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Location: RI, MA, VT, WI, IL, CA, IN (that one sucked), KY
41,937 posts, read 36,957,550 times
Reputation: 40635
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Raiderman
Pretty sure politics are not in play in this situation, as much as you'd like to turn it into a "bash Republicans" thread. It's about a filthy human with an overgrown, out of control yard. As I posted earlier, if you think it's alright, would it be alright for me to blast death metal at 750 decibels 24 hours a day? After all, why should we be concerned with what someone does in the neighborhood if it's not our own house?
That sound would affect my quality of life within the walls of my house. What a person grows in their own yard does not affect the quality of life I have in the walls of my house. Not at all comparable.
No, it quite obvious from this thread that everyone should have exactly the same house painted the same color and pattern, same yard designed and landscaped the same way, same vehicles in the driveway, and same 2.5 children as everyone else.
It's funny...we so frequently hear about promoting tolerance and diversity, but as soon as someone does something diverse, everyone wants to rain hellfire on his parade.
yes, I guess you could call creating an eyesore in the neighborhood as........."something diverse ".
I will just call a spade a spade and say it is an eyesore that certainly brings down the value of houses in that neighborhood.
Natural...haha.......there's no place in Florida or anywhere else I know of in this country whre broccoli, bananas, loofa sponges, and beauty berries and watermelons just pop up naturally.
You have to put them there. Also, I would be really surprised if Mr. Laws "garden" doesn't require as much irrigation as a lawn in order to produce fruit/vegetables. You cant grow stuff like that in Florida without water.
you know that it rains almost every day in florida right?
i know my parents never irrigate. it's just not necessary and their grass is pretty lush.
.
The man's rough junky looking garden, does rundown
all of the property values in the neighborhood.
.
Why do you believe you have a right to having a high property value? You did not buy his parcel of land.
Quote:
Originally Posted by johngolf
I agree. He has little concern for those around him.
You're right. He has little concern for those around him. The difference is that he probably isn't throwing a hissy fit over someone else's yard, and probably keeps his nose out of his neighbors' business.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Annie53
His "garden" is a nasty mess and is an eyesore, IMO.
I would not want that mess next to my house.
I wouldn't have a problem with a garden that was neat and well tended.....perhaps with a flower border around the edges, etc.
Some CD members have posted pictures of beautiful gardens that I wouldn't mind seeing in a front yard.
What would you do? It's HIS yard.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Raiderman
Wrong, if you live in a community. If you want to live in a bunker in the middle of nowhere, by all means, go nuts (although to live in a bunker in the middle of nowhere, you're probably already nearing your "nuts" destination). When people live in close proximity to one another, what they do affects other people. So, based on your logic, I should be able to paint giant swastikas in bright orange paint all over the exterior of my house? Should I be able to put up giant billboards on my property on every side? How about blasting death metal 24 hours a day through massive Marshall stacks placed facing out?
No? Ok then.
Yes.
Yes.
Yes, though I somehow doubt there are many people willing to spend the money on that sort of thing.
Quote:
Originally Posted by timberline742
That sound would affect my quality of life within the walls of my house. What a person grows in their own yard does not affect the quality of life I have in the walls of my house. Not at all comparable.
This, I think, is what people are missing. It doesn't affect their lives in any other way than they drive by it or see it for the 30 seconds it takes them to get inside their car or their house.
If he broke the law, that is one thing... but $130,000 in fines is not only excessive, it's ridiculous. That, and saying "if someone wants to be a farmer, move to a farm or ranch" or something similar is not only ridiculous, it's rather rude. That'd be like me telling you to go move to a larger city so you could be a rude city dweller.
Pretty sure politics are not in play in this situation, as much as you'd like to turn it into a "bash Republicans" thread. It's about a filthy human with an overgrown, out of control yard. As I posted earlier, if you think it's alright, would it be alright for me to blast death metal at 750 decibels 24 hours a day? After all, why should we be concerned with what someone does in the neighborhood if it's not our own house?
The intent wasn't to bash, but to point out the apparent irony in buying a home in a heavily republican area and finding out after the fact that your neighbors (and local government) are a bunch of busybodies intent on controlling how an individual uses their private property.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Teddy52
yes, I guess you could call creating an eyesore in the neighborhood as........."something diverse ".
I will just call a spade a spade and say it is an eyesore that certainly brings down the value of houses in that neighborhood.
