This is a continuation of the HOA “Us vs. Them” discussion from the “Trotting Out the Past” thread.
I am a member of the Chamber of Commerce, which is like an association for business people. I pay dues, I get to network with others to pick up business contacts, and I give back by volunteering my time on committees, events and offering my professional services for free. I can be part of the decision-making if I want.
How is a homeowners association different — why is it so “us vs. them”? Isn’t it an association of all homeowners who pay dues? Aren’t there opportunities to get to know each other as neighbors and network? Aren’t the board positions held by homeowners like you or me, people just as busy with their jobs and their families and their own home maintenance? How can it be us vs. them when they are us? Why do people feel helpless and alone when they are part of an association of others right in the same neighborhood?
Also, the City is proposing a lien on property owners if they don’t clean up their graffiti. Wondering what others think of that versus how the county handles the issue.
Pinko, it is more like the Mother will come out in me. 😉
If it makes you feel better, MH, my mom wasn’t too thrilled I was spending Saturdays in the car graveyard, either.
Justin, it was really interesting. It was dirty and the people in the shop were kind of scary, but climbing around “the boneyard” (don’t know if that was a colloquialism or not) was fun. The cars were strewn across a few acres, next to and on top of each other, not crushed. I used to see if I could open the doors, sat inside when possible, looked under seats, listened to all the creaking climbing on a pile of dead metal makes, broke some windows just because it was okay to do it there…wondering what happened to the people who actually drove those cars. Sigh…yeah, those were the day, my friend.
I bet they don’t even let people do that anymore for liability reasons.
Also, our street was narrow and our driveway too small. So the side of the lawn it was. No one ever said a thing.
Where did you grow up, Pinko?
Billerica, MA. It has been built up since then, of course, like everything else. We lived in a an area that used to be military housing–all the houses were slabs (like one-floored ranches but built on cement slabs). Eventually, people added on, so the houses don’t look all the same anymore. Streets are still narrow though.
Wow, not sure where that is. You are a long way from home though.
My first and only contact with my HOA has definitely been an Us vs. them attitude. I live in a small community and thought that the HOA might be friendly. You know, welcome me, tell me about meetings and invite me to attend.
Nope. A week after I moved in I got a nasty letter telling me everything that was wrong with my house and that I had 30 days to correct it. That’s a fine how-do-you-do!
I knew the house had problems — it had been in foreclosure for over a year and was vacant and run down. Instead of being happy to see me and realize it might take a little time to fix the wreck since it had languished for so long, they just pi$$ed in my Wheaties right from the start.
I was hoping to move in to a nice little neighborhood that did things like block parties and cookouts. Instead, I live in a community with an HOA run by a few bored, anal-retentive b*tch*s. Needless to say, I have no warm fuzzies about my HOA.