Community is what you make it. I’ve been fortunate enough to have great neighbors
It’s missing the part where some boomers complained to the city council about noisy delinquents and got a curfew enacted.
or the head of the HOA giving a $500 fine for the $100 basketball hoop not being approved before “installation”
Yeah i guess we can make up a bunch of shitty what-ifs if you want to lol
This is not the norm. And quite frankly, I’m tired of people stating it as if it was.
BE the change you want in your city. Get informed. Get active, not reactive.
It is 1 billion percent the norm around me. I personally have been fined for three different basketball hoops in two states by boomer ass HoA board members. They (boomers and HoA’s alike) are literally the anti fun police.
I got a hoop. Kids from blocks around played on it. City shut it down.
What city did you live in?
“Why are you setting up mosquito attractors? You don’t have a bug zapper.”
“To keep those nosey HOA dipshits from hanging around the edge of my property looking for things to complain about.”
“That’s not nice…”
“No, it’s not. But it’s legal.”
At least it’s not bear lure.
Why do you choose to live in an HOA?
Love that you just come in here saying everyone else is wrong, yet not once admit maybe this is a huge problem after experiencing countless examples:).
Same reason I “choose” to work for a shitty employer or do business with a shitty company or live in a shitty city/state/country - sometimes my options are limited and I can’t afford to opt out of society entirely. When it comes to HoAs, in the area I live my options were severely diminished. Choosing a house without one means that I’d just be complaining about some other compromise I felt forced to make.
Its not always that simple. Finding newer construction by me that is not part of an HOA is borderline impossible, and anything older that might predate the HOA-ification of new developments are still priced close to the new contruction because the locations are usually much more desirable, even if theyre literally a full gut or straight up unfixable and have to be knocked down.
My wife and I spent well over a year looking for a house that was within the price range of a “normal” house for here because I told our agent right off the bat that I do not want to live in an HOA due to bad experiences with my last one, which was $1000 a year for literally nothing paid to a corporation based on the other side of the country that literally just manages HOAs.
The 1000 bucks a year for mowing the common areas that never got mowed, clearing the paths of snow that never got cleared, and taking care of the plantings at the signs at the periphery of our neighborhood that were dead withon a month of being planted due to lack of care. So yeah, done with HOAs lol…and I had a “cheap” one.
It’s not really a choice when accounting for location and affordability. Sometimes it’s HOA or renting forever… or renting in an HOA if you’re truly damned.
Most new build neighborhoods in the last 2-3 decades are part of an HOA. Finding a house not contractually part of one is not the norm
There’s just one school-age kid living on my block for several years now. It’s a little sad, he has no one to play with, but he’s often outside in the afternoon while his mom smokes pot in the garage.
That’s terrible.
His mom should share her pot.
What a cunty bitch! Who raised that woman?!?
I’m not sure if it’s what you were implying but without anymore detail, I don’t really see a problem with that.
It’s kind of the same as having a beer out in the yard while your kid plays? Maybe you’re not directly playing with them but you’re hanging out with them as they play. I’d have been perfectly happy with having that as a kid
The sad truth is that a cul-de-sac hoop is a massive and instant property value killer. Most, if not all, HOA rules in high priced neighborhoods prohibit them, and many prohibit front driveway hoops too.
How
Yet another reason to never live in an area with an HOA
Ya, this is an hoa problem not a cul de sac problem.
It’s so sad that HOAs are like that over there, because in principle they could be just as good a thing as what the xheet is about. Bureaucratic, yes, but basically about community. We have HOAs here, and they make questionable decisions, too, but they never meddle like this.
The US have an extraordinary ability to ruin anything. Things are either capitalised or policed
Wouldn’t kids playing outside be good for property values? Was talking to a friend and he told me he’d never raise kids in his old suburb because he never sees kids playing outside. I assume it’s similar for most parents looking for a place to start their family in, seeing there are other kids in the neighborhood who your kid can socialize and be active with seems like a major selling point.
You have to remember that you’re aiming for the market with the highest amount of extra income. What it comes down to is that it’s best for property value if you can’t even tell if anyone lives there at all.
This. The most valuable properties are neighborhoods where nobody lives. Honestly, HOA boards should kick everyone out and gate up the entire neighborhood, only sending in mowing crews to sculpt the yards.
Sadly, no. At least, not on the street.
I grew up in a cul-de-sac of a poor neighborhood, and it was essentially a giant playground. Highly recommended as a child. It is, however, toxic for property values. That’s why planned neighborhoods have parks, playgrounds, courts, etc., so that kids are relegated to designated play areas.
Funny thing about that, is the people who live next to the parks complain anyway. In my town, there is a really nice park with all of the amenities. Basketball courts, playground, tennis courts, soccer field. It’s awesome. Because of the rising popularity of Pickly Ball, and the fact that the tennis courts were often empty, it was brought up that one of the tennis courts should be turned into two Pickle courts. It went through all of the necessary steps with City Hall and was ultimately shut down because the people who lived alongside the park thought it would be too loud.