While I'm sure this is true, the neighborhood in question seems to have other much more severe problems affecting house values, namely the hundreds of houses in foreclosure. Fining a person who's actually inhabiting their house and paying taxes on it, albeit with a messy yard, is like putting a bandaid on a severed artery. If they were really interested in fining the people for bringing down property values they'd go after the people abandoning homes before tackling the messy yard issue.
yes, I guess you could call creating an eyesore in the neighborhood as........."something diverse ".
I will just call a spade a spade and say it is an eyesore that certainly brings down the value of houses in that neighborhood.
I've seen this argument get tossed around in my neighborhood as well. One neighbor DARED to paint his house a lovely shade of blue, that contrasts very well with the sea of bland off white houses around him. Many people complained up a storm that he was destroying their property values.
Another neighbor parked his brand new ski boat in his driveway. One made a mailbox that looked like a bird house. One planted trees in his front yard, instead of the cacti and palms that everyone else had. One paved his driveway wider, instead of having a gravel driveway next to the paved section. One extended his 2 foot tall block wall to the sidewalk. I've had complaints about my vintage trucks, apparently they don't blend well with the sea of work trucks and Kias.
All with the same cry - "They're destroying our property values!!!!!", and more often than not, coming from the same group of half a dozen or so residents that don't even live on the same street, much less are actual "neighbors".
Some people just won't be happy until we're all living the exact same life that they are....
I can see both sides of the coin. However, I am becoming more and more of the mind that even suburban dwellers should consider growing more of their own food. Afterall--all I hear anymore is how worried people are about GMOs and the "fake" food produced by "big ag" corporations. It will take a HUGE mindset change, but the more deplete of nutrients our food from big commercial outfits become, the more I think we have to take matters into our own hands. If you have land, use it for growing something to eat. Perhaps the days of perfectly manicured, homogeneous lawns that are "approved" by neighbors are over--and perhaps they should be. I feel the same about golf courses---they should be made into community gardens and low-income "green" housing with open land to grow food, too. But I do admit my ideas are much more radical than the average bear.
What is outragesous is the fine. I realize that amount has built up over a few years--and the fines keep piling up. But he is growing food, not committing a crime against humanity for pete's sake! It galls me that corporations can get away with environmental atrocities every day of the week without fines, and a regular dude like this gets slapped with fines for growing food. Bizarro world, I tell ya!
I'm in California, so overgrown vegetation wouldn't fly for a particular reason: fire hazard. The city would eventually rip it out and bill me. Florida's climate is different, of course, but I think it's reasonable to expect your neighbors to maintain their homes at least to a minimum of care. Isn't there a common sense balance between personal boundaries and communal responsibility? Isn't that what we strive for to reach adulthood?
A fence would be a start. That property is huge; there's no losing sunlight for the entire yard unless the fence is 50' tall and, besides, let nature decide what will grow in 6' of afternoon shade! Again, I say he's not gardening but accidentally discovering food. It's hardly laudable, definitely not husbandry or intentional subsistence gardening of any kind since he's yielding less than if he'd put some effort into it. "Hey, look what I found! I'm brilliant!"
Although ugly is in the eye of the beholder, sloth is obvious. Just clear the weeds! Is he eating the weeds? If not, can he defend their benefit beside their being "what nature does"? Nature calls, but we don't just take a dump in our front yards. We have neighbors. We're free to be vain and faux-deep but we have to look beyond ourselves too, or find a community that doesn't care how we express our vanity.
you know that it rains almost every day in florida right?
i know my parents never irrigate. it's just not necessary and their grass is pretty lush.
It does not rain in that part of Florida almost every day. That is untrue. They had a very rainy summer, but in fact they are down on rainfall for the year. Just last week the Orlando Sentinel had articles about potential drought. Whether that's alarmist reporting, I don't know; however, the area has had drought issues or near drought issues for a while.
The area has frequent burn bans due to lack of rain as well as water restrictions. There are wild fires at least a few times a year due to lack of rain.
Sometimes it rains 5 minutes a day for days on end, sometimes it storms, sometimes theres no rain for 1-2 weeks. The end result is usually sufficient for established lawns/landscaping to survive.
You would have to be extremely lucky imo to grow a vegetable garden without backup irrigation. I have never heard of anyone able to grow vegetables without watering. I didn't hear Mr. Law say anything about his garden conserving water. Would think he'd be touting it if it were true.
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