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U.S. residents fight for the right to hang laundry (2009)

reuters.com

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Re: U.S. residents fight for the right to hang laundry (2009)

#221

Post by s1artibartfast »

resoluteteeth wrote: post #211
s1artibartfast wrote: post #152

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is nothing wrong with asking.

I don't know if I necessarily agree with that when it's someone in a position of authority like a government official who is doing the "asking" since that typically carries the implied threat of some sort of repercussions

I don't think you can assume an implied threat here.

"your neighbors keep calling the police and we have told them that it isn't illegal to hang laundry. Can you hang it in the back yard so we stop getting calls?

Re: U.S. residents fight for the right to hang laundry (2009)

#222

Post by j_k_eter »

stormdennis wrote: post #217

Years back we rented a flat in a building that housed a lot of retired people. A regulation we weren't aware of was that you weren't allowed to hang anything on the railings of your balcony. On a day off we were cleaning and left a mat we'd washed to dry, hanging over the railing. It wasn't there an hour before we had a delegation at our door of angry elderly residents. They weren't one bit nice about it even after w…

No post body was provided.

Re: U.S. residents fight for the right to hang laundry (2009)

#223

Post by HarryHirsch »

henvic wrote: post #57
gus_massa wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At home we stopped using the dryer and the electricity bill got reduced like a 30%. It's impossible to dry all the cloth in rainy winter weeks (imagine 10°C(50°F) and 90% of humidity), so now we are hanging towels, bed sheets and similar stuff and using dryer for small stuff, probably 50% and 50%.

Get a heat pump dryer and you'll have the convenience and it'll probably cost only 30% of what it used to cost you.

Hang your clothes outside, and you don't have to plunk down for any dryer, heatpump or conventional.

Re: U.S. residents fight for the right to hang laundry (2009)

#225

Post by weberer »

lloydatkinson wrote: post #59

I can’t imagine such a freedom limiting law in any European country or here in the UK. Utterly absurd a country that prioritises freedom so much also dictates how people are allowed to dry their laundry. I’m sure if the wind could be taxed they’d not restrict it though…

Did you even read the article? There is no law against it.

Re: U.S. residents fight for the right to hang laundry (2009)

#226

Post by II2II »

mlindner wrote: post #186
dopidopHN wrote: post #151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Dryer did not exists and human have been drying clothes in most climates in the last few thousand of years. That being said : I see what you mean. I grew up in France ( dryer don’t exists ) and it’s easy to dry stuff there. Except maybe in winter. Now I’m in Louisiana… yeah, it’s humid. But if you put things in the sun it does dry super quick too.

> Dryer did not exists and human have been drying clothes in most climates in the last few thousand of years. Washing machines did not exist until recently either, but no one in this thread is advocating hand washing their clothes. > That being said : I see what you mean. I grew up in France ( dryer don’t exists ) and it’s easy to dry stuff there. Except maybe in winter. In the US dryers and washing machines are a se…

> Washing machines did not exist until recently either, but no one in this thread is advocating hand washing their clothes.

This conversation is about people being denied the right to do something, the reasons why they should have the right to do so are there to justify it. No one said people should not be able to wash their laundry by hand. It is probably because doing so is unobserved. That being said, it is also a much more challenging thing to advocate for. While hanging one's clothes is marginally more labour intensive, washing clothes by hands is much more labour intensive.

> In the US dryers and washing machines are a set pair.

I understand what you are getting to, but the presence of both does not imply that both receive the same level of use. For some people, the use of driers is purely seasonal. For others, it will only be used for large items or things that need to be dried quickly. As for the examples of laundromats and shared facilities, the complimentary pair is intended to attract customers (not to mention that hauling around wet clothes is a pain).

Re: U.S. residents fight for the right to hang laundry (2009)

#227

Post by dfxm12 »

woodruffw wrote: post #203
ufmace wrote: post #167

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree - it reads like propaganda paid for by this "Project Laundry List" organization, in the pattern of PG's Submarine article. Since when does this need to be a national issue anyways - "U.S. residents fight..."

