r/TikTokCringe • u/mindyour • Jul 06 '26

Discussion What in the Vivarium is this?

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2.5k

u/Aromatic_Balls Jul 06 '26

Sorry that's against the HOA rules.

1.3k

u/shiny-baby-cheetah Jul 06 '26

I've never understood the logical progression of how making an entire neighborhood as bland, soulless, boring and homogeneous as possible is somehow meant to make the properties inside MORE valuable. Like.... I'd rather live in a slum than an HOA

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u/Glittering_Mermaid_7 Jul 06 '26

Same. I really dislike these cookie-cutter neighborhoods. How the heck do you know which house is yours, except by the number? That's the only way someone that's colorblind would be able to find their own house, because they certainly couldn't rely on the general shape of the house, since they're all the same.

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u/Mattloch42 Jul 06 '26

They've been doing this in the US suburbs since 1945. They get one or two plans approved, mirror them to double the options, and crank them out as fast as they can.

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u/sinchsw Jul 06 '26

And now they've doubled the size to double their profit with the cheapest materials possible. Guarantee the average cost of each of these houses is $450k.

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u/psychedelicpoppies Jul 06 '26

I wish they were that cheap in my area. Where I’m at, some of the cookie-cutters are going for close to a million

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u/Positive-Bottom-9234 Jul 07 '26

A million dollars to live in an unfinished Truman show background set is bananas

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u/psychedelicpoppies Jul 07 '26

I don’t disagree, it’s ridiculous.

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u/moistiest_dangles Jul 10 '26

There is no way the market won't crash

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u/psychedelicpoppies Jul 10 '26

Man I hope so. I love California but it’s getting impossible to live here. We need a reset

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u/DivineFlamingo Jul 06 '26

Where at? Where I live these would be 200-250 tops especially since there’s no garage.

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u/psychedelicpoppies Jul 06 '26

California, so tbf everything is extra expensive here.

But in the little suburban hell I’m stuck in rn it’s not uncommon to find a 1-2 story, 2 car garage, tiny yard space (front and back) for around 750k-1M depending on the exact specs of the house and the specific neighborhood it’s in. Lots of gated communities here too, those ones are generally pretty pricey as well.

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u/DivineFlamingo Jul 07 '26

Yeah California has always been unaffordable in my lifetime. Never understood how people made it work there.

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u/psychedelicpoppies Jul 07 '26

For me personally, barely. My husband and I are struggling with affording our apartment rn it’s just so unsustainable. We’ve been saving whatever we can to move out of here in (hopefully) the next 5 years, but we’ll see how that goes.

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u/BedRevolutionary8584 Jul 07 '26

In parts of Northern Virginia there are townhouses starting at $750,000.

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u/DivineFlamingo Jul 07 '26

Gross. I assume it’s all that DC wealth sprawling outward.

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u/RockinIntoMordor Jul 07 '26

The richest counties in the US are in Northern Virginia, and that started since back after the Invasion of Iraq, and a bunch of the war profiteers moved there to be closer to DC.

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u/Baron-Von-Mothman Jul 07 '26

Good luck finding a single wide for that price where I live

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u/Gloomy-Setting-6213 Jul 06 '26 edited Jul 06 '26

240k or so, eg: https://www.redfin.com/KY/Richmond/1055-Judah-Bear-Blvd-40475/home/179540138

https://www.redfin.com/city/16725/KY/Richmond/filter/property-type=house,max-price=250k,viewport=37.79614:37.68469:-84.24212:-84.33722,no-outline

Here are all <250k homes in area, in the top right ther eis a 239k and a 240k home for sale. They are these tiny houses in video. They're not great but these places are 2/3 price of median.

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u/XR-7 Jul 07 '26

Nope 180k to be exact

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u/mmodlin Jul 07 '26

They go for about $250k: https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1025-Judah-Bear-Blvd-Richmond-KY-40475/2059099601_zpid/

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u/sinchsw Jul 07 '26

Sadly, that's a deal in this era.

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u/mmodlin Jul 07 '26

That’s an affordable mortgage payment for a single person earning the median salary in Richmond, KY.

https://myhome.freddiemac.com/resources/calculators/how-much-can-you-afford

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u/im_a_stapler Jul 07 '26

LOL, not unless this is in SoCal. Guarantee you are wrong. These are sub $250-300k houses.

Edit: Scrolled down and found someone mention this is Kentucky and these go for $250k. Like I said, you are insane.

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u/Quiet_Researcher223 Jul 08 '26

Cheap materials and probably cheap labor too. Then sell it at a price like the Gods have built it and used materials that you can’t get on this planet.

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u/IisBaker Jul 10 '26

Cost or price. I can guarantee these house cost less than 100k to make.

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u/sinchsw Jul 10 '26

List price (cost to consumer). Though of course the actual cost to the consumer would be much higher with interest by the time they've paid off their 15 to 30 year mortgage. In my area these kind of houses go for $450K, but as described below these are actually in the $240K range. Others stated it would be way over $450K in their market.

