Whats with the No Fences? (Detroit, Ann Arbor: HOA, condo, house)

[Swissbuck]

So as I am looking to move and buy a house in Detroit suburbs...I am noticing that many areas don't have/allow fences in the backyard?!? I have two dogs that will def. need a fence, but all these neighborhoods I seem to be looking at won't allow them.

BTW I know of invisible fences, and there's no way I would want one, nor would it even work with one of my dogs.

[caspper69]

Originally Posted by Swissbuck

So as I am looking to move and buy a house in Detroit suburbs...I am noticing that many areas don't have/allow fences in the backyard?!? I have two dogs that will def. need a fence, but all these neighborhoods I seem to be looking at won't allow them.

BTW I know of invisible fences, and there's no way I would want one, nor would it even work with one of my dogs.

I'm sure many cities have a no fence ordinance, but that's not the norm, not even in Bloomfield Hills. Most cities that I know of will allow a fence, but require it be less than 6' or 5' tall. Some may disallow chain-link fences, but allow traditional wooden fences.

Where are you looking?

[belleislerunner]

Why would you choose to live in a HOA community to begin with? Unless you're moving from a socialist country...

Re Casper - a lot of subdivisions in Macomb county especially do not allow fences (unless it's around a pool) to prevent the subdivision from looking run down etc (and to spy on one another).

[leroythelion]

Originally Posted by Swissbuck

So as I am looking to move and buy a house in Detroit suburbs...I am noticing that many areas don't have/allow fences in the backyard?!? I have two dogs that will def. need a fence, but all these neighborhoods I seem to be looking at won't allow them.

BTW I know of invisible fences, and there's no way I would want one, nor would it even work with one of my dogs.

Some of the rules are sub-division specific. Most of the associations in the newer subs don't allow them. Canton works that way. I know my dog loves our fenced-in yard. He would run right through an invisible fence if he saw a rabbit.

[Swissbuck]

THanks for the replies. We are looking in areas such as Bingham Farm, Plymouth and Northville that don't seem to like fences. I would prefer to buy in a a non-cookie cutter subdivision that has nice homes and allows fences. That leaves me (from what I know of the area, which is not much) with Birmingham, Bloomfield Hills, Beverly Hills, Huntington Woods.

And since the housing supply is so low, any decent house is selling in no time, which makes choices even more limited. Do you all know of any other nice areas to live in? Will be commuting to both Jackson and Detroit.

[Coldjensens]

All of the places you are considering have areas that allow fences. In the neighborhoods surrounding downtown Plymouth, nearly all the homes have fences. If you are looking in subdivisions, you will have fewer options, but if you want "non-cookie cutter" you need to avoid subdivisions anyway. There is no such thing as a non cookie cutter subdivision, the statement is an oxymoron. Subdivisions are cookie cutter, that is in part what makes them a subdivision. You may find a few older subs that are not cookie cutter, but nothing from the past 25 years.

If you get into Plymouth Township, Northville township, outskirts of Northville, you can have a fence anywhere outside a subdivision. However many of the properties are so large a fence is not affordable. (it costs tens of thousadns to fence in three or five acres).

Simnply put if you cannot find a place that allows fences, you are looking in the wrong places.

You could try a dog run. Many places will allow a run even if they do not allow a fenced in back yard.


You want nice places between Jackson and Detroit? What is our page limit? there are probably no more than 200 options that qualift as nice places between Jackson and Detroit. Some of the best:

Chelsea, Dexter, Plymouth, Norhville, South Lyon, Ann Arbor, Northern Livonia. If you like soulless suburbia (subdivisions and strip malls) Canton, Novi. All of these area have rural or semi rural townships adjoining them that are very nice. Brighton is not bad. I get a kick out of Hell, but there is not much there. Grass Lake is neat if you do not care about schools. If you are going to go way tou to Birmingham, then you may want to include Grosse Pointe(s), Grosse Ile (my favorite place), Troy, Rochester (really neat little town) Royal Oak, Franklin Villiage, Bloomfield Hills, West Bloomfiled and Rochester Hills (more soulless suburbia, but very nice), Farmington/Hills, Milford 9especially near kensington Metropark), Walled Lake . . .

Maybe even a riverfront condo in Downtown Detroit if you can wait for one to become available.

[shirleyeve]

Originally Posted by caspper69

I'm sure many cities have a no fence ordinance, but that's not the norm, not even in Bloomfield Hills. Most cities that I know of will allow a fence, but require it be less than 6' or 5' tall. Some may disallow chain-link fences, but allow traditional wooden fences.

Where are you looking?

Do US cities actually have an ordinance? That seems a little draconian to me. For many people it's a safety thing, particularly if you have pets prone to roaming around and subsequently getting lost. I feel very secure having a fence and it's not too high so it doesn't really obstruct much.

[tlferg]

Alot of neighborhoods have associations that don't allow fences. With fences come unsupervised pets and then noise ordinance violations.

[drewjube]

More of a Midwest thing.

[hisbabyny]

wow!! Im not sure if No Fences is a Midwest thing, however it could be a Northeast thing but IM REALLY Into Fences!!! Its a privacy and boundary thing! I don't want people watching me in my backyard and nor do I want to see whats going on in other's back yard's! I wasn't aware that in many places one could not Put up a Fence on one's own property Ive been saying to myself "whats up with all the house's so close together and everyone"s backyard having at the most a metal see thru fence?" My plan was that if I bought a property without a privacy fence to Put One up immediately!!! Now I see if I buy in the wrong place I may not be "allowed" !! Im glad im getting such a education at City-Data ! Thank You!