Why gated community? (Mesa: insurance, house prices, landscaping)

[irwin]

Originally Posted by Ponderosa

IRWIN: "Yes, sprawl is a national problem and has spread to almost ever part of the country since the end of WWII. Thankfully, my generation is different"

I don't think your generation is any different, just younger. Here's how it works:

When you are 20-something your interests are in learning a skill, getting an education, moving up at work, friends, acquiring the latest in technology, discussing politics, chasing the opposite sex and indulging yourself. Urban-living best meets your needs. You haven't yet learned much of what the rest what life will teach you, so you think that everyone ought to think like you do.

The you get married and the friends go away to marriage, to war, to jobs, to the grave. You have a spouse and a couple little kids and you begin to move from self-indulgence to loving and indulging your spouse and kids. Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy are back in your life. You trade the Beemer for a 4-door with a rear seat DVD. You want to barbeque, hang out at the lakes or go camping with your family. You want a little spot where your children can play in safety and where you can keep an eye on them - a backyard. You want schools where you think your kids can get a decent education. And because you are less self-indulgent, you accept a long commute, smog, and house payments as the price of your family's happiness. You move to suburbia.

One day you wake up and the kids are gone. The pool is green and you haven't used it in weeks. The barbeque has been out of gas since Aunt Emma's visit last year. The grass needs mowing and the homeowners' association is on your ass about weeds and overgrown bushes. You don't need any of this stuff anymore. So you buy an RV or a condo in the now booming urban core (the early boomers have already transformed it into a high rise retirement village).

Your "generation" is no different. Mine was going to end war.

There is a significant increase in the number of younger families choosing to (a.) have kids much later in life, (b.) have less children, (c.) raise their children in an urban setting. This is a significant departure from the baby boom generation who largely fled the cities and relied on the automobile. My generation is much more environmentally sensitive. In the end, your generation where idealists but your goals were simply unrealistic and this caused disillusionment. This is why so many idealistic hippies became yuppies and bobos now driving around in SUV's. My generation is setting more realistic goals, goals that start with simple actions of the individual such as choosing to walk or ride one's bike rather than taking the gas guzzler out for another spin.

[CodyW]

Being probably THE youngest person who does any regular posting on this forum, I must chime in.

I feel kind of resentful towards earlier generations. I feel like they screwed up, and just left us to fix it. I usually get the response "IF IT WEREN'T FOR US, YOUR COUNTRY WOULDN'T BE HERE"

That may be, but the fact of the matter is, it won't be here much longer, anyway. (No, I'm NOT that proud to be an american, I don't have faith in my country, and I am embarrassed at what has happened to us on the international level.)

Yes, I'd like to think we're different. Yes, We WILL make mistakes, but, hey, nothing good ever happened to those people who just let things take their natural course. Change doesn't come without ACTION.

[Ponderosa]

We're getting off-topic here and I admit my post didn't help. Let's steer it back to the merits of Gated Communities.

Moderator

[Ljiljana]

yes, I just wanted to say the same thing and nobody answered my question about HOA and how does it work? Thanks!

[sablebaby]

Originally Posted by Ljiljana

yes, I just wanted to say the same thing and nobody answered my question about HOA and how does it work? Thanks!

HOA fees vary. In a condo they will be much higher due to the cost of the pool, workout room, parking lot, etc. (Anywhere from $50-200/month).

For a house it's much lower in a typical neighborhood (one without a community pool, etc) anywhere from $10-$50/month (usually paid yearly or twice a year).

Most, if not all, older homes (pre 90's) will not have HOA's. Therefore, there will not be any community restrictions (other than general laws).

Bascially it doesn't matter how much a home is, it's just what they vote on charging everyone.

[RedWingsFan]

They provide a very false sense of security. I used to work for a homebuilder and in the staff meetings they would joke about making sure the new communities were gated and would talk about the "false sense of security" it provided people.

Bottom line is anyone can get into a neighborhood if they want in. All the have to do is follow someone in, call someone who will just buzz them in, etc. And who's to say that the criminal doesn't live in the neighbhorhood, they live somewhere!

[Ljiljana]

Thank you Sablebaby, but I dont understand why would a single home have HOA, what are you actually paying for?

[Sean_Harrington]

All you do is wave a metal object, like a shovel under the EXIT gate, which is many times away from the entrance, it triggers the sensor, and the gate pops open. A handyman/gardener taught me that.

[sablebaby]

You're paying for a guarantee (hopefully, anyway) that your neighborhood will stay clean over the years. They have a lot of restrictions on such things like, you can't park your car in your front yard, you must keep up your yard, you can't decorate (paint or yard decor) out of the norm, you have someone to complain about if you have noisy neighbors (barking dogs, etc). You're paying for people to oversee these things for you.

Some can have too many restrictions that people have problems with, which I can understand because you own the house and the land, you should be able to do what you want (within reason).

For me, I will NOT live in any neighborhood that doesn't have an HOA. I have seen way too many streets that are garbage, even a lot of newer developments without HOA's.

[HX_Guy]

I agree Sablebaby.

While our HOA irks me sometimes, they are usually right about it, such as when our front tree was overgrown and they kept sending notices to get it trimmed.

I lived in a neighborhood that didn't have an HOA for 12 years and things went to crap over time. Our house, the neighbors and the whole little corner we had was nice, but down the street was a house with a boarded up window because it had broke and the people always had old junk cars in the street leaking oil plus a front yard full of kids toys. Other people didn't have front landscaping, just overgrown weeds and other painted their homes a crazy purple and such.

It does seem for the most part, people who have a problem with HOAs are the ones that don't like to be clean and maintain their property.