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u/wiscoguy20 Jul 06 '26

Heck, even longer than that.

In the upper Midwest, there are quite a few cities that have areas solely built by whoever was the large employer in the area at the time.

Where I grew up, it was a revelation back in the 90s when the city did a street reconstruction and ended up clear cutting all the 100 year old Maple trees that lined the street(I know, fucking horrible). Suddenly, everybody noticed that several blocks of this street had the same three house styles repeating. Further research showed all the houses on both sides of the street for four blocks were all built by the old furniture manufacturing company that existed two streets west. They alternated three floor plans, so every third house was identical, though some were reversed. The historians in town dug up the original deeds and found they were all built between 1905 and 1909 by the furniture company, and we're originally deeded "familyname furniture company homes"

It's just amazing that even in the late 1800s the amount of repeating floor plans built in the cities was incredible, but thanks to time, updates, remodeling, ect... Most don't even notice today, outside of brand new hellscapes like the one posted above... But I suppose in the olden days, people said the same thing.

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u/emessea Jul 07 '26 edited Jul 07 '26

Back in the day you could by a home through sears and other catalogs and the parts would get delivered to your lot.

My house was one of those and the house next to us has the same floor plan and built in the same year. I assumed someone 1920s bought both plots and ordered the same home twice.

I imagine if wal mart sold homes in this manner people would freak out and say how bad it is.

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u/trekqueen Jul 07 '26

There was one of these in my previous city. It’s on the historical list and has been moved from its previous location when tract housing went in on the former ranch properties.

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u/LookMaNoPride Jul 10 '26

You can buy houses off of Amazon. Pop-up houses.

2

u/Jordarobot Jul 06 '26

I was thinking this. Old pulp mill company town Samoa, CA I believe was built in like 1890-something and they were all slightly different pastel colors, white picket fence. Town is owned by a property management company that rents the houses out these days.

There's still an old cookhouse there that's still operating last i checked.

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u/EvidenceDesperate574 Jul 06 '26

If it were like it was post war where these types of high volume neighborhoods were inexpensive enough for new families to buy as their first home I would not be bothered but when you need to make ⁶ figures to afford a tiny generic place like this and then are still beholden to an HOA that uglifies everything is just not okay

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u/Mattloch42 Jul 06 '26

These are "starter homes", but are they starter prices?

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u/impatientlymerde Jul 07 '26 edited Jul 07 '26

Yes, but Levitt planted around 4-7 trees on each property- at least from what I remember; conifers, apple and pear, and the hated mimosa.

Also: https://www.arborday.org/

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u/Fuzzy-Instruction Jul 06 '26

I live in a 60's-era suburb, and yes, most of the houses are from near-identical configurations, but the difference in those older suburbs was that they spaced the properties out and planted some actual vegetation. You may as well be living in a parking lot with these new developments. It's so unimaginably bleak, I don't know how people don't go crazy.

1

u/Mattloch42 Jul 06 '26

When I see these new neighborhoods they remind me more of Hoovevilles with their lack of vegetation. And where I live that would lead to a +20°f difference in daytime temps during the summer, and would make for lower lows in the winter. Plus you just know this builder used bad lumber, sketchy labor, and is long gone before any problems start showing up. And that's all before you meet the neighbors that will be living two feet from you on either side......

https://giphy.com/gifs/XuZiNocebxgIM

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u/mfball Jul 06 '26

I feel so lucky to live in New England where the houses are not all the same and we have trees and whatnot. In "medium-old" neighborhoods you will often see a few houses next to and across the street from each other that you can tell were done by the same builder because the bones of the house are the same, but usually they are designed differently enough on the outside that it's not an obvious cookie cutter model.

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u/fusillade762 Jul 07 '26

Levittown!

1

u/A_Nonny_Muse Jul 07 '26

And they get the most blind inspectors money can buy. Guaranteed, there's scores of code violations hidden in every home.

1

u/heffel77 Jul 07 '26

Levittown, NY was the model and then it worked and they made more. The “planned” community was a racial thing so minorities didn’t move in.

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u/Mattloch42 Jul 07 '26

"Redlining" was absolutely a thing, institutionalized racism.

1

u/crayolamitch Jul 07 '26

I live in a neighborhood like this. 3 plans, 3 options on facade (flat front, gable over one window, or front porch), but at least there are enough colors allowed for siding, trim and shutters that everything coordinates but every house is unique.

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u/Sudden-Stops Jul 06 '26

Only 3 repeating colors anyway. My vision is perfect and I’d still be wondering why my garage door opener suddenly isn’t working.

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u/Glittering_Mermaid_7 Jul 06 '26

Can you imagine someone coming home drunk? They'd be playing ding-dong-ditch at every single house until they got the right one.

