the opening as a shortcut to school. But after many years, the fence fell into disrepair and was replaced.

“We were still friendly,” said Berkowitz. “But we were friendlier when there was a hole in the fence.”

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A blueprint

The first step to building a fence is talk to the neighbors. “So often, people build without consulting and put the fence on the wrong side of the property line,” says Dave Keim, chief of code enforcement for Los Angeles. “Economically, it’s a good idea, because sometimes the neighbor will help pay for it.”

Hire a licensed surveyor to define the property line. One can be found in the Yellow Pages, or on the professional Web site www.californiasurveyors.org.

Consider materials, scale and transparency. Concrete looks foreboding but muffles noise. Tall fences are private but can feel claustrophobic. Wood is warm but doesn’t deflect sound. Metal can be intricate and beautiful, but doesn’t block visual blights.

With any fence there is a frame side, otherwise known as the ugly side, and a facing side, usually perceived as the nicer side. With a “good neighbor fence” -- what professionals call an alternating panel fence -- the framing side switches every 4 feet, so that no one is stuck with the bad side.

Check with the zoning department. Ordinances about height depend on the zone and lot. In L.A., a single-family home on flat land can have a fence up to 3 feet 6 in the front and up to 8 feet in the side and rear yards. A city permit is required for fences more than 3 feet 6 high.

-- Thea Klapwald