you have to be kidding me?

Whoops... must be time to change the filter again!

Oh, let's not start that one again. Debates over what constitutes "upstate" are epic. Y'know that quasi-straight line that separates most of NY from PA? I always figured that if you drew it all the way across the state to (let me check the map now...) CT (maybe that's why it's spelled "Connect"icut) then anything north of the entire line is "upstate". But there are probly as many definitions as there are upstaters...

Sorry - not taking the bait. :-)

Doc

I'm not trying to bait you, Doc. I'm trying to make you see there is more than just mind control to this situation. If a community or a city would try to force these kinds of rules (and not grandfather in what's already there) I would be at the head of the line in protest.

But these covenants are in place from the time the first lot is platted. And I don't know why anyone would have a problem with them. If you have a problem, you're probably not going to be happy living in that particular neighborhood.

I found it wonderful to not have to worry if I was going to have problems with the neighbors.

I've lived in both kinds of neighborhoods. And it doesn't matter if it's a trailer (lived in 'em) or a neighborhood of $250,000 home (lived there too), I've had good and bad neighbors in both places.

Cindy

Sorry - not taking the bait. :-)

Doc

I couldn't bear living in a place where I couldn't plant hollyhocks out next to the outhouse if I wanted to. I s'pose if you are comfortable in such a place that is fine. I do know some people who have gotten stuck in them because it was the only suitable housing they could find when moving for jobs and such. Most of them did move out just as quick as they could find a more suitable neighborhood. I think I could put up with junk cars a lot more easily than I could a homeowners association. Good fences make for good neighbors, only most of the associations I have heard about don't allow fences.

NightMist has a real attitude about "lawn lovers"

All my life I've had this little problem with authority. Say I'm going to plant a rose bush. Then I get a note telling me that our neighborhood alliance is requiring a rose bush in every front yard. I'll be darned if I'll plant that rose bush. That's just me. So I don't do well with HOA's, even though I realize they go a long way toward keeping neighborhoods clean and respectable.

I like seeing clothes hanging on a line. I don't like to see clothes hanging on a deck railing. And please, dry all unmentionables inside. All that said, I don't like hanging my own clothes out, except for sheets. And we don't have a clothesline here so it doesn't matter. I find that clothes hung to dry end up harshly rough and stiff. A dryer with two of those little balls bouncing around inside it with the clothes works just fine.

Sunny

Some of you would think you'd died and gone to Heaven (or elsewhere) if you were living in the Swamp. Our much-loved homeplace would be the envy of any golf course. That makes us happy. Down the lane is a shack with a Port-o-let in the front yard and 3 goats for watchdogs. The moonshine stills are well-concealed and the pot plants get confiscated now and then. But I'm with Sunny. If someone decided I had to plant a rosebush or couldn't hang out my wash, they would certainly have a problem with me. OTOH, we knew the rules when we moved here. Mostly, there ain't no rules except we are very kind to each other. Polly

"Sunny" All my life I've had this little problem with authority. Say I'm going

Polly, we live nowhere near a swamp. Matter of fact, we're not even rural. Sort of getting toward rural, but really not there. When we first moved into our house, there was a house down the street and around the corner that had a port-a-john in the front driveway. It appeared that the house in question probably didn't have a functioning septic system and that the port-a was their only .... outlet. Everybody who came to our house drove right by it and always asked the question: "Who are those people with the port-a-john in the driveway and 18 old cars on the front lawn?" Well, I have no clue. They seemed to get the outside potty gone a few years ago but there are around 20 cars that park there most nights. They are quiet and wave when you drive by and I haven't a clue anything else about them. Glad I didn't live next door during the potty years. But it all worked out.

Why the story? I don't know. I think because it's late and I have an empty screen in front of me.

:) Sunny

I can no longer dry my clothes outside, because apart from the rain, Mr Toad has taken up residence down my rotary clothes drier hole!!

Living dangerously!

Sally at the Seaside~~~~~~~~~~~~~uk

J* wrote:

Sunny, you can hang them on the line to dry and then toss them in the dryer for a couple minutes. It even softens up jeans.

I used to love sheets that had been dried outdoors. That's the best smell. But my lungs can't handle it anymore. Last time I did it, I got to wheezing so bad I had to go sleep on the couch.

Cindy

Then apparently you skipped over the opening phrase, "It's about a [LOT] of things,..."

Sometimes. Other times, a *newly* created entity decides, "Oh, we think it would be nice if...[*everybody* lived the way *we* think they should live]" and then a small group of snobs vote in new rules over the objections of current residents. I've seen it happen many times. I've lived where it happened.

We were perfectly happy until the association "decided" that the entire neighborhood should live according to their rules and standards, and yes, they used the City of Rochester to enforce their snobby rules over residents who lived there (for *decades* in some cases).

If you have neighbors, you're going to have problems/issues. That's a fact of life. That's why we have things like law and government. Most people put up, shut up, or work things out. Those who can't establish associations to make everyone else live by their rules.

Exactly. And thank you for proving my point so succinctly.

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