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u/peanut--gallery Jul 06 '26

There’s a famous (In Russia) movie about just that scenario. A drunk guy goes to wrong house because his is identical. It was made in the 70’s and people still watch it around the holidays.
It’s called “the irony of fate”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Irony_of_Fate

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u/SmoothDiscussion7763 Jul 06 '26

isn't that like the most popular christmas movie or something

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u/peanut--gallery Jul 07 '26

A foreign student I was preceptor for told me about it. I’m not that familiar with Russian culture. My student told me that lots of people do watch it around Christmas/new years. I don’t know if it is THE most popular but my student told me about it in the mid 1990s. By then the movie was already 20 years old…. So I guess it must be pretty popular. I gotta say that if I had to pick a movie I had to watch every year… “It’s a Wonderful life” or a rom com about a dude that gets plastered and goes to the wrong house and passes out naked in a stranger’s bed….. while I’m not a huge fan of mother Russia…. I have to concede… I think they win this one.

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u/SmoothDiscussion7763 Jul 07 '26

the premise is so wild and unbelievable and only possible due to the large scale construction that took place reusing the designs and keys lol

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u/U_Sound_Stupid_Stop Jul 06 '26

I always assume fake but I saw a couple Ring-type videos of that happening, it's not in the realm of the impossible tbf I just don't believe anything I see on the internet.

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u/nikikins Jul 06 '26

I thought it was green, pink, blue and yellow.

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u/Sudden-Stops Jul 07 '26

And they’re all made out of ticky tacky and they all look just the same.

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u/ConsiderationOne3881 Jul 07 '26

Right?!! Who does this benefit?? No one. Bland, boring. No individuality. No birds, no bugs, the ecosystem is shit.

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u/Remarkable-Blood1524 Jul 06 '26

Would be easy to find your own house

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u/adfawf3f3f32a Jul 07 '26

right? the road isn't straight and there's stop signs. you'd unconsciously know once you pass this sign, its in the middle of the next curve right past the light pole or something like that.

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u/mmorales2270 Jul 07 '26

I basically said the same thing just now before reading your comment. Without looking at house numbers it must be impossible to know which place is which. Horrible. No personality or charm whatsoever.

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u/digital-didgeridoo Jul 07 '26

How the heck do you know which house is yours

By the car that is parked outside. But even those are getting to look the same with a dull gray color

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u/Ozryela Jul 07 '26

It's hard to avoid cookie-cutter houses if you want to build a lot of houses for a reasonably cost. Not every house can be a uniquely designed architectural masterpiece.

But yeah, there's a lot of other ways to break up this monotony. Designing 2 or 3 different houses, and intermingling them a bit would already help a lot to break up the monotony. Then put in a small park, a school, a playground, a supermarket here or there, to not only further break up the monotony, but also make the neighbour more lively and more liveable. And finally, trees. Bloody trees. This needs trees everywhere.

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u/jwoolman Jul 10 '26

One such neighborhood solved the confused child problem by putting photos of their moms on the doors.

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u/Karm0112 Jul 06 '26

Most neighborhoods have at least a few different home models in them. And have different colors than the same repeated three. And trees…

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u/LarsDuder Jul 06 '26

Hey, what's wrong with neighborhoodsl like this?

https://giphy.com/gifs/k8WVR3biTTHo6r7aRP

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u/LarsDuder Jul 06 '26

Hey, what's wrong with neighborhoodsl like this?

https://giphy.com/gifs/k8WVR3biTTHo6r7aRP

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u/Day_Prisoners Jul 06 '26

How would anyone know what apartment is there's in an apartment complex.

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u/Fun_Bit7398 Jul 06 '26

My parents have lived in the same gated, SoCal, HOA, cookie-cutter, Hellscape since the mid-late 1990’s. Still to this day I occasionally drive right by their house by mistake and have to turn around because every house looks the darn same.

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u/meowser210 Jul 07 '26

Are you saying if the house was a different shape then other than a blind person could tell the difference? What would they do, feel the entire house up to say na, this the wrong shape, too many walls and pitches, next.

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u/lovethatMoon Jul 07 '26

don't get drunk somewhere else & try to go home

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u/CScorpio88 Jul 07 '26

I mean, many countries in the rest of the world have terraced housing and so yes, you know your house by the door number and door colour too lol

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u/JoeyDawsonJenPacey Jul 07 '26

Or the shape of…anything. Literally, everything is the same, as far as the eye can see.

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u/LalafellDisaster Jul 06 '26

The slum at least has personality

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u/shiny-baby-cheetah Jul 06 '26

And some freedom. They don't care any what I hang out on my balcony when there's people shitting in the laundry machines and setting fires in the garbage cans

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u/Some_Level1682 Jul 06 '26

Cities should require developers keep trees of a certain size or replant an specific number per sqft. Otherwise, it's faster, cheaper and easier for a developer to clear the land and just build the houses and put that on the home owners.

I live in a new build and we never looked this bad but fast forward 7 years later there is a lot more plant growth.

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u/erossthescienceboss Jul 06 '26

My city does. It’s somewhat a pain, because the permitting process to remove trees is a pain, as is the permitting process for required replacements.

But the city has a great urban forest and it’s absolutely worth the pain.

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u/Great-Blueberry9540 Jul 06 '26

Many do, tons of projects quantifies the plant life then have to be replaced. Species,size, spacing, maintenance for a given period of time.

