Back 35+ years ago when I first started serious riding, and before steel-belted radials on cars leaving those *%&#@$ wires, I found that my rear tire wore about twice as fast as the front. That made things simple - replace the rear once, then replace both, replace the rear, replace both...

Now I never wear a tire out - it gets cut/punctured much more often and I end up replacing them much sooner! Tubes only get patched once.

One thing that I do to improve the 'ride' is to lower the front pressure a but. With my 27x1-18 tires, I run 90psi front, 105psi rear. (or 85/100 depending on tire brand)