US Judge Laments Inability to Jail Man for Unmown Lawn

[Ethel mermania]

Judge deserves all the abuse heaved at him. At best he should be removed from the bench.

*her. The judge is a woman.
See also the video.

I sit corrected, thanks

[Diopolis]

Smaller front yards would be a benefit to us all, but having houses moved back from the street somewhat is far preferable to having them but up to the street itself.

Honestly I prefer having my house up against the street. Makes for a bigger and more private backyard or a front courtyard

I'd prefer to be closer to the street than the american average- with a bigger backyard to make up for it- but I do want to keep some buffer.

[Dumb Ideologies]

Judge sure does have that girlboss energy

[Forsher]

Gardens and orchards should replace the lawns beloved by the Dolores Umbridges and Dennis Raders of the world. Real ecological and economic benefits there instead of water waste.

Smaller front yards would be a benefit to us all, but having houses moved back from the street somewhat is far preferable to having them but up to the street itself.

Set backs are enormously destructive. There is no value whatsoever to requiring them and a hell of a lot of downside in terms of housing affordability and good urban design.

[Fractalnavel]

Former Detroit area resident here. I haven't read all the details in the case at hand, but there are a lot of people in this thread talking about an unmown lawn. Fact: Lawns don't grow in winter in Detroit. Was this left over from late summer, maybe?

Just one quick weather link for that area.

[Ethel mermania]

Smaller front yards would be a benefit to us all, but having houses moved back from the street somewhat is far preferable to having them but up to the street itself.

Set backs are enormously destructive. There is no value whatsoever to requiring them and a hell of a lot of downside in terms of housing affordability and good urban design.

Looks better, brings light, air and green to urban and suburban environments.

[Diopolis]

Smaller front yards would be a benefit to us all, but having houses moved back from the street somewhat is far preferable to having them but up to the street itself.

Set backs are enormously destructive. There is no value whatsoever to requiring them and a hell of a lot of downside in terms of housing affordability and good urban design.

I mean, my true preference would I guess be to have a privacy fence around the whole property with no distinction between the front and back yard. But I don't want my house directly adjacent to the street; it would be a dark dingy street for the neighborhood and a lot of street splatter on the front of my house, to say nothing of walkability concerns.

[Christian Confederation]

Crappy Judge, Our Judge threw out a third of the counties spending tickets after the local PD's spending trap got most of the south side a week after they opened.

[Forsher]

Set backs are enormously destructive. There is no value whatsoever to requiring them and a hell of a lot of downside in terms of housing affordability and good urban design.

I mean, my true preference would I guess be to have a privacy fence around the whole property with no distinction between the front and back yard. But I don't want my house directly adjacent to the street; it would be a dark dingy street for the neighborhood and a lot of street splatter on the front of my house, to say nothing of walkability concerns.

Walkability is another thing set backs destroy.

https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/201 ... h-setbacks

https://exclusive.multibriefs.com/conte ... -materials

https://www.greaterauckland.org.nz/2021 ... jan-horse/

https://twitter.com/morehomesnz/status/ ... 2428135449

[Necroghastia]

Needs a fired AND community service option. Absolutely ridiculous thing to even contemplate sending someone to jail for, even if it wasn't an elderly cancer patient. Hell, even the fine is a bit much.

Former Detroit area resident here. I haven't read all the details in the case at hand, but there are a lot of people in this thread talking about an unmown lawn. Fact: Lawns don't grow in winter in Detroit. Was this left over from late summer, maybe?

Just one quick weather link for that area.

The WaPo link in the OP says the citation was issued on August 2nd.

[Saiwania]

Or we can stop treating houses as an investment and demanding that society orient itself around delivering a high return on that investment.

Real estate just costs a lot of money. I'm willing to bet that without taking the cost of land and zoning into account, that it'd still cost a decent amount of money in just building materials and labor to get a house all set up from scratch to be moved into. Of course its going to be seen as an asset if no matter what, it costs over a year's worth of wages generally speaking.

