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Grandpa’s Basement House

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Re: Grandpa’s Basement House

#41

Post by HarryHirsch »

TedDoesntTalk wrote: post #25
iratewizard wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've never heard of anything like that. Outside of HOAs, most regulations we see about the front are length of grass, what can and can't be done at the easement, public health issues, and maybe laws about invasive plant species. My wife used to work at a company that codified these laws, and she didn't know of anything either.

My HOA defines the acceptable types of trees, plants, and shrubs that can be planted. I don’t know if vegetables are restricted, but you cannot plant anything you want. This is common in colorado.

What business does a bunch of Wikipedia admins have to rule what I can plant in my own backyard. Mind, I get concerns about invasive plants, water conservation or agricultural pathogens, but that's not what HOA's are usually about. They will tell you you can't paint your shed pink.

Re: Grandpa’s Basement House

#42

Post by pintxo »

This style of incremental building seems to be still in existence in Southern Europe.

It‘s not uncommon to see unfinished concrete structures. Basically the raw skeleton often with exposed rebar at the top or sides, indicating future work.

They may stay in this state for years. As apparently everything is paid in cash and so building only advances whenever the owners have enough at hand.

Re: Grandpa’s Basement House

#43

Post by next_xibalba »

iamevn wrote: post #18
next_xibalba wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What the author is describing are rules of homeowner's associations and other similar organizations. Individuals freely enter agreements with homeowner's associations which dictate land use. One is also free to choose to live in a place not governed by these rules. But, they are not the law of the land and they do not implicate a lack of freedom in the U.S. relative to other countries. Its quite silly to suggest as m…

Unsure is the emphasis on "freely" is sarcasm but people absolutely don't have freedom when it comes to accepting HOA terms. If the house you can get has a shitty HOA then you're stuck with it. It took us dozens of offers (all well over asking price) before we finally had one that got through and there's no way we'd be able to be picky about HOA.

You are conflating "free choice" with options that perfectly align with your preferences. I made no such claim. You are absolutely free to not buy a house.

And, I promise you, you can find a home to purchase that is non-HOA. It just might not be in the area that meets all of your other preferences. But this is your choice. This is not evidence of a lack of freedom. You are not coerced into buying any house.

Re: Grandpa’s Basement House

#44

Post by quesera »

djvdq wrote: post #30
quesera wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> people absolutely don't have freedom when it comes to accepting HOA terms Of course they do. If you don't like income tax, move to WA. If you don't like sales tax, move to OR. (If you like them both, move to CA!). These choices have inherent compromises. If you don't like HOAs, choose a different neighborhood. Again, inherent compromises. But freedom of movement is guaranteed to all (non-incarcerated) US citizens.…

Freedom of movement is only one kind of freedom. Freedom of growing your own carrot on your own property is another. Just don't say that you Americans are more free than other nations. Because you are simply not.

You are responding to the wrong person.

And also mischaracterizing the state of things. Some HOAs say you must have a lawn, not a garden, in your front (or street-facing) yard. They do not prohibit you from growing carrots in your back yard. They do prohibit other things.

I'm not a fan of HOAs. But HOAs are voluntary communities. You sign the contract, you are bound by the terms. That's true in your country too.

And as for American Freedom.. It's just part of the exceptionalism mythology. Just like the One True God, or the World Champions of Sport, or what have you. Intelligent people have a more nuanced view. Unintelligent people are more common, alas. And so the world turns...

Re: Grandpa’s Basement House

#45

Post by oxfordmale »

pintxo wrote: post #42

This style of incremental building seems to be still in existence in Southern Europe. It‘s not uncommon to see unfinished concrete structures. Basically the raw skeleton often with exposed rebar at the top or sides, indicating future work. They may stay in this state for years. As apparently everything is paid in cash and so building only advances whenever the owners have enough at hand.

In Spain it also related to planning permission. Once the building work has finished, you need to have the planning permission paper work in order. Therefore they often leave one small room unfinished (exposed on the outside wall) to claim work is still in progress.

