Home Owners Assn.s

[texasmom]

QUOTE]Originally posted by REP0MAN
Steve lives about 200 miles south of Flagstaff on the west side of the Metro Phoenix area. I assure you, if he has an HOA, he has grass.
[/QUOTE]

I drove through there near phoenix while visiting family a few years ago. It was almost surreal.  One of the HOA neighborhoods was neat & tidy, but there was absolutely NO individuality to any of the homes.  You know that book *a wrinkle in time?*  That neighborhood was JUST like that.  Each house identical.  You could just visualize a kid bouncing balls in unison on the front walk & all the Mom's coming to the door at the same time to call them inside.  Unbelievable.

I'd have to plant some kind of unauthorized plant/bush out front just to be a rebel.

[Benny Moore]

Originally posted by texasmom
You know that book *a wrinkle in time?*

I'll bet I'm the only other person here who's read it.

[eskimo2]

Originally posted by Benny Moore
I'll bet I'm the only other person here who's read it.

Don't bet too much.

[DieAz]

awww let him bet all he wants to lose.

[Airscrew]

Wait Die,  I want to find out how much Benny wants to lose..

[E25280]

Originally posted by Airscrew
Wait Die,  I want to find out how much Benny wants to lose..

Me too.

[nirvana]

Or seen The Truman Show, utopian societies are scary indeed:noid

[bj229r]

Originally posted by texasmom
QUOTE]Originally posted by REP0MAN
Steve lives about 200 miles south of Flagstaff on the west side of the Metro Phoenix area. I assure you, if he has an HOA, he has grass.

I drove through there near phoenix while visiting family a few years ago. It was almost surreal.  One of the HOA neighborhoods was neat & tidy, but there was absolutely NO individuality to any of the homes.  You know that book *a wrinkle in time?*  That neighborhood was JUST like that.  Each house identical.  You could just visualize a kid bouncing balls in unison on the front walk & all the Mom's coming to the door at the same time to call them inside.  Unbelievable.

I'd have to plant some kind of unauthorized plant/bush out front just to be a rebel. [/B][/QUOTE] I used to do some work in Florence, and drove back to Phoenix each night to the motel---ya can drive 20 miles, see NUTHIN but cactus, then 50 houses crammed into 2 acres, then back to afore-mentioned nuthin

[68Wooley]

My wife and I liken Irvine CA to Stepford.

I'm still waiting on an invite to the Golf Club...

The desire to sit as an official on a HOA should automatically ban one from ever doing so.

Wan't to see what HOA's are really capable of, read this

[mensa180]

Originally posted by Benny Moore
I'll bet I'm the only other person here who's read it.

I've read that book a dozen times, and the others.  They're great!

[Jackal1]

Originally posted by Benny Moore
I'll bet I'm the only other person here who's read it.

Stay out of Vegas.

[lazs2]

I was looking at land in Az a while back.. thinking of moving.. it was strange.. all that space and the people just seemed to cluster together like the land cost a million bucks an acre.    it was like.. little chunks of housing here and there.. everyone wanting to live just as close to the next guy as they could.

Course.. if you got out of the subdivisions.. there were no services.. no power or water or sewer.     seemed like a state of nothing but little isolated housing tracts.

lazs

[Thrawn]

Geez, who hasn't read "A Wrinkle in Time"?

[Airscrew]

Originally posted by Thrawn
Geez, who hasn't read "A Wrinkle in Time"?

Benny?

[Maverick]

The majority of AZ. land is still in "public trust", in other words it belongs to the state. The subdivisions we see now (since the 90's) are based on the kaliphornia builder / developer profit mode. Cram as many houses into a plot of land as possible. I've seen houses as close as 6' to 8' apart. Once you buy the land at about $8k to $15k an acre you subdivide it to put 6 to 8 houses on each acre and sell each lot for $8k to $15k, then sell the house to be built on it. They build the houses out of pine frame with a stucco exterior costing about $30.00 a sq ft and sell them for $150.00 a sq ft. it's a hell of a racket. Now with so many folks in kaliphornia "flipping" their houses and retiring they are coming to AZ. and driving the prices through the freaking roof.

The growth rate in Phx has caused a housing shortage and the builders are slapping anything together and getting close to kaliphornia prices on them.

I've lived in 4 HOA's in the Tucson area. HOA's are another import that we didn't need. I won't live in another one again. It's unfortunate that the so called "progressive and liberal" city / county councils, planning division are all sold on the idea that an HOA is the only way to "preserve" the area by only allowing subdivisions with an HOA requirement to be built. The developers have taken the "green" angle to the hilt by cramming the houses together so they can claim they are "preserving" the desert surroundings. Up until they build the next subdivision right next to it.

The last HOA sent me a complaint letter because there were some oil spots (4" diameter total) on my driveway. It was their own maintenance crew truck that put them there. They claimed the property values were being impacted by the presence of the oil spots. I requested an independent appraisal from them to confirm it. I didn't hear any more until I got a complaint letter about the basket ball hoop on the street. It belonged to the neighbor across the street. HOA's are the bastard love child of every person with the desire to have power over their neighbors. They are disgusting to me.