[Shekelesh]

HOAs are supposed to be beneficial for those people who don't mind following their rules or can tolerate the conditions it imposes. You don't have to worry about any bad/nuissance neighbors generally speaking, like you do with a non-HOA locale; or their neglected property/habits negatively impacting your real estate's equity because they'll be run out or forced into compliance. It has at least some merits which is why those exist.

You get more free reign without an HOA, but this also results in there being at least some neighbors who do stupid stuff like have their yard become a junkyard lot for broken down cars/personal crap or having a bunch of barking dogs every morning/evening. I hate it.

You can't have it both ways though. An HOA is a pain, but without one your neighbors are often a pain instead. There is some satisfaction to be had in ensuring that someone who is more trouble than their worth, can be forced out for good.

People who're slobs or live as if they're poor should have to live in the poor part of town, if they can't be bothered to adopt richer or more responsible habits/maintenance, if the community at large wants to maintain a higher valuation or standard.

Or we can stop treating houses as an investment and demanding that society orient itself around delivering a high return on that investment.

I'll take things that will never happen for 800.

[Thepeopl]

I hate mowing lawns as much as the next person, but it does cause problems if ignored for too long.

If you don't want to tend to a yard anymore, you can usually cover it up and you can have just a big old patch of dirt and weeds. But most people don't want to do that for obvious reasons, prevents some soil erosion from having plants to hold it together and boosts your place's curb appeal. Astroturf is no good either, it absorbs and traps too much heat.

Lawns are bad.

https://youtu.be/JEJ9Q3sUg3Q

[Saiwania]

Lawns are bad.

I know lawns suck, but I don't have any better solution. I'm inclined to believe that lawns will probably be staying, even if people have to switch to electric or manual push mowers. People like the aesthetics of it just too much when perfectly trimmed.

Most people can't use gravel (and spend big money replacing it every 10 years) or alternative ground cover that still looks tidy enough when left alone. Most people can't expect to turn their yard into a garden either. Even more hassle than having a field of grass. Can't have a patch of dirt that won't erode, and astroturf as I've explained- traps heat and is worse than anything else for environment.

[Thepeopl]

Lawns are bad.

I know lawns suck, but I don't have any better solution. I'm inclined to believe that lawns will probably be staying, even if people have to switch to electric or manual push mowers. People like the aesthetics of it just too much when perfectly trimmed.

Most people can't use gravel (and spend big money replacing it every 10 years) or alternative ground cover that still looks tidy enough when left alone. Most people can't expect to turn their yard into a garden either. Even more hassle than having a field of grass. Can't have a patch of dirt that won't erode, and astroturf as I've explained- traps heat and is worse than anything else for environment.

You haven't watched the video.
Lawns are causing drought, costing loads of money and hurt native animals. Lawns are utterly ridiculous to maintain in USA.

[Ethel mermania]

I know lawns suck, but I don't have any better solution. I'm inclined to believe that lawns will probably be staying, even if people have to switch to electric or manual push mowers. People like the aesthetics of it just too much when perfectly trimmed.

Most people can't use gravel (and spend big money replacing it every 10 years) or alternative ground cover that still looks tidy enough when left alone. Most people can't expect to turn their yard into a garden either. Even more hassle than having a field of grass. Can't have a patch of dirt that won't erode, and astroturf as I've explained- traps heat and is worse than anything else for environment.

You haven't watched the video.
Lawns are causing drought, costing loads of money and hurt native animals. Lawns are utterly ridiculous to maintain in USA.

Lawns are difficult to maintain in a desert, like arizona not so much in a temperate environment like new york.

If you don't want a lawn, don't have one.

If you don't want to put up with the rules of an HOA, don't buy into one.

It's not that difficult

[Katganistan]

I'm confused. What crime was the defendant accused of?

The judge is a Karen, and the HOA's mad his lawn's not mown.

[-Azteca Mexico]

The Disabled are one of the most forgotten groups around the world who the government just makes life harder for and this just proves it. Ableist telling Disabled people what their capable of needs to stop.

[Countesia]

I'm assuming he's breached some sort of HOA law.

HOA's should not possess the level of authority they have and often exert. Better yet, they should not exist.

[Diopolis]

I'm assuming he's breached some sort of HOA law.

No, most cities have legal requirements for yard maintenance. This was an actual court dealing with an actual citation.