Re: Grandpa’s Basement House

#46

Post by bin_bash »

geoffeg wrote: post #2

> Growing vegetables on what should be a lawn is verboten in many locations, if not by the government than by private association bylaws. I'm aware that some HOAs limit (sometimes to what seems like an extreme) what can be done with the yard and lawn, but I wasn't aware of any governments that ban growing vegetables. Is that more common in water-restricted municipalities? (I live in midwestern US, where backyard gard…

I could see front yards but not banning growing vegetable in back yards

Re: Grandpa’s Basement House

#47

Post by deltarholamda »

rvba wrote: post #24
djvdq wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Simple question - if you want to leave HOA and after that grow vegetables, can you do that? If not - it has nothing to do with freedom. It's only propaganda of having the most freedom when citizens of a lot of "non free" countries (by American standards) will laugh at your absurds. I'm not saying USA is not free country - of course you are free. I'm only saying that telling that you have the most freedom is at least…

Looking at the /r/fuckhoa subreddit it seems that those homeovner associations are on level of North Korea and Soviet Russia - someone can come to your property (didnt happen in Eastern Europe even during communism), spy on you, fine you for not parking your car at the garage, fine you 500 dollars for putting a motorcycle outside your house, fine you for having drapes of different color, fine you for having a dog...…

> it seems that those homeovner associations are on level of North Korea and Soviet Russia

The HOA is an agreement that is designed to keep a neighborhood from going downhill by residents parking on the street, or turning their yard into a parking lot, or from painting their house some atrocious color. As normally designed, they are little more than a codification of "don't be a jerk."

The problem comes when people get involved. The sort of person who really, really wants to be on the governing board of the HOA is exactly the sort of person who should NEVER be allowed anywhere near a lever of power. These are the sorts of people who are out on the street with calipers to see if your lawn is over the prescribed length, or measuring the height of your mailbox. They take great joy in meddling with other people's lives, and they hide behind the veil of "I'm just enforcing the HOA contract!" to be douchemobiles.

Whether this is an improvement over "either get your car out of your yard or I'm gonna punch you in the nose," is an exercise left to the reader.

Re: Grandpa’s Basement House

#48

Post by bin_bash »

djvdq wrote: post #6

> Growing vegetables on what should be a lawn is verboten in many locations, if not by the government than by private association bylaws. So again, USA is country with most freedom? Freedom™, but you can't grow vegetables on your own property. Or you will be punished for having too long grass. Lmao

That rule about vegetables I've only ever heard applied to front yards which on American front yards looks pretty weird anyways. Most of our homes have backyards where it makes a lot more sense to put vegetables.

If you look at this article about it I think you can see why it would be banned: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/illegal-kitchen-garden_n_1687...

Re: Grandpa’s Basement House

#49

Post by TedDoesntTalk »

HarryHirsch wrote: post #41
TedDoesntTalk wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My HOA defines the acceptable types of trees, plants, and shrubs that can be planted. I don’t know if vegetables are restricted, but you cannot plant anything you want. This is common in colorado.

What business does a bunch of Wikipedia admins have to rule what I can plant in my own backyard. Mind, I get concerns about invasive plants, water conservation or agricultural pathogens, but that's not what HOA's are usually about. They will tell you you can't paint your shed pink.

Wikipedia admins?

I agree this restriction is ridiculous. I don’t know the purpose except maybe to make the neighborhood all look the same.

Re: Grandpa’s Basement House

#50

Post by yurtol »

deltarholamda wrote: post #47
rvba wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Looking at the /r/fuckhoa subreddit it seems that those homeovner associations are on level of North Korea and Soviet Russia - someone can come to your property (didnt happen in Eastern Europe even during communism), spy on you, fine you for not parking your car at the garage, fine you 500 dollars for putting a motorcycle outside your house, fine you for having drapes of different color, fine you for having a dog...…

> it seems that those homeovner associations are on level of North Korea and Soviet Russia The HOA is an agreement that is designed to keep a neighborhood from going downhill by residents parking on the street, or turning their yard into a parking lot, or from painting their house some atrocious color. As normally designed, they are little more than a codification of "don't be a jerk." The problem comes when people g…

What's wrong with parking your own car on your own property?
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