James Rojas, an urban planner and researcher based in Los Angeles, argued in an essay that "the use and importance" of the front porch has faded for many Americans, but not for Latinos. In Spanish home design, the prominence of courtyards, patios, and florid gate designs has been passed down for centuries, Vázquez said. In his research, he pinpointed the origins of these styles to the eighth-century Moorish conquest. Whether in the south of Spain or in the Greater Antilles, a home dweller could expect a front porch to be a cooler area in the house, which made it an easy gathering point.