What I meant by “parks” were neighborhood parks that are part of the master planned community. They are not public. They are meant for the neighborhood.
As far as pickleball goes, they aren’t wrong. My house is over a quarter mile from the pickleball courts and you can clearly hear them. The paddles and the balls are hard plastic so they are very loud. That said, the courts are extremely popular and have been a tremendous addition to the area. It’s too bad those NIMBYs ruined it.
Why is pickleball so popular? I’ve been wondering. I have chronic pain that prevents me from swinging my arm, so i can’t try it. Is it just what’s hot right now, or is actually better than similar sports like tennis or badminton? Is the equipment cheaper or something?
Oh, people are worried that they’ll hit somebody’s kid backing out of the driveway.
More reasons to build interconnected walking neighbourhoods with car parking, if even needed, out of the way. For some reason we’re so obessessed with cars that we’d rather our frint yard be half pavement and looking onto a road than walking even a small distance to a more predictable parking area where kids are less likely to randomly appear.
Not so fun fact: Parents run over their own children in their own driveways at an alarming rate and still we do nothing about it in the US and Canada because we literally hold the car so far above the safety of our living children that it must not suffer any inconvience, no matter the cost.
In my area yes it absolutely is. A court is a plus for lack of through traffic alone.
Oh noes, bUt tHiNk of tHe eCoNoMy
So, these groups of neighbors spend all of their time telling homeowners what they can put in their yards instead of lobbying their local government. Whoever accomplished that coup must be very proud of themselves.
HOAs can be ridiculous. A colleague was forced to repaint his dining room because the red walls could be seen from the street when the curtains were drawn.
Where was the Mouseguard? Defend Redwall(s)!
That makes no sense. HOAs have no say over home interior, only exterior property and maintenance.
I hope your colleague took them to court over this.
Many things are accomplished extrajudicially when it comes to HOAs. They’ll make threats, hire lawyers, etc, and generally make the case its worth the time and/or money being compliant, even if they don’t have any basis. They know, that’s not the point.
This lines up with the HOAs I’ve had to endure. I made it a hard requirement to find a house without one when I was looking. It definitely made it more difficult, but I am so glad i did.
Thing like that happened in my neighborhood a couple of years ago - city council decided to tear down one of the bench spots and make a skate park instead. people fucking hated it and even protested the construction site. but now it is full of kids and teenagers literally all the time and every now and then you can even catch an actual music concert or literary reading and its a bustling place all round.
Before I read the post text I was going to yell “Fake!” because surely a Karen would ruin this.
…
What’s the meaning of the past tense there? “I’ve been fortunate enough”
- Guy sets up hoop
- Kids play basketball with hoop
- Kid twists his ankle playing basketball
- Hoop is removed as a safety hazard
- Guy sued by parents (optional but likely)
More like
- Guy sets up hoop
- Kids play basketball
- Crazy person thinks they’re too loud.
- Crazy person calls cops.
- Cops do nothing.
- Crazy person kills kids.
Jesus, where the fuck do you live.
Yes, that’s where I live, too. Most of us are pretty chill. Our gun laws are ridiculous, which is why stuff like that happens, but the vast majority of us are not walking around and shooting children.
As a Canadian(and not the guy you replied to) I can pretty comfortably say that I don’t trust the US at all and “the vast majority” is not nearly good enough. Thank goodness I’m not a person of colour because it’s wild how frequently people will shot those folks through their door for the crime of knocking on it.
Fuck the US.
Nowhere close to where this would happen. But I’ve watched The Perfect Neighbor
crazy person also drives by every day with LED headlights and flash bangs every living room in sight, while idling their car for over ten minutes every morning in the winter
because it’s not about what’s actually intrusive, it’s about their own selfish concerns
“I’ve been” usually implies a “so far” and is broader than strict present tense (includes previous places of residence). Another way to phrase it could be “I’m fortunate enough to have had great neighbors everywhere I’ve lived”
Thanks for explaining. English is my second language, and I’ve forgotten that present perfect can describe actions that are still ongoing.
i’m assuming that they don’t get a constant influx of new neighbors, so the fortune is in the past.
I moved recently. Looking forward to starting it up again in my new neighborhood
Kids don’t play outside anymore in the US because streets have been designed primarily for cars.
We have a few kids in the neighborhood that are close enough in age to hang out. Initially you hear everyone complain that kids never play outside anymore. Well, they all found each other and started playing outside. When that started, a whole different group of neighbors complained about all the kids being unsafe and loud in the streets. To be clear, these kids watch for cars, don’t damage yards, and generally just try to keep to themselves. I understand why kids prefer to be in of doors where they can just get on discord with their buddies.
But isn’t it just easier to point at the problem and complain online about it?
