"I'd rather rip it all out and have some kind of native plants jungle, but that takes time and money I haven't been able to spend on it yet. I'd be just as happ

"I'd rather rip it all out and have some kind of native plants jungle, but that takes time and money I haven't been able to spend on it yet. I'd be just as happy if the front yard didn't exist and my house fronted directly on the sidewalk." I wish you lived in my neighborhood. A lot of people in SF south of 280 or in the outer sunset feel the same way you do about lawns, but they sure don't feel the same way you do about native plants. Instead, they value extra concrete and parking spots. This has been the result: http://sf.streetsblog.org/2013/01/28/cleaning-up-sfs-car-littered-sidewalks-will-take-more-than-parking-tickets/ http://sf.streetsblog.org/2013/01/28/cleaning-up-sfs-car-lit... http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Paved-over-S-F-yards-raise-concerns-4218247.php http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Paved-over-S-F-yards-r... The article says the practice is illegal, but in many neighborhoods in SF, enforcement is largely non-existent. Just to be clear, this isn't purely an aesthetic issue, there are major infrastructure problems here. In particular, paving over with non-permeable surfaces greatly increases the amount of runoff that makes its way into the storm system during heavy rains. San Francisco's system is an antiquated single combined sewage and storm system, which means that if the system is overwhelmed and drains back up.... that ain't just rainwater anymore. http://www.sfweekly.com/sanfrancisco/news-san-francisco-sewers-floods-el-nino-sfpuc-wastewater-cayuga-mission-district/Content?oid=4160430 http://www.sfweekly.com/sanfrancisco/news-san-francisco-sewe...