Hacker News new | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submit login

> So you wouldn't have any problem with your neighbor decorating their house to look like some kind of brothel?

No, I don't care. If there is evidence that it is a brothel that is illegal where I live and I'd report it, but decorated like one? It's not my house, and not my right to decide.

But have you considered that most people aren't going to make their house look like a Brothel? More realistically I might want to make my house look like an awesome fairy tale house, would love to see the other creative houses around me, and most HOAs would not "allow" that.

I currently rent but there's a non-HOA neighborhood near me and it's a pleasure to walk those streets. One house looks like a traditional Japanese house, another has some Black Lives Matter signs on it, another has a mini forest in their front yard and it looks like something that came out of Harry Potter. I love it.

There's also an HOA neighborhood near me. Boring as fuck.

> Or your other neighbor using his front yard as an auto parts storage area?

No. I don't care. I'll just build wood furniture in my front yard and maybe we'd have some nice conversations and maybe I'd pay them to fix my car. Auto repair next door sounds kinda nice actually.

> Or another letting their grass grow so high that it starts attracting wild animals and snakes that keep spilling over into your backyard?

I don't care about their grass. Most wild animals aren't actually nuisances. Snakes would probably just stay in the tall grass and are unlikely to migrate to open areas, that's just how they behave. If there are nuisance pests then it's their responsibility to find a way to not impact my property, but it's not upto me how they exercise that responsibility. If they want their tall grass and a fence, fine, if they want to cut the grass short, fine, if they want to spray their property with some anti-pest stuff, fine, that's upto them.

> Something even as small as a bunch of junk in a yard that fills with rain water can bring a plague of mosquitos upon an entire neighborhood in certain areas.

Yes, if the mosquitoes are flying into other peoples' properties, that's not okay. But if they want to build a pond in their front yard AND take responsibility to make sure there aren't mosquitoes by spraying it appropriately or installing a fountain to keep the water moving or build a greenhouse over it or however other way they choose to avoid impacting others, that's their right to decorate their place however they want. An HOA would probably be stubborn and say "no ponds". I say let them have whatever they want as long as they aren't releasing mosquitoes into my property.*




>There's also an HOA neighborhood near me. Boring as fuck.

HOA neighborhoods is an extension of the phenomenon of paving everything. HOA neighborhoods look like someone paved over everyone's soul.

I think a big problem is that one single thing is paramount in housing: selling the house later for a profit. People get this idea that because their property value fluctuates that you owe them something. Everyone must sanitize every aspect of their lives lest some random stranger get a whiff of it. I can't wait til all this horse shit resolves itself and all these people who treat housing like the stock market are underwater and signing divorce papers.


>But if they want to build a pond in their front yard AND take responsibility to make sure there aren't mosquitoes by spraying it appropriately

Well, then you are going to need an HOA to enforce that unless you live in a municipality that already does.


No, the HOA would just say no ponds allowed, and oh by the way, you have to chop down that tree [that has every right to live as a living being]. Oh and yeah you can't paint your house blue.

Fuck that. The municipality on the other hand will only care about the mosquitoes and such public health issues and unless it's a historic neighborhood they couldn't care less about what color your house is. That's the way it should be.

And if the municipality doesn't care, go to a city council meeting with the 20 other people who are affected and make them care.




Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: