Posted: Tue May 27, 2008 3:42 am Post subject: Aesthetics more important than conservation in New England
Apparently, in parts of New England, you cannot dry your own laundry in your back yard. The sight of those panties fluttering in the breeze gets puritanical knickers all in a twist:
Quote:
CONCORD, N.H. - They say they only want to protect their "right to dry." And in three New England states, advocates for clotheslines - yes, clotheslines, strung across the yard, draped with socks and sheets - are pushing for new laws to liberate residents whose neighbors won't let them hang laundry outside.
Homeowners' associations, which enforce bans on clotheslines at thousands of residential developments across the country, say the rules are needed to prevent flapping laundry from dragging down property values. But in an age of paper over plastic, as people try to take small steps to protect the environment, more residents are chafing at the restrictions. And some lawmakers in Vermont, New Hampshire, and Connecticut are taking it a step further, seeking legislation that would guarantee the freedom to let one's garments flutter in the breeze.
"People think it's silly, but what's silly is to worry so much about having to look at your neighbors' undies that you would prevent them from conserving energy," said Vermont state Senator Dick McCormack, a sponsor of "right to dry" legislation. "We're not making a big deal over clotheslines; we're making a big deal over global warming."
Quote:
In some minds, though, clotheslines connote a landscape of poverty rather than flowering fields. Opponents of the proposed legislation say homeowners' groups have the right to protect property values by forbidding practices they consider unsightly, such as storing junk cars in driveways - and hanging wet laundry outside.
There's even a website devoted to supporting the right of people to hang out their own washing without interference from the NIMBY brigade.
Project Laundry List _________________ "Who knows what the Second Law of Thermodynamics will be like in a hundred years?" - Economist speaking during planning for World Population Conference in early 1970s
Joined: Aug 30, 2005 Posts: 273 Location: Second Vermont Republic
Posted: Tue May 27, 2008 6:09 am Post subject: Re: Aesthetics more important than conservation in New Engla
Posting from Vermont, I wish this were something more than an academic argument. I can't remember the last time I saw laundry hanging in someone's yard.
Joined: Sep 04, 2005 Posts: 362 Location: central MA, USA
Posted: Tue May 27, 2008 6:18 am Post subject: Re: Aesthetics more important than conservation in New Engla
It's far from a New-England-specific phenomenon. I ran into the same homeowners' association nonsense in Iowa in 1988. There at least the covenants only forbid "clothesline poles", so (much to the dismay of the busybodies) I got around them by installing a retractable line on the back of the house, which connected to a small storage shed when in use.
That kind of thing was enough for me to never, ever want to live where an HOA was in effect. Why cede so much power to fashion nazis?
Posted: Tue May 27, 2008 8:12 am Post subject: Re: Aesthetics more important than conservation in New Engla
If this is such a problem, is it possible for some homeowners to have drying racks and let their wet laundry dry in the basement/laundry area or attic? At least the undies if this is an issue? I know sunlight kills "germs", but after the clothes are washed, is this really an issue?
I am not in favor of Home owner laws about things like this, and this butting in is ridiculous. We hang our clothes in the basement to dry, because in Chicago, a good portion of the year is not great for putting clothes out in the freezing, raining or slushy weather. I just "do it" inside, and have done this for years. I never have to iron!
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