The best replacement for porches is patios.

The best alternatives to porches are rated as following:
★★★★★  patios
★★★★★  verandas
★  decks
  sunrooms

Your alternative for porches is not listed? Suggest!
Speaking about porches, one probably shouldn't forget about hip roofs.

Other search terms related to porches and their ratings are:
★★★★★ hip roofs
You have in mind a companion for porches and it is not yet here? Propose!



Google Trends

Scale is based on the average worldwide traffic of porches in all years. Click on graph for more.
porches
patios
verandas