When we were in Dublin (Ireland), the property manager called in one day to inform us that some of the other tenants in the apartment building had complained that we where putting out our laundry on the balcony to dry (the few days a year where it wasn’t raining, that is). I let him in, took him to our balcony, and showed him the view: on other tenant’s balconies there were skis (in Dublin!), surfboards, rubbish bins and sacks, lockers, etc etc… I never saw him again.
We bought a house in a ten year old subdivision. It was created with an HOA to which everyone belonged and it never was a problem. We talked to each other and chipped in with labor or funds to fix things like roads and common areas. The brilliant thing about our HOA was that its articles of incorporation called for it to automatically expire after twenty years, unless a majority of the property owners wanted to renew it. When that time came, every one of us said, “Nah.” Nearly fifty years later, we still don’t need it.
Some states out west have made HOA rules about mandatory lawns and watering them illegal. No water, but hey, you must waste it on GRASS!! Xerioscaping or fake lawns are being substitutes.
I love the feel of sundried towels. Problem is cycling shorts and shirts should never go in the dryer, in the winter I hang them in the washroom which is the same room as the furnace so the heat from the furnace dries them
So California…home of eco-warriors….bans something that is so eco-friendly. I know they must have passed a law by now to prevent HOAs from doing this. They legislate everything else.
I foresee a riff on Alice’s Restaurant coming up. . . . " Obie came in with the twenty seven eight-by-ten, Colour glossy pictures with circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back, Of each one, sat down." Alice’s Restaurant – Arlo Guthrie
And California has so much sun! In Italy, where public aesthetics are important culturally, you see drying clothes on lines all over. I found it colourfully charming. Obviously it is not thought of as looking ‘ghetto’ or ‘trashy’ there.
I need to make a list of perfectly good reasons to avoid California. On the other hand that would be a fairly lengthy list and I know I’m ignoring a lot of the good things.
Sun kills the bacteria that causes mold. Hanging the clothes increases their longevity. Plus, in Arizona I get my vitamin D and exercise. Can afford a dryer and have an outlet specific for it, but I’m happy to not live in an area that is HOA. Also, homes are painted whatever color you want.
Reminds me of when I worked for a guest lodging with cabins in the woods near a lake. The older couple who ran it told us “Don’t dry towels on the shrubs—it will look like a gypsy camp.” They probably were brought up to believe that if you left your laundry outside, the gypsies would steal it.
BE THIS GUY 11 months ago
Don’t say anything. Call your lawyer.
fretlessman71 11 months ago
Vermont BANNED banning clotheslines!
Hello Everyone 11 months ago
Apparently, they lower property values.
Flashaaway 11 months ago
What a wonderfully insane, sick society you live in, has that particular law changed since this comic first came out?
Last Rose Of Summer Premium Member 11 months ago
Most new developments in Vegas too.
JR0602 11 months ago
Glad we don’t live in an HOA community. We’ve been hanging out our clothes for years except when it raining or threatening rain.
kxnicoli 11 months ago
When we were in Dublin (Ireland), the property manager called in one day to inform us that some of the other tenants in the apartment building had complained that we where putting out our laundry on the balcony to dry (the few days a year where it wasn’t raining, that is). I let him in, took him to our balcony, and showed him the view: on other tenant’s balconies there were skis (in Dublin!), surfboards, rubbish bins and sacks, lockers, etc etc… I never saw him again.
snsurone76 11 months ago
Understandable. How can a tourist see the tower on (S)Nob’s Hill in San Francisco when blocked by flapping laundry?
Aviatrexx Premium Member 11 months ago
We bought a house in a ten year old subdivision. It was created with an HOA to which everyone belonged and it never was a problem. We talked to each other and chipped in with labor or funds to fix things like roads and common areas. The brilliant thing about our HOA was that its articles of incorporation called for it to automatically expire after twenty years, unless a majority of the property owners wanted to renew it. When that time came, every one of us said, “Nah.” Nearly fifty years later, we still don’t need it.
