Homestead mailing list

[Gene GeRue <genegerue AT ruralize.com>]

On Jun 26, 2008, at 11:56 AM, bob ford wrote:

> If you have to have fences around any part of a densely populated  
> urban
> area, it is because the social engineering of the past couple of  
> generations was wrong; not because of a single elected or appointed  
> police chief or sheriff, etc....

Do you ever lock your front door?

Much of my real estate work in Phoenix and Scottsdale was in gated  
communities. I found a wide variety of reasons why people choose to  
live behind a wall and a gate, with or without a guard, armed or  
unarmed. Some are pretty simple: couples with young children who want  
to not have to give another thought to their kids playing in the  
street, elderly people who are paranoid about crime, those with  
expensive belongings who want an extra layer of protection, simply  
being able to leave one's garage door open and not lose golf clubs,  
tools, bikes. Those who do it for snob appeal and status are more  
easily criticized, but, hey, this is America and we get to choose how  
we live.

I have grown to strongly dislike homeowner's associations but I really  
have no problem with people who choose for any reason to live in a  
gated community.

Now people like you, who live in a place with so many neighbors so  
close, that I have a problem understanding.

Did I mention that the Phoenix house is in such a neighborhood?  
Quarter-acre lots, cheek by jowl. A guy cannot yell at his dog without  
the neighbors finding it necessary to make mention of it at some  
inopportune time.