Shared Backyards: Brilliant or Bad Idea?
SodaHead Living
2012/06/17 00:06:42
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Robert Frost said that good fences make good neighbors. But these days a growing number of homeowners are knocking them down in order to create larger communal backyards.
Joining your backyard with your neighbor’s means there is more room for gardening and entertaining, children and pets and can run around more freely, and you may even be able to build that swimming pool or tennis court you’ve always dreamed of. But the extra space doesn’t come without added difficulties.
“Gardening expenses can be split evenly, but who pulls the weeds and who gets to pick the fruit? Post a sign-up sheet for use of the communal table? Or is there an always-room-to-share policy? What happens when one neighbor wants to sell?” asked Anne Marie Chaker of The Wall Street Journal.
Many of the individuals who have opted for shared backyards explain that they are are hammering these details out in monthly decision-making meetings and in legal documents. The potential risks are evident, but if you actually like your neighbors and are willing to give up some of your privacy, yard-sharing seems like a fantastic option. (That is if you live in a neighborhood that hasn’t prohibited the practice.)
So, what do you think SodaHeads? Is yard-sharing brilliant or a bad idea?
Joining your backyard with your neighbor’s means there is more room for gardening and entertaining, children and pets and can run around more freely, and you may even be able to build that swimming pool or tennis court you’ve always dreamed of. But the extra space doesn’t come without added difficulties.
“Gardening expenses can be split evenly, but who pulls the weeds and who gets to pick the fruit? Post a sign-up sheet for use of the communal table? Or is there an always-room-to-share policy? What happens when one neighbor wants to sell?” asked Anne Marie Chaker of The Wall Street Journal.
Many of the individuals who have opted for shared backyards explain that they are are hammering these details out in monthly decision-making meetings and in legal documents. The potential risks are evident, but if you actually like your neighbors and are willing to give up some of your privacy, yard-sharing seems like a fantastic option. (That is if you live in a neighborhood that hasn’t prohibited the practice.)
So, what do you think SodaHeads? Is yard-sharing brilliant or a bad idea?
Read More: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB100014240527023037...
Top Opinion
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Sayer Stewart 2012/06/17 05:09:21
(P.S. I am joking. Play along so we can both get glorious thumb ups.)
Now I've got to build a 15' wall to keep these yahoo hippies out.
(ring ring) Aperture Labs?
Yes, do you have wall mount brackets for turrets? How many are in a case?
It's a fulfilling feeling to hear a little voice say "targeting" and know they are doing their job while freaking the heck out of the target just before it gets it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?...
The expression "Good fences make good neighbors." long preceded Robert Frost. And, more importantly to this note, Frost's use of the proverb in his poem "Mending Wall" attributes the thought not to the person presumably speaking his thoughts, i.e., the narrator, but to the narrator's neighbor. The poem starts out "Something there is that doesn't love a wall ... " and goes on to talk about how "Frost" and his neighbor have a springtime yearly ritual of mending the wall dividing their properties, a tedious task which gives Frost the time to muse "There where it is we do not need the wall: / he is all pine and I am apple orchard. / My apple trees will never get across / And eat the cones under his pines, I tell him. / He only says, 'Good fences make good neighbors'. / Spring is the mischief in me, and I wonder / If I could put a notion in his head: / 'Why do they make good neighbors? Isn't it / Where there are cows? / But here there are no cows. / Before I built a wall I'd ask to know / What I was walling in or walling out, / And to whom I was like ...
The expression "Good fences make good neighbors." long preceded Robert Frost. And, more importantly to this note, Frost's use of the proverb in his poem "Mending Wall" attributes the thought not to the person presumably speaking his thoughts, i.e., the narrator, but to the narrator's neighbor. The poem starts out "Something there is that doesn't love a wall ... " and goes on to talk about how "Frost" and his neighbor have a springtime yearly ritual of mending the wall dividing their properties, a tedious task which gives Frost the time to muse "There where it is we do not need the wall: / he is all pine and I am apple orchard. / My apple trees will never get across / And eat the cones under his pines, I tell him. / He only says, 'Good fences make good neighbors'. / Spring is the mischief in me, and I wonder / If I could put a notion in his head: / 'Why do they make good neighbors? Isn't it / Where there are cows? / But here there are no cows. / Before I built a wall I'd ask to know / What I was walling in or walling out, / And to whom I was like to give offense ...
Which brings me to the point that explains my choice of answers on this thread. I do not think it necessarily "Brilliant" to tear down fences dividing back yards. I do think it brilliant, however, to think about doing so and to consult meaningfully w/ one's neighbors to explore whether some type of win/win situation can be out together.
I want some personal, private space, but I would have no problem with larger communal areas.
My original property was 12 acres, then several years ago I bought the property from a neighbor adjacent to my southern property line for a total now of 20 acres (outline on the aerial shot).
We are surrounded by about 400 hundred acres of woods, most of which is just for hunting. On that 400 acres there are only 7 homes.
The property owner of the land adjacent to my northern property line is considering selling me 10 acres.
A few more pictures of my property are on my profile photo page..
http://www.sodahead.com/user/...
There's a reason why I have the home that I now own ..
living rurally .. I like my distance ..
I like the peace and quiet that comes from NOT having neighbors right in my face ..
it is difficult enough dealing with constantly out in public
(and the ever present 'difficult people' (we all know someone like this))
why would I want to deal with 'difficult people' on my yard space?