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> I’m not the type to willingly buy in an HOA area The problem is that there's a hard trade-off between private property ownership and walkability. If you want
by Alex3917 5y ago
> I’m not the type to willingly buy in an HOA area
The problem is that there's a hard trade-off between private property ownership and walkability. If you want to live somewhere where you can walk and bike to restaurants, houses inherently need to be close together. And when houses are closer together on smaller lots, there is more value to having communal property, and to keeping private property cohesively managed. In short, the more walkable a neighborhood you want to live in, the more game theory pushes you toward forming HOAs, co-ops, etc.
- sokoloff 5y agoWe’re in a part of Cambridge, MA with relatively small lots. I’ve supported every neighbor’s application for a permit or variance, even when I really didn’t like the aesthetics of what they were building. I don’t think it’s my place to care what windows you have, what color your door is painted, if your hedges are trimmed to the regulation height, or whatever other ridiculous policies HOAs can dream up. There’s a sidewalk out front. If you don’t like the look of my house, I invite you to look at something else while you walk past; I’ll do the same.
- amanaplanacanal 5y agoThis makes absolutely no sense to me. Every great walkable neighborhood built before the mid twentieth century (in other words 99.9% of them) have no HOA. As a matter of fact, I wound say the exact opposite. The HOA is more likely going to keep out the bars, cafes, restaurants, and groceries that actually make a neighborhood walkable.