The article establishes the national relevancy directly: > His principal opponents are the housing associations such as condominiums and townhouse communities that are home to an estimated 60 million Americans, or about 20 percent of the population. About half of those organizations have ‘no hanging’ rules, Lee said, and enforce them with fines. Millions of Americans live under covenants that prevent them from doing…

Does it maybe applying to about half of a fifth of the population really make it nationally relevant? Let's not forget the people among them who like this reg for some reason.

Also, this says nothing about residents usually having some say about the regs in an HOA. Don't like something? No need to move somewhere else. Run for a spot on the board.

Re: U.S. residents fight for the right to hang laundry (2009)

#228

Post by giantg2 »

woodruffw wrote: post #219
giantg2 wrote: post #213

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is still a poor article. If that's really the point, then they should have focused on many other points related to covenants and not confused that point by including people who were not under covenants. They could also tell us what their solution is (make associations illegal?). Or are the just complaining without any solution or even a salient argument.

It's a human interest piece: I took the point of Carin Froehlich's story to be that it affects more than just the people who are forced to not air-dry their laundry. Given the simplicity of the problem ("I can't hang my laundry [without people, including local officials, complaining]"), the solution is a little obvious ("I want to be allowed to hang my laundry"). I think the journalist who wrote this probably trusted…

Even if it was a human interest piece, the good journalists get external perspectives. They don't just parrot whatever the one person says.

"Given the simplicity of the problem ("I can't hang my laundry [without people, including local officials, complaining]"), the solution is a little obvious ("I want to be allowed to hang my laundry")."

This makes no sense. The lady was allowed to hang her laundry! The other guy entered into a contract that didn't allow it. There is no problem here (other than neighbors not being neighborly).

Re: U.S. residents fight for the right to hang laundry (2009)

#229

Post by torstenvl »

nemo44x wrote: post #208
torstenvl wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Living peacefully in society is fundamentally at odds with the position you're advocating for, which is enforced slavery to a particular technological innovation. People can survive without a couch on their lawn, and there are alternatives to couches on lawns that don't require the use of a particular technology. But people need dry clothes, and the only alternative to air drying is to use a particular kind of machin…

Yeah people should be able to have bon fires on their front lawn to cook the animal carcass they have hanging in the front yard tree because they shouldn't be enslaved by fridges and stoves. They should be able to bath themselves in the front yard by pouring water from they collected from a nearby creek over themselves because showers are slavery. It's ok for people to tan animal hides in their front yard because the…

Actually, yes, in the absence of hurting other people, people should generally be free to do what they like on their own property, even if other people don't like it.

And yes, forcing other people to do or not-do what you want, by force of law and without regard for their own agency, is incompatible with freedom.

Re: U.S. residents fight for the right to hang laundry (2009)

#230

Post by gambiting »

nemo44x wrote: post #196
gambiting wrote: post #135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>>I have to explain why people shouldn’t park their car on their front lawn? Seriously? Yes, yes please. Is it their front lawn? As in - they own the land? And they aren't causing any harm or damage to anyone, other than the fact that you don't like it? You mentioned "property value loss" in another comment - that's not a thing. Certainly not due to a car parked on someone's lawn. Again, I find your intention to get…

> Again, I find your intention to get into other people's business just.....strange. It's not me. It's a community which agreed on a guideline, standard, by-law, etc. > You mentioned "property value loss" in another comment - that's not a thing. No, it actually is. Demand will suffer in locations which are unkept and trashy. I would not buy a property next to a home that had cars parked on the front lawn. I would not…

>>I would not buy a property next to a home that had cars parked on the front lawn. I would not want to live next to someone who thinks that's appropriate and most people would agree with me.

I never said it's approporiate. I wouldn't want to live next to such house either. But I find it unacceptable that you would like to regulate that away, just like I don't think it's acceptable to regulate whether someone can hang their laundry outside or not. It's a uniquely American fetishism with defining freedom as "freedom to tell others what they can or cannot do". There's a reason HOAs exist pretty much only there and hardly anywhere else. I might find the sight of my neighbour's car unappealing - but you're the one who wants to regulate what they can or cannot do with it.

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