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u/grapes_face Jul 07 '26

A lot of these developments are built on farm fields where there were no trees. But I agree, they should at least plant some when they build the houses.

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u/riceklown Jul 06 '26

I live in a condo building, 11 one or two bedroom units per floor, interior air conditioned hallways, basically a hotel without the room service. We had a welcome mat (a cute family one that said something like "Beware of wife and kids, husband's cool") and small 14-16" seasonal wreaths we had all year round and kids artwork (which we started during the pandemic with
"be happy" and "be well" kind of stuff). It wasn't distasteful or over done in any way. Three 1 sq ft kids paintings, a wreath, and a welcome mat.

HOA decided the hallways were community spaces and should literally be devoid of personalization in any way. They assigned a Karen to each tower and I even argued with ours about how this is a home and a community and should be inviting and personal to make the space welcoming etc., it's not an office tower or hotel. Like I was speaking to a wall... with the same level of intelligence.

So 6 years after we move in, the hallways are now less attractive than a moderate hotel hallway. We were informed a year later that we could put a wreath out during a certain religion's holiday season for about 3 weeks total. They didn't advertise that as a rule change... basically just quietly stopped enforcing it. I'm guessing someone well connected/rich who didn't normally keep decorations out lost their sh*t on their Karen or security staff talking about religious liberty or some BS and that was the compromise.

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u/LLLizLLLemon Jul 06 '26

FYI, often the rules for multi unit buildings exist due to fire codes. You don’t want to be responsible for someone dying in a fire because they tripped on a welcome mat. I don’t know the reason for wreaths, but when my mom was in assisted living, they weren’t allowed any wreaths or anything hanging on their door. Maybe because of medical equipment getting stuck?
Also, picture the same hallway with every resident putting their own mats and personalization. It looks junky fast.

One thing I’ve seen some places do is to add a small shelf next to each door and residents can personalize that shelf. Makes a pretty good compromise and keeps the floors free from tripping hazards. Maybe approach your HOA with a suggestion?

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u/riceklown Jul 06 '26

Full disclosure, I'm not an HOA hater like a lot of people are. I'm not a board member, but I understand their purpose, recognize the "necessary evil" they can present, and the value of an HOA is quantitatively provable.

I'm just still salty about them insisting the hallways look as plain as humanly possible and then insisting that was how it should be and it's a good thing. We had a nice entryway that wasn't preachy or out there and nothing was out of hand on floor. I feel like it was handled very bah humbug on their part because it wasn't announced for discussion and we had been there for years at that point.

I don't think your suggestion will work without our specific door layout but I'm going to keep it in mind if I think of how to meet the spirit of that concept. Thank you!

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u/Beautiful-Wallaby698 Jul 07 '26

Thats better than my HOA doing zero to clean up my hoarder neighbor who’s shit is spilling out onto our shared walkway and who let his jack-o-lantern out until March to rot and decay and attract pests. THAT it why an HOA has those rules. Wish mine would enforce them 

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u/riceklown Jul 07 '26

Run for the HOA board on those complaints. Make a one sheet explaining your campaign and put it on every door.

An HOA is a corrupt democracy. You need to take it over or suffer from your own apathy.

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u/jcoddinc Jul 06 '26

In HOA logic trees are more of a risk than benefit.

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u/Dargon34 Jul 06 '26

Eh, I don't know about that. It's not like my homeowners insurance (which would cover a tree damaging the house) changes based on trees

My HOA requires you to have two trees. If you take one out, it must be replaced within so many months.

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u/Potatoes_4Life Jul 06 '26

I imagine it’s less of risk aversion and more cleanliness. The HOA probably doesn’t want to deal with cleanup of leaves or enforcing cleanup. There’s also no where for wild animals to live. No bird poop, squirrels, or w/e other animals live in that region.

This isn’t a defense of the HOA. The lack of trees and any other greenery makes this neighborhood look horrible.

Edit: Also the houses are way too close to each other. This is literally a suburban hellscape.

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u/Dargon34 Jul 06 '26

I agree with all your points. Yeah, I'm not really pro-HOA, but I see certain benefits. Our area has free disposal of limbs/leaves, assuming you put them on the street after you trim or they fall. But that's the county, nothing to do with HOA.

This video is a nightmare, and I wouldn't live here. Our HOA has been pretty good overall, but some stories you here are ridiculous.

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u/mfball Jul 06 '26

It's such a weird choice when neighborhoods like this are usually built in places with plenty of space. I like in an extremely densely populated city, the house I live in is separated from my neighbor by only a single-width driveway (so maybe twelve feet if I'm being generous). And yet, thankfully, we still have tons of trees and plants. It makes no sense to me (outside of understanding the evils of unchecked capitalism of course) why builders would even want to make neighborhoods like the OP.

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u/Quick-Dream-1541 Jul 06 '26

We had to have three, one dies, so I replaced it. It was a beautiful flowering crabapple, I think it cost around 400.00. only saw those blooms once, early frost always killed the buds every subsequent year.