Carl Premium Member 11 months ago
Save the planet, outlaw the HOA! I would join that movement.
weikelk 11 months ago
For all of California’s faults, this one isn’t unique to them.
Amina Rush 11 months ago
Some of the older residents in my apartment complex think drying laundry outside indicates poverty, that’s why they don’t want it
NeedaChuckle Premium Member 11 months ago
Some states out west have made HOA rules about mandatory lawns and watering them illegal. No water, but hey, you must waste it on GRASS!! Xerioscaping or fake lawns are being substitutes.
toondel5 Premium Member 11 months ago
Dam busters? (Sorry; it’s free-association Tuesday.)
dwdl21 11 months ago
Hard to believe this was a real thing at one time, our city council had to pass a law allowing the use of clotheslines, it was a weird time…lol
Wizard of Ahz-no relation 11 months ago
a perfect indictment of california, it is environmental and free BUT it doesn’t look pretty sop it is banned
Totalloser Premium Member 11 months ago
I love the feel of sundried towels. Problem is cycling shorts and shirts should never go in the dryer, in the winter I hang them in the washroom which is the same room as the furnace so the heat from the furnace dries them
ronhagg 11 months ago
HOA’s are the devil’s tool.
Redd Panda 11 months ago
HOAs what evil creature dreamt this up?
angmgre2 11 months ago
In contrast, Florida is a “right to dry” state. HOAs hate it, but the use of clotheslines is baked into the state statutes (FL Statute 163.04)
Retrac Premium Member 11 months ago
We use our solar clothes dryer every wash day. We don’t live in California.
BeniHanna6 Premium Member 11 months ago
California finally got smart in 2015 and passed Assembly Bill No. 1448 allowing clotheslines state wide. Take that HOAs.
mindjob 11 months ago
With the ban on gas dryers coming, we will have no choice
kevric5 Premium Member 11 months ago
So California…home of eco-warriors….bans something that is so eco-friendly. I know they must have passed a law by now to prevent HOAs from doing this. They legislate everything else.
russef 11 months ago
Oh? You mean the local Gestapo.
Bruce1253 11 months ago
I foresee a riff on Alice’s Restaurant coming up. . . . " Obie came in with the twenty seven eight-by-ten, Colour glossy pictures with circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back, Of each one, sat down." Alice’s Restaurant – Arlo Guthrie
maverick.kaminski 11 months ago
And California has so much sun! In Italy, where public aesthetics are important culturally, you see drying clothes on lines all over. I found it colourfully charming. Obviously it is not thought of as looking ‘ghetto’ or ‘trashy’ there.
David Huie Green LoveJoyAndPeace 11 months ago
I need to make a list of perfectly good reasons to avoid California. On the other hand that would be a fairly lengthy list and I know I’m ignoring a lot of the good things.
garibaldi99 11 months ago
Sun kills the bacteria that causes mold. Hanging the clothes increases their longevity. Plus, in Arizona I get my vitamin D and exercise. Can afford a dryer and have an outlet specific for it, but I’m happy to not live in an area that is HOA. Also, homes are painted whatever color you want.
HodgeElmwood 11 months ago
Dude. That’s not how you hang socks on a clothesline.
ron 11 months ago
Only for fools who bought into an hoa neighborhood.
Jack7528 11 months ago
Good one!
eddi-TBH 11 months ago
HOAs are petty dictatorships that need badly to be overthrown and declared illegal. (signed: an apartment dweller)
epaphus8 11 months ago
35,0000 HOAs in 2001 is probably 971,000 HOAs today, and that’s about 1,000,000 HOAs too many.
JH&Cats 11 months ago
Reminds me of when I worked for a guest lodging with cabins in the woods near a lake. The older couple who ran it told us “Don’t dry towels on the shrubs—it will look like a gypsy camp.” They probably were brought up to believe that if you left your laundry outside, the gypsies would steal it.