Living in a new housing development has many changes. There are the "old" people who've been living in our homes for 2 years now. Then there are the "new" people. There are folks who still have the standard builder yards and there are those who've totally revamped their front and/or back yards.
It's really amazing to see how much the neighborhood has changed since we moved in. No more cement trucks rolling up and down the streets at 2am. No more large flatbed trucks delivering wood for framing. No more trucks with tradesmen parking up and down the streets. It's a lot quieter.
Because people are choosing to update or NOT update their front yards, it's interesting to walk through our development. There are always changes to see. I like to see the different types of pavers people have used to widen their driveways. Most folks do this so they're not stepping on yard portion of their yards as they get out of their cars. Some folks use pavers completely up to their front door. Some use them as a walkway to their back gates.
Of course, there are the people who've chosen to put swimming pools into their backyards but it's hard to REALLY check those out. But for the folks who've got view fencing (that black iron fencing instead of bricks), we can see in from a distance. What I find interesting is when people decide to put bushes right in front of the black fencing to conceal their backyards. To me, they're concealing the view. When we're in the back, we're in full view of the neighbors. But it doesn't matter. We don't care if people see us. We're normally just running around with the kids. And it's not like anyone lives directly behind us so we've got about 100 feet of natural landscape as a buffer to the sidewalk up the street behind us. I guess lots of people really like some privacy when they're in their backyard.
Two weeks ago, we found out that ONAS' husband has TREE ENVY. And when ONAS looks at our yard, he just shakes his head. You see, they moved in a week or so before us. And the two trees in our front yard are blossoming. They're twice as big as they were when we moved in two years ago. They're wider and taller and a deep green. With lots of new leaves (which are paler) at the ends of every single branch. It's a strong tree too. I just pruned some branches that were growing out to the front sidewalk yesterday. And we have to keep on pruning those branches back at least every 3 to 4 weeks! But ONAS' trees? They still look about the same size as when they moved in. That explains the "tree envy". When the Hubs heard about the situation, he gave ONAS some tree fertilizer spikes. He told her that she should just nail 2 spikes around each tree. That's all we've done other than regular watering to our trees. And folks....their trees are already looking a little nicer. We can see the pale green of the newer leaves. YEAH!
What I do find crazy is how some folks make BIG changes to their yards and don't get "approval" from the HOA. You all know how HOAs can either make a neighborhood great or suck. There's this one corner house that was getting a back patio and gazebo put up. I noticed it about 2 months ago. You could see the wood framing over the top of their fencing. Well, work on those two items stopped. You can see that the roofing on the gazebo was half done. The unused tiles are still sitting up there. I guess one of the HOA people saw the structures being built and had those folks stop the process. So those homeowners have a half-built back patio cover. The wood framing is all there but it's not stucco'd to match the house so it's obviously unfinished.
Then we found out another neighbor on the other block is getting fined by the HOA because their front gate is too elaborate. I mean, we purchased security doors for our front and back doors. You know. Those metal doors that have a screen attached? This way when it's cool outside we open up our regular doors and get some fresh air through the house. We didn't get those doors approved by the HOA. We just bought them and got them installed. But the things is those doors pretty much blend with the colors of our house. Our front door isn't really fully exposed to the street. You actually have to walk a little bit up our driveway to get a full view of our door. We didn't get it approved and no one has ever said anything to us. But there are a LOT of people in the neighborhood who have security doors so we didn't think anything of it.
When I found out about this neighbor getting fined, I walked the upper portion of the neighborhood where I rarely get to. I noticed the gate straight away. It's not a gate for fence. It's one of those 'gates' that you use to secure the front walkway of your home. The garage and front bedroom of this particular house are flush at the front of the house. So a few folks who have this particular style of home have placed an iron gate right there as an "entrance". I definitely would have wanted something like that if we'd purchased that model home. So I understand the gate thing. But the gate that this homeowner purchased had an elaborate top arch thing on it that you walk under. So it was pretty large and fancy-smancy. TOTALLY stuck out like a sore thumb. So I understand why they got called on it by the HOA. And they're getting fined EVERY month until it's taken down I guess. Can you imagine what these two homeowners are feeling?
But seriously, I love my neighborhood. I love my neighbors. The nice ones. The crazy ones (like GAS). Even the really shy ones (like the renters next door). I can't believe that I know as many neighbors as I do. I know the folks in at least 20 homes in our subdivision. TWENTY! That's a ton for me. I've never known that many families in walking distance of my house.
Now how about you? How many neighbors do you know? Do you love your neighborhood or not? Why?
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