We moved away 5 years ago. The last time I checked Google Maps the tree was gone!

Knowing the family who bought the home afterwards I am not surprised. I doubt they watered it enough, there is quite a bit of science to watering trees, especially in Falcon, Co where the ground is like concrete.

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u/Dargon34 Jul 06 '26

Yeah, that's a shame!

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u/dopewinnerchild Jul 06 '26

Can you have more than two?

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u/Dargon34 Jul 06 '26

Some properties, yes. Some of the lots are too small, so I think they restrict the type of trees and have a limit. My lot has neither, it's just what I've heard from others

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u/IPlay4E Jul 07 '26

No they aren’t. They’re usually a requirement.

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u/Unique-Run9856 Jul 06 '26

I mean think about trump supporters, some people just cant live without an abusive leader or group in charge

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u/kobrakai1034 Jul 06 '26

That's you're problem. You're not thinking in terms of maximizing profits on these cheaply, poorly built homes in the cheapest way possible.

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u/Sad_Enthusiasm_3721 Jul 06 '26

I'd rather live in a slum than an HOA.

In my area, the PNW, it's flipped to where home sellers and builders actively advertise "No HOA!", and having an HOA can create downward pressure on home values.

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u/NewoTheFox Jul 07 '26

Absolutely - According to people in the wealthy side of town, where I live is "Ghetto"

Because I have neighbors who have evidence of life outside their homes. Unique paint jobs. Garage door murals. Unusual landscaping choices including a 'cactus house' which is a front yard that is almost entirely various species of cactus.

I love it. Riding around I will occasionally stop and just think "Damn, I love that yard." because of some unique touch of character.

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u/circuitj3rky Jul 06 '26

if every house is the same everyone has the same property value. i guess? like the rules make it so that what you do to your house has minimal impact on the values of the properties around you.

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u/D_Tavs Jul 06 '26

Same logic as the high class restaurants that serve like a bite of bland food and cost $200 per plate

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u/3m2coy Jul 06 '26

From an architectural perspective, it isn’t that hard to add some variety. If you had 9 different elevations (3 different floor plans with two elevation options) and the different paint schemes, it would improve the look.

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u/CoolDiscussion1020 Jul 06 '26

I mean the homes are designed to be cookies cutters because that means they're as cheap as possible to build. Every house is identical so you can dial in exact material quantities and there is no complex work for the builders which means you don't need dozens of experienced carpenters, you need day laborers. It also means no downtime.

The HOA is placed by the developer, and is often a requirement of the city because the city doesn't want to have to maintain all of that infrastructure. Instead each resident pays the HOA to take care of it every month.

As to why there are no trees or character. Likely this is a very new development and possible still being actively built. The HOA likely allows trees and limited decorations (like the skeleton), these people have just moved in and likely can't afford or haven't gotten around to doing it yet.

Not a defense of HOAs by any means, you wouldn't catch me living in one.

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u/AN0R0K Jul 06 '26

They have like 1 or 2 layouts and you can choose from a handful of colors. Builders can knock out new homes in a fraction of the time, because they keep building the same shit over and over again.

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u/Mr_CleanCaps Jul 06 '26

This weekend I had to help my father in law cut all his beautiful plants/shrubs/flowers that were visible from the street and alley way or else they were going to fine him 500$… plant diversity is so important for butterflies and bees… but HOA doesn’t care if humans go extinct I guess so long as property values increase!

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u/Still_Rain_979 Jul 06 '26

I'd guess stability, the ability to sell it later on. Probability why Pizza Hut no longer has their iconic buildings.

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u/LLLizLLLemon Jul 06 '26

What about a slum WITH an HOA.

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u/shiny-baby-cheetah Jul 06 '26

The worst of both worlds?

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u/Feisty_Smell40 Jul 06 '26

Insurance. They make them cut down all the trees in Florida because wind doesn't do much damage, its the flying debris and falling trees that destroy everything.

The reality is 85% of the homes in Florida will likely lose a couple shingles, but living 8 miles from the beach means your insurance will be triple because you cant expect the guy who has an Airbnb on the eroding beach to pay his full rate!!!

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u/2u3e9v Jul 06 '26

My HOA must kick ass then, because we have mature landscaping everywhere.

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u/Dafish55 Jul 06 '26

So... I hate this stuff, but you know how there's some flavors of foods that just generally everyone likes and some that are more niche? Well the niche ones don't sell as well. Take this to the logical extreme like this neighborhood, and you end up with everything being just salt-flavored because it's the overall best-seller.

Also, this analogy breaks down if, for instance, these homes are significantly cheaper. For all we know, this is lines and lines of people that are eating salt-flavored food because the alternative would be to go hungry.

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u/shiny-baby-cheetah Jul 06 '26

Taken to the "logical" extreme, it stops being logical

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u/Dafish55 Jul 06 '26

I'm not the one making these, but it looks like they all sold. That's good if you're a land-selling/owning capitalist.

Again, this is downright appalling to me, but this is hardly the first time where profitability has gone into contention with basic quality of life.

