Chicago ? Until last week, Dave Majors barely noticed that the wooden porch of his third-floor apartment sloped too much or that the stairs leading from it creaked loudly.

But after a porch in his neighborhood collapsed June 29, killing 13 people, Majors has begun to wonder whether his deck would hold up, crammed as it is with an old refrigerator, mattresses and sofa.

“It’s impossible not to think about. It’s on everyone’s mind,” said Majors, 25, a consultant.

At least 50 people — mostly professionals in their 20s — were standing on a porch at a weekend party when it collapsed in Chicago’s affluent Lincoln Park neighborhood. The city has said the porch was constructed without a permit.

The tragedy has led many Chicagoans to rethink the safety of a cherished part of the city’s ambiance. Many expect new city regulations governing porch construction materials and requiring the posting of weight limits.

“They’re such a notable part of our urban landscape,” said Zurich Esposito of the Chicago Architecture Foundation. “It serves more than just a practical function. It also serves what’s become a cultural and social one.”

Since the porch collapse, about 450 residents have called the city to complain about their own porches.

Katherine Sheridan grills her dinner on the back porch of her Chicago apartment. Since the June 29 disaster when 13 people were killed after a third-floor porch collapsed during a party in Chicago, Sheridan says she now surveys porches at parties she attends.

Building inspectors have visited 200 properties and found nearly one-quarter in disrepair, said Breelyn Pete, a city Buildings Department spokeswoman.

Landlords also have been inspecting porches, posting warning signs and barring tenants from partying on decks.

Katherine Sheridan, 25, said a porch is a necessity. “Who wants to sit inside in the summer?” she asked as she grilled chicken on her second-floor porch.

She said she now surveys porches when she goes to summer parties and she has asked her landlord to inspect her porch.