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Sometimes a "bubble" can be a peaceful sanctuary from the rabble of our 21st century Wild West. It's why most strive for a peaceful and tranquil home. It's why the dregs of society break our laws to trespass across our borders. It's why the majority, after they foul their own nest, try to move into yours. It's why the rabble descended onto this peaceful small town and destroyed lives.
I think some HOA communities are good, some bad. Just depends on area and rules. Some can be far to controlling. For gatted communities, theres not much of an appeal to me but I can see some positives to it. It would make you feel safer and knowing nobody should be knocking at the door unless invited or neighbors.
I love them, it's always preferred that the jones' stay together so they can keep their one-upmanship contained and their special little snowflakes never have to see or integrate with anyone on the 'outside'. Nice and safe classism with just a touch of elitism.
I live in a gated community with 7/24 security at the gate and 2 vehicles that patrol the community 7/24. Residents have a RFID on their car so they can go through a resident only gate with out stopping at security.
During the day when service/maintenance/delivery/construction etc come in, they go through security where the name, residence visited and license plate are recorded. Between 6PM and 7AM and on Sunday and certain holidays, only residents and guests are allowed in. Guests are entered via a phone call or computer by the resident.
Its not a real high tech system but it generally keeps out people that don't belong there.
There is very little crime. Occasionally a resident or guest teen will deface some property or in one case, a resident was caught stealing shrubbery from public areas to put in his yard. That's about as hard core as it gets.
Personally, I like it. There are a number of pools, fitness centers, parks, restaurants etc within the gated community. I seldom lock my car while at these facilities. I don't worry about leaving my house unlocked while I'm in the neighborhood. I don't worry about getting mugged while jogging or walking during the evening or early morning.
As far as HOA's. They are there to establish a baseline standard for the community. There are expectations when it comes to maintaining your property. These are clearly spelled out in writing before you ever buy property. If you don't agree with them, look elsewhere. Overall the rules maintain the standard and in the end, help maintain everyone property value. If your lifestyle is letting dogs run free, having cars on cinder blocks in your yard, keeping your tractor out back or not mowing your grass for a long time, or putting a 250' amateur radio tower on the side of your house and the HOA forbids it, then you need to look for property outside most gated communities.
Don't get me wrong. I've seen a lot of beautiful county homes and farms that are well kept. I've also seen a lot of country homes that look like crap. The idea of most gated communities and HOA's is to keep the crap out. But, if that is your lifestyle, you are entitled to it, just not in my neighborhood.
So this whole think in McKinney has reminded me about the boom of gated in communities in certain states - in my state we have plenty of over 55 communities and condoplexes, but not many gated communities unless you are on the Gold Coast. Gated communities have always been in wealthy areas, but they have become popular in not wealthy communities too. I was never a fan as statistics show they don't deter crime and are no safer than non-gated communities, they allow for semi-fascist HOAs to dictate what flowers you can grow, whether you can hang an American flag on your home and in extreme cases give credence to hyperactive neighborhood watch men, and simply seem to be either an attempt to segregate from the town/city or be a snob.
So I'm curious what people find attractive about them. Are the HOA fees worth it? What do you like and dislike about them?
My "trailer park" (actually manufactured homes that look to me like double wide trailers but done up and decorated to the hilt [explained by, the place is almost 40% gay])... is gated. B&E's are way less here, in fact exceedingly rare, compared to the tony condo complex I moved from (half mile away) which wasn't gated and had HOA's 2.5 times the one I live in now. We leave stuff like barbecues with propane tank left on it, and patio furnishings out all summer when we leave. Nothing snitched. And, the place is by no means lit up like a car dealership, either. Quite dark at night. I'm not 100% certain but I think the gated thing may have a lot to do with it...but the difference is simply because the other place was such easy pickin's.
"Gold Coast"? Chicago or Florida, doesn't matter, I'd go with gated.
The Craig Ranch subdivision has a neighborhood park and a gated pool and clubhouse for residents. The pool and clubhouse is gated and a scan card is needed to gain access. (You an explore via google earth here)
Those pools are fenced and gated for insurance reasons to prevent little kids from getting in and drowning. Just like Condos & Apartments.
A guard gate to get into the community would have prevented the car loads of strangers who crashed the party.
The most important consideration in whether it make sense to live in a gated community is whether all your friends live there too. If your kids spend their time in your gated community, are they going to be living narrow lives without a lot of variation in their friends? Having them stay in your gated community makes sense, because it can help keep them out of trouble. But it has to be a big community, with a lot of different kinds of people, all living together as friends.
So this whole think in McKinney has reminded me about the boom of gated in communities in certain states - in my state we have plenty of over 55 communities and condoplexes, but not many gated communities unless you are on the Gold Coast. Gated communities have always been in wealthy areas, but they have become popular in not wealthy communities too. I was never a fan as statistics show they don't deter crime and are no safer than non-gated communities, they allow for semi-fascist HOAs to dictate what flowers you can grow, whether you can hang an American flag on your home and in extreme cases give credence to hyperactive neighborhood watch men, and simply seem to be either an attempt to segregate from the town/city or be a snob.
So I'm curious what people find attractive about them. Are the HOA fees worth it? What do you like and dislike about them?
I've never lived in one and know of a few that do. I guess they are okay they always reminded me of a prison compound.
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Sometimes a "bubble" can be a peaceful sanctuary from the rabble of our 21st century Wild West. It's why most strive for a peaceful and tranquil home. It's why the dregs of society break our laws to trespass across our borders. It's why the majority, after they foul their own nest, try to move into yours. It's why the rabble descended onto this peaceful small town and destroyed lives.