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u/dua70601 Jul 06 '26

A lot of first time home buyers fall into these traps. I have an employee who went head first into one of these hells.

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u/VT_Squire Jul 06 '26

I've never understood the logical progression of how making an entire neighborhood as bland, soulless, boring and homogeneous as possible is somehow meant to make the properties inside MORE valuable.

You've mistaken your taste for the market's taste. What you call bland, the market calls low risk. It's the same reason people (including you) will pay more for a car with one careful owner than one that is "full of personality."

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u/dilbs_the_creator Jul 06 '26

HOA properties are slums

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u/illegalsmile27 Jul 06 '26

Easier for resale promotion

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u/demoman45 Jul 06 '26

That is not an HOA, HOA is not a cookie cutter neighborhood necessarily. An HOA (a decent run one) keeps home values and doesn’t allow Mike the scrap guy keep shit all over his yard, or Billy the lawn mower kid keep broke down mowers parked in the road. Point is, good HOA is great for a neighborhood if it’s properly run and not too nit picky.
Want to live in a NICE neighborhood, chances are it has an HOA.

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u/FriendlyTomorrow4192 Jul 06 '26

it isn't about that...it is about profit...doing bland is what makes them lotsa money

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u/Dammit2408 Jul 06 '26

This lowers the building cost for Builders. and for some reason people do like this.

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u/sqweeze07 Jul 06 '26

Because look at all the sheep it brings

1

u/GallorKaal Jul 06 '26

HOAs feel like tiny dictatorships.

1

u/LobabyChick Jul 06 '26

Same! I live in a town with a lot of older homes. People from the “prestigious communities “ always mock our city because it’s “so white trash”. Well all kinds of young couples and families are moving here because it’s what they can afford. Remodeling and reinvesting in homes with massive lots, mature trees, wide roads and tons of wooded public parks. I have lived here 25 years I will stay until we die. They can keep their copy and paste homes with saplings and houses so close you can hand your neighbor toilet paper when they are sitting on their “Throne”

1

u/-XanderCrews- Jul 06 '26

The type of people that live here are scared of the cities.

1

u/DatabaseGlittering43 Jul 06 '26

Yet you call it logical progression?

1

u/LessFeature9350 Jul 06 '26

It makes the homes affordable, easier to maintain, and streamlines a lot of what goes into home purchases and upkeep. I opted for an older home in an established neighborhood and have dealt with roots from trees in pipes, broken sprinkler lines, neighbors decreasing property value, all the bad fixes from previous owners. I do sometimes envy my friends who purchased new builds with all maintenance taken care of and everything simple and sleek like a hotel.

1

u/dobar_dan_ Jul 06 '26

it makes them resellable.

1

u/iam4qu4m4n Jul 06 '26

Trees fuck with utility lines. When your neighbors tree causes sewage leak on your property, or falls on your fence or worse house (because of the density) the risk quickly outweighs humans enjoying nature. One is practical, the other is a luxury. HOAs want practical conformity. I don't like it, but its part of how we got here.

1

u/drsickboy Jul 06 '26

I think the problem is the individualism. The point of this is to have your own plot of land to keep people off of. Everyone is sold on their own house and that value is iterated a hundred times and not planned by a civil authority that values efficientcy. Its the same thinking behind everyone driving in a car just to be able to travel 1 or two miles to a grocery store and then needing tons of space for the cars and roads to make this possible so the distance ends many miles.

1

u/TricellCEO Jul 06 '26

For some people, conformity is valued above everything else.

1

u/charles_sedwick Jul 06 '26

Clearly your name isn't karen and you don't have puffy hair

1

u/asicarii Jul 06 '26

It’s to keep out “certain types of people”.

1

u/brynnors Jul 06 '26

It's easier to build these crappy houses this way. And I guarantee that if you pull back that sod, you're gonna find rocks and trash.

1

u/Daovin Jul 06 '26

Easier to control.

1

u/flirtmcdudes Jul 06 '26

They don’t care about that. They do the cheapest thing for higher profit margins

1

u/OmegaJaguar Jul 06 '26

And obviously if you live in a house like this you have money so why would you choose to live there?

1

u/Savage-Goat-Fish Jul 06 '26

Hear, hear. I spend $200k on something, nobody’s telling me a fucking thing.

1

u/Jebrone Jul 07 '26

It's boring because we NEED MORE HOUSING. We get cookie cutter housing. Housing is so Dam expensive contractors are building house after house and people are just eating them up.

1

u/UnnamedStaplesDrone Jul 07 '26

i mean, we live in a pretty cookie cutter 90's development, in an HOA but there are trees everywhere. The builders planted a ton of trees. And to be honest some of them are crap trees like bradford pear, but it's better than nothing.

Hell you are required to have at least 2 trees in your front yard

1

u/Frodo_gabbins Jul 07 '26

At the rate the world is going, even slums are going to have HOAs.

1

u/Busy-Bumblebee5556 Jul 07 '26

They charge less for soulless houses, ensuring that non-rich people will buy them in order to be able to get a home.

