When I was shopping for a coil burner stove, I found that there were only a few on the market. I was so happy to find that I could still purchase one. Mine has burners on the back. My 3 year old grandson lives with me, so that feature was very important. Although, if I didn't have a young child around, I would prefer controls in the front of the stove for safety reasons. My Jenaire range had side controls and locking knobs which I thought was a great design.