DIYbanter - View Single Post

HeyBub[_3_]

wrote:

All I will say is if you don't show up at the meetings, don't complain
about the stupid rules they come up with.
The world is controlled by those who show up.

Case in point, I went around knocking on doors and pitching my case to
ensure we had the votes to defeat renewing our deed restrictions. 20
minutes out of 44 people's Saturday morning and we were free of legal
blackmail forever. (or at least until someone tries to reinstate them
again)
THAT is worth showing up for.
The amazing thing is we still can maintain a very good neighborhood
without the legal threats of fines and liens, just by talking to
people like adults.

I live in the largest city in the country (maybe the world) with no zoning
(HOA writ large). About every five years, HUD does a survey. They find that
our city's land use patterns differ not at all from cities with strict
zoning: Heavy industry is clustered around rail lines and the port,
commercial properties are centered around heavily traveled intersections,
multi-family dwellings are usually on main streets, single family residences
are off the main drags, etc. What we DON'T have is the graft, favoritism,
and corruption often associated with zoning variances.

Sometimes this lack of zoning does create a problem, but the problem is
usually self-correcting.

I recall some years ago, on the most high-falutin' street in town (no
residence worth less than $5 million), Shell bought a corner lot and
announced they were going to erect a gas station! Nearby residents objected
to the sullying of their neighborhood and started counter-actions, ranging
from cutting up their Shell credit cards to threatening to buy Royal Dutch
Shell and skinning the knucklehead who came up with the idea. (The residents
included John Connalley, Jeffrey Skilling, Andrew Fastow, Bob Mossbacher,
etc.). Shell abandoned the plan and donated the lot to the city for a
pocket-park.

In the less-affluent neighborhoods, residents often make use of the "But yer
honer, he NEEDED killin' " defense.