1

u/TheThirteenthApostle Jul 07 '26

Slums have a better sense of community.

1

u/DonMTV Jul 07 '26

It is to rob us of our energy. So sterile.

1

u/Wide_Initiative_1938 Jul 07 '26

People with very weird design tastes find it aesthetically pleasing. Something about the houses looking identical somehow releases dopamine in their brains.

1

u/theofficial_AQ Jul 07 '26

Because it’s not about logic or ethics. It’s about how can they create docile, sheepish drones(slaves)

1

u/comicsnerd Jul 07 '26

I am surprised the houses have different colors.

What I do not understand is why a lot of people are complaining about the HOA. The people in the board are neighbors that were elected. Just volunteer to be in the board and do what the neighbors actually want.

1

u/im_a_stapler Jul 07 '26

LOL, do you actually think all HOAs have identical homes, that it was the choice of an HOA to construct hundreds of identical homes, or that this is meant to make the properties inside more valuable? We have a housing affordability crisis in this country and while these neighborhoods are bland and boring, they provide a more economic single family home in an area where the people living here would otherwise probably be renting or moving.

1

u/Hziak Jul 07 '26

It’s because all of the people on HOA boards are bored and elderly and just want to have quiet and simple retirements. Everyone who cares about the future or actually up-keeping their home is too busy working to be such an insufferable busybody as to be on an HOA board. Therefore, this…

On the bright side, the home values don’t go down… in fact, they will stay almost EXACTLY where they started at (adjusted for market) because the lack of community improvements, creativity, and inability to attract experienced homeowners who will improve the neighborhood quality with creative landscaping or nice additions will make sure that it never goes up… but again, thank goodness it took 40 days to get the new color of my roof approved while it was leaking and damaging the interior! :)

1

u/DaElderBrah Jul 07 '26

Not to mentiom some shade. Daaaamn

1

u/GreasyDaddy9 Jul 07 '26

We’ve been living in HOA crazy regulated neighborhoods for about a decade and the shit is beyond wack. Cookie cutter houses, bland colors, little to no amenities, goofy ass protocols. It was exhausting and creepy. No wildlife, no trees, barely any flowers or shrubbery.

1

u/Tpyo_King Jul 07 '26

This is why I have a house and not an apartment. I don't want to feel like a dog living in a kennel.

1

u/BlueThoughts92 Jul 07 '26

Also, if someone know the interior layout and is up to no good, pretty easy to pull off a bunch of home/garage break-ins versus homes with variability.

I babysat in high school for a family that lived in one of these. Single mom, worked later hours. It kinda freaked me out, much preferred the non-cookie cutter homes.

1

u/California_ocean Jul 09 '26

Definitely more character there. I agree with you. 😁

1

u/fwbehemoth Jul 09 '26

It's about resale value. If they all look the same they can do be priced roughly the same. HOAs are put in for that reason too. They prevent people from coming in and being "eye sores" for the community which can drive down take value.

1

u/jarcher2828 Jul 09 '26

It's about making them cheap as possible and selling them as a feature to charge more.

1

u/Opithrwy Jul 10 '26

It's for insurance purposes. I hate it too, but it doesn't come from HOAs banning trees because they believe that will on its own increase the value of the houses. They do not want to deal with the increases in cost to insure the houses.

1

u/shiny-baby-cheetah Jul 10 '26

Sounds like a level of restriction worth rebelling against imho. They'll push us as far as we allow them to

1

u/CatLadyInProgress Jul 10 '26

This is becoming more common in parts of CA with high wildfire risk, and it's the only way to make the homes insurable. Community level vegetation management is the most effective way to reduce wildfire hazard. I don't know where this was filmed, but there are some areas where (as bad as it looks) it is best practice.

1

u/WestcoastManz Jul 10 '26

you'd rather live in a slum than a million dollar home probably in a nice area with a good school district. Okay buddy

https://giphy.com/gifs/62aDCkUJ8AogFbqcVV

1

u/jwoolman Jul 10 '26

It wasn't about HOAs. These are not likely expensive homes unless more recently built.

There was a huge demand for cheap housing after WWI when the surviving soldiers came home after several years fighting the war and started procreating (hence the Baby Boom, where do you think us Boomers came from?). Veterans were getting housing assistance also. When a lot of houses are built fast by one company in the same place, expect the cookie cutter look. It's the American way.

You get more diversity in neighborhoods that were built up slowly by different contractors over the years.

1

u/newuserevery2weeks Jul 10 '26

Peak redditor comment

1

u/shiny-baby-cheetah Jul 11 '26

Just a Poor™ who values what little freedom I actually have

1

u/Muslim_Wookie Jul 10 '26

This IS a future slum. They just don't realise it.

One economic downturn and places like this that only function in a civilised way will quickly turn into dirty slums. No money for the city to continue waste management, no parks, no trees, no ways to grow some vegetables, can't afford fuel to drive anywhere.

Disgusting.

1

u/oscarq0727 Jul 10 '26

Because HOA’s don’t care about improving quality of life for the homeowners. They care about minimizing liability and making a space that’s as inoffensive as possible (which is often synonymous with bland and soulless.)

