What should happen to this law-breaker?

[Miss Chicken]

Her 'crime' is growing vegetables in her front garden.

[yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9T0L7sZQdKk[/yt]

My dad used to grow vegetables in our front garden because our back-yard was smallish and half of it was covered by concrete. Mum was upset that Dad pulled out some of her rose bushes to make room for his front yard garden - he waited until Mum was at work before he did this however that was the only complaint that was ever made. People used to stop and talked to him as he gardened and he often would hand them a cauliflower or something similar when he did. Children in particular were very interested in the garden and asked him many questions.

 

[boobatuba]

What a mis-carrot of justice!

Lettuce alone...we just want to leek out a living!

On my celery I can't afford the price of groceries!

How dare you turnip at my house to press these charges? Beet it, before I squash you like a bug!

Who pead in the city's Cheerios?

I'm sure concerned property owners are peppering the city with complaints.

 

[Admiral Shran]

Exactly why I'm a libertarian. Doesn't the government have anything better to do?

It's almost as bad as all the times you hear about city governments cracking down on "unlicensed" lemonade stands.

Though I did find it humorous that the ONE resident that agreed with the government felt it important to keep his/her face and voice concealed.

 

[Miss Chicken]

The guy must be using a different dictionary from me because in my dictionary it doesn't list 'suitable' as meaning 'common'

 

[Admiral Shran]

According to Merriam-Webster, "suitable" means "satisfying" or "proper."

I wonder, if we use his definition of "common," that if a neighborhood has no front yards with flagpoles and suddenly someone decides to put one in his/her yard, if he would suddenly be up in arms to remove it.

 

[Deranged Nasat]

Sadly, it's the nature of government to want control. Anyone who behaves in a self-sufficient manner, however minor, is a threat to that control and will be in some manner punished for it. Plus, the people who work directly for the government feel the need to justify their often rather pointless positions and so think up a million rules and directives before making an effort to crack down on anyone in violation. They can therefore convice themselves - and others -that they're doing a valuable job or holding an important position. There are so many crimes in most countries now that pretty much everyone is a criminal of some description if you look hard enough - and that wasn't intended as hyperbole.

It is amusing, of course, that useless lawns are considered "suitable" and correct while useful food plants are apparently a big no.

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

Of course lots of people see this and think it's ridiculous, she shouldn't be harassed etc.. but they always have something they DO think someone should not be doing on private property visible from the street. Painting their house orange, covering the yard in odd sculptures or political signs, concreting the whole thing.. this is an easy one. I have several friends who would defend this woman's right to grow vegetables in her front yard because they like vegetables. But let her do something they don't like and they would forget all about it being her property and howl for "something to be done".

Where I live people grow vegetables in their front yards without anyone blinking. But paint your mailbox hot pink and your neighbours are making secret complaints to the council.

 

[Admiral Shran]

The only, ONLY, way I could conceive of it being proper to stop her from growing in her front yard would be if she lived in a "co-op community" and so, through her own free will and individual choice, said she would not do "thus and so." If she then did do "thus and so," her neighbors would have reason to complain. However, absent that, which doesn't seem to be the case here, I can't see a problem.

Same thing with anything else. You want to paint your house orange or your mailbox pink or have odd works of art in your lawn, knock yourself out as long as you haven't previously agreed not to do it.

 

[RJDiogenes]

If the code just says "suitable" without further definition, then she's not in violation of anything. Hopefully, the jury will find in her favor.

 

[Miss Chicken]

Where I live people grow vegetables in their front yards without anyone blinking. But paint your mailbox hot pink and your neighbours are making secret complaints to the council.

I was at the bus-stop talking to a woman I often speak to while we are waiting and I just happened to comment on the new fence that had been erected on the property behind us. The woman said that the fence was higher than the allowed height and that she was going to report it to the council. This woman could not see the fence from her own house, she only saw it when at the bus-stop so I can see no reason why she would need to call the council, she was just being an interfering busybody.

 

[Snaploud]

The United States has a long history of creating and enforcing local rules concerning the aesthetics of house/yard maintenance. That's why yards are so homogeneous in the first place.

People have a set image of what their communities are "supposed" to look like...and they won't let their neighbors stray too far from that image.

 

[Miss Chicken]

In Australia, a well maintained and very green lawn used to be the norm. But times have changed. Now people who have green lawns are looked down at because they are seen as being water wasters. One is meant to have a dry, dead lawn nowadays. Some people who have green lawns display a sign that they are using tank water on their lawns.

Many Australians are shocked when they are told that in some communities in the USA you are not allowed to hang your washing out on a line.

 

[BlobVanDam]

In Australia, a well maintained and very green lawn used to be the norm. But times have changed. Now people who have green lawns are looked down at because they are seen as being water wasters. One is meant to have a dry, dead lawn nowadays. Some people who have green lawns display a sign that they are using tank water on their lawns.

Many Australians are shocked when they are told that in some communities in the USA you are not allowed to hang your washing out on a line.

I'm Australian, and this is the first time I have heard about that, and I am shocked. As an Australian, I also do not know what the alternative would be.

And I don't see any problem with some lady growing vegetables in her lawn. I think some of the laws for what people are allowed to do on their own property with their house and lawn are a bit silly, and this has got to rank up there.

 

[Miss Chicken]

The alternative is using a clothes dryer all the time.

In Australia, people who always use a dryer are labelled 'lazy' (this is if they have access to a clothesline). I gather, that in some areas of the USA lines are regarded as an eyesore or else as a sign of poverty.

 

[Deckerd]

Don't think much of her vegetable plots. All but one looks parched.

 

[BlobVanDam]

The alternative is using a clothes dryer all the time.

In Australia, people who always use a dryer are labelled 'lazy' (this is if they have access to a clothesline). I gather, that in some areas of the USA lines are regarded as an eyesore or else as a sign of poverty.

I thought about that, but then figured a law that basically forces you to buy a dryer would be pretty silly. I wasn't sure if people hang up their clothes inside or something I hadn't thought of. But people I know with dryers only seem to use them when it's either raining, or they need something dry quickly. And since clotheslines are typically in the backyard, I don't see how any eyesore law could apply.

 

[Snaploud]

You're pretty much forced to buy a clothes dryer in any area with a significant amount of cold weather. That encompasses a large swath of the U.S.

 

[Miss Chicken]

But you shouldn't be forced to use it all the time. People should be allowed to hang out washing when the weather is nice.

 

[Locutus of Bored]

But you shouldn't be forced to use it all the time. People should be allowed to hang out washing when the weather is nice.

You saw one story on here last year about a homeowner not being able to hang her laundry on her front lawn due to either a housing association rule or a city ordinance (I don't recall which). It's not like there's some nationwide laundry fascist movement. Lots of people still hang their clothing on a line and it's not the norm across the country for there to be laws against it.

If "many" people in Australia really discuss and are shocked at the laundry drying habits of Americans (which I highly doubt) they need to get a hobby.

 

[Snaploud]

But you shouldn't be forced to use it all the time. People should be allowed to hang out washing when the weather is nice.

The machine itself is the major expense, and I think most people enjoy the convenience. Basically, I'm saying that a large swath of the U.S. will use a dryer regardless of income level, so a much different culture has developed regarding what is normal.

There are exceptions, but those people are acting against the norm in the same way somebody in your area who uses a dryer is acting against the norm (calling them "lazy").