• Zyratoxx@lemm.ee
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    9 months ago

    To me, a european, those urban areas packed with the same house over and over again always seem so depressing and boring. Is there any variety or does it look like this for kilometers miles?

        • Swedneck@discuss.tchncs.de
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          9 months ago

          nah, HOAs should have legally regulated limits on what they can and cannot do, sweden has HOAs too but basically all they do is pool together money to pay for infrastructure in the neighbourhood.

          like, i for one quite like having paved roads and functional pipes, but i guess you do you.

          • Passerby6497@lemmy.world
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            9 months ago

            like, i for one quite like having paved roads and functional pipes, but i guess you do you.

            Do non HOA homes not have paved roads and working pipes?

            • Swedneck@discuss.tchncs.de
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              9 months ago

              There are no such areas, i’m not sure how you envision common infrastructure being maintained without an organization owning it?

              Or do you just envision the municipality being in charge of maintaining your street’s piping? Have fun waiting half a year for them to get to it when it breaks.

              • shottymcb@lemm.ee
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                9 months ago

                Or do you just envision the municipality being in charge of maintaining your street’s piping?

                That’s how my neighborhood works.

                Have fun waiting half a year for them to get to it when it breaks.

                They’re usually there within an hour if that happens.

        • ohlaph@lemmy.world
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          9 months ago

          When my wife and I were looking for a house. I automatically filtered any house part of an HOA. They really should be a thing of the past.

          Unless actual buildings are attached, they shouldn’t exist.

          • AngryCommieKender@lemmy.world
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            9 months ago

            And buildings means a community park with an Olympic sized pool, at least. Only HOA I’ve ever heard of that made a tiny bit of sense, maintained a park, golf course, and pool for the community that lived there.

    • kautau@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      I agree, and these houses look way too small and overpriced for a comfortable family setting, but stating that identical homes packed next to each other is purely an American thing is disingenuous. It’s a byproduct of capitalism, which supersedes national borders

      • ChonkyOwlbear@lemmy.world
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        9 months ago

        In Chicago there is one block just north of Wrigley Field that was a demo for a planned community decades ago. Each of the 10 or so connected houses on one side of the street are all different. The opposite side of the street is identical, but mirrored. That means the northernmost house on the west side of the street is identical to the southernmost house on the east side of the street. The effect is that it looks like a very unique and natural community in spite of being completely planned and regimented.

        • kautau@lemmy.world
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          9 months ago

          That’s a better approach I think. It’s economically viable to make similar houses, but aesthetically and psychologically pleasing for houses to be different and unique, even if it’s just a variation per house on a street and not every street itself

      • Exocrinous@lemm.ee
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        9 months ago

        Those don’t look as weird because they’re connected. They look like a single building, which is okay to have a consistent style

      • ohlaph@lemmy.world
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        9 months ago

        It seems like a huge waste of vertical space. If they condensed all of that into a small 8-10 story building, they could create green spaces all around it for everyone to enjoy.

    • PorkRoll@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      Not only is it boring, it’s made in the shittiest way possible. It’s the American way, after all. You want properly installed outlets? What are you, some sort of royalty or something? Properly sealed windows? Look at Mrs. Moneybags over here. The siding is falling off the house? What did you expect from a $350k home?

    • soviettaters@lemm.ee
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      9 months ago

      This isn’t what most houses are like in the US. Sure, there’s a lot like them, but places that don’t have a strong HOA (most places) become very diverse after a while. My home was built in the 60s and was initially very similar to the ones around it. Over time each house gets changed little by little and every house becomes unique.

    • scoobford@lemmy.zip
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      9 months ago

      Generally it is each subdivision, but it can be larger groups of homes like that.

      They are depressing, but people buy them because they’re generally new construction and represent good value. You get over it if it saves you enough $$$.

      • lightnsfw@reddthat.com
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        9 months ago

        I’ve yet to go into any new construction that wasn’t shit compared to the 100 year old house I grew up in. That place was rock solid. The only problem with it was a roof leak that was actually from the extension my parents had done on the 2nd floor (aka new construction). By comparison every time I go visit their new house they’ve uncovered some new shoddy workmanship from the shit builders that inly focus on cranking out houses as fast and cheap as possible. I hate so much that they sold their old place for this garbage I’m going to have to fix when I inherit it.

        • scoobford@lemmy.zip
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          9 months ago

          I agree, old homes have hella survivorship bias. But, you are playing roulette that nothing with fail immediately. The advantage of new construction is that you don’t have to worrru about any stupid retrofits and that you know nothing will break for at least a little bit.

          • Clasm@lemmy.world
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            9 months ago

            Or worry about all of the asbestos, lead, and formaldehyde -laced building materials that were all of the rage in previous decades.

            • shottymcb@lemm.ee
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              9 months ago

              I think Formaldehyde is a bigger problem in new construction than old. Asbestos and lead are harder to deal with though. Formaldehyde just needs ventilation and a few years of offgassing.

          • lightnsfw@reddthat.com
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            9 months ago

            nothing will break for at least a little bit.

            Has not been my experience. Yea the builder will usually fix it but I’ve seen them try to weasel out of that too.