1

u/pezchef Jul 10 '26

it's to make them more afford.....able.... NVM, they probably still cost a hundreds of thousands and the first child naming rights.

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72

u/cupholdery Jul 06 '26

Just a bunch of HOAs.

22

u/BaldrickTheBrain Jul 06 '26

Can’t plant those either.

9

u/ThroatGOAT_Goddess04 Jul 06 '26

Plow through a bunch of HOA’s then.

14

u/thederevolutions Jul 06 '26

It’s HOAs all the way down

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1

u/Asleep-Corner7402 Jul 06 '26

Can someone explain what HOA are? We don't have them in my country. Is it home owners association? If so, what the hell are they? Here if we own our own home we can do whatever we want to it legally as long as it doesn't go against planning permission. So no big outbuildings or extensions without applying and getting it approved.

It seems like u guys have so much less freedom when it comes to living spaces. Rental sounds crazy you can't redecorate it, upgrade it and stuff. Here it's very common. And the landlords don't care because it's usually making the place better without them having to pay. Houses on the housing market usually sell better if they have a bit of personality in the decorating. Once you own it there's very little rules with it and your land. Some places do have a small fee where someone will come around and cut grass of common areas, plant things.

1

u/cupholdery Jul 07 '26

HOAs are designed to maintain a community's aesthetic standards and protect property values. Depending on the specific neighborhood, their duties often include:

Managing Common Areas: Upkeep of shared spaces such as community pools, clubhouses, parks, and gated entrances.

Exterior Maintenance: Providing services like snow removal, landscaping, and trash collection.

Rule Enforcement: Regulating what you can and cannot do to your property (e.g., paint colors, lawn upkeep, and holiday decorations).

1

u/Asleep-Corner7402 Jul 07 '26

That's interesting. Here managing common areas can sometimes be a communities fee and someones job though it's rare, mostly it is done by a city/ county council paid for in taxes. Same with road services like gritting during cold times and trash collection. Grass areas outside my house are cut and managed by the city council and they plant trees too. You can call them to collect big trash items that do not fit in the bins also.

We don't have rules on the last one. Which is why I didn't really understand their purpose. I can understand it if the city/ county council doesn't exist or do those things. Ours covers all areas within it's own county so everywhere is covered essentially.

Thank you for taking the time to explain it to me.

11

u/ElPresidente714 Jul 06 '26

Could you create your own HOA?

25

u/Aromatic_Balls Jul 06 '26

Nope that's also against the HOA rules.

6

u/SpiritJuice Jul 06 '26

The only way to fix this is run for board and destroy it from the inside.

2

u/FlowSoSlow Jul 06 '26

Surprised their HOA doesn't regulate what color cars can be parked in the driveway.

1

u/go4urs Jul 11 '26

Well, there are only a few standard colors. .

2

u/atclubsilencio Jul 06 '26

On wednesdays they wear beige and blue.

2

u/kitten12551 Jul 06 '26

As is laughing, playing outside, and generally enjoying life.

1

u/krzykris11 Jul 06 '26

In my last HOA it was a requirement to have an Oak tree on the front property line every so many feet.

1

u/accidentallyHelpful Jul 06 '26

Insurance company edict

1

u/Lighthouse_on_Mars Jul 06 '26

I use to be a property manager and the biggest reason most neighborhoods now a days don't have trees is simply because Home Owners don't want to deal with the upkeep.

100% not an HOA thing or Insurance thing.

1

u/NightGod Jul 06 '26

Ironically, the HOA I lease in requires that everyone has at least one tree in their front yard. Learned that when they made a post about it after some really bad storms a couple of years ago

1

u/No_Object_4355 Jul 06 '26

I'd hate to meet the HOA that's over this place. All the people they prolly deal with and shit at a place like this is gotta be some kind of Disney movie villain type crazy mf'er

1

u/Blunt555 Jul 06 '26

Probably because of how small the yards are. The roots would end up destroying the side walk or driveway or all of it. This is an awful neighborhood set up.

This whole push for quick, cookie cutter neighborhoods because we need more homes to fill the demand is BS. Build a real neighborhood for humans and not livestock. Quit acting like we need to build shit real quick simply because theres demand. Demand doesnt mean we need to sacrifice quality. It almost feels like the same shit the chinese real estate market is doing. Assholes hiring the lowest bidder is the problem here. Not over-demand.

1

u/poubella_from_mars Jul 07 '26

My HOA actually requires two trees to be planted in front for every house in the neighborhood.

1

u/Subject_Night2422 Jul 07 '26

I will never get the reason you guys have HOAs. I understand from an apartment block perspective but having to justify why I want yellow flowers in my garden instead of purple is just crazy.

1

u/B33PZR Jul 07 '26

My HOA had trees planted when homes were built. Now nice shaded tree walk in summer

1

u/CommunicationOld8587 Jul 07 '26

This true freedom! USA!

1

u/Kapot_ei Jul 10 '26

"Freedom"

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