Trees are a luxury, growing something like that takes time. I hope they really have a good reason for doing what they did.
And a public good. They keep things cooler when it's really hot out, keep things warmer when it's really cool out, mildly improve air quality, reduces noise pollution, provide measurable mental health benefits, and so on.
Around here removing big trees is illegal, on your property or not. I'm a fan.
Open soil instead of pavement also helps reduce flooding during heavy rainfall since the ground absorbs water instead of just making it run off to somewhere else.
At risk of doxxing yourself, can you expand on where you live? Just curious of the most general area. I love that law!
Toronto, and the law I'm referring to is a city bylaw.
The reason is probably "raking is work." I see this shit all the time in Florida, where we really need more shade trees.
Do not understand people who rake. Do the trees in the forest need their leaves raked? Then why do it?
Considering they also took out the shrubs Iโm betting not, though that tree closest to the house the roots may have been affecting the foundation I guess.
It legit looks like half of the weed dispensaries in my city. Who tf would actually do that to their home tho
I feel like the car in the picture is important context. I'm thinking that the home was turned into a business, and the pavement is for parking
Ah yes, the rare parking without any car access.
To the right of the bottom picture a sign(guessing the business) has been cropped out of view.
I was just thinking who needs this much parking space.
Just steal the image and put the source in the body text. That way you're not redirecting everyone to reddit. Sort of defeats the purpose of the protests.
Why don't they like trees?
Capitalism has drained their soul. They don't think artistically. They don't think about nature. They don't see beauty. Their art is corporate art.
Capitalism is when ugly house
Chad Soviet architecture enjoyer
Man I don't know, that's weird. Maybe they just prefer it this way? Some people don't like the cottage/nature kind of aesthetic. I think their house is ugly as sin but it's just a matter of personal taste.
Thats okay, but then why buy a cottag-y in nature house and then change it instead of buying something more fitting from the get go.
Even if the house was a good bargain, I cannot imagine the added cost of tearing out all those trees, paving the front yard, and remodeling/updating the interior would be cheaper than just buying a house that was already like that.
I personally don't like it, but I respect their right to do whatever the fuck they want with their property. If they want a fugly house, then that's their right.
Honestly, no. At least where I live, they're finally starting to do something against gravel gardens. They are illegal here (have been for decades but no-one did anything against it) and they're absolutely terrible for the environment and destroying green space (additionally to them being very bad for bees and further sealing the floor which is awful when any flood happens). Luckily people shouldn't be able to do absolutely everything they want if it hurts everyone so much.
Gravel gardens seal the ground? I thought it was just gravel on top of dirt.
I would prefer housing authorities don't require manicured grass lawns. They are so expensive to keep up and repair, especially since many don't use native grass species so they need watering in the summer if you don't want them to go brown.
How do you feel about HOAs?
I'm not living in the US. As far as I know, it's something very ridiculous that every house needs to look absolutely the same (I feel the freedom). And no, what I wrote isn't "the same", mandating how every garden needs to look exactly the same is something entirely different to fighting against very specific "garden" styles that combat the environment and are bad for the infrastructure (see floods). I'm fine with people having their garden however they want and doing stuff, but it needs to be in certain boundaries, e.g. that you aren't allowed to seal all ground which is terrible for bees, the environment in its wholeness and dangerous during floods.
If there are some rare edge cases where many things depend on it and there are very good reasons to set a certain boundary but otherwise leave the freedom to do the own garden and house how they want, that's something different to just mandating that there is no possibility to choose anything about it's looks and destroy all creativity and uniqueness.
Got it. HOAs get bad press for requiring every house to look the same, but the basic function they serve also includes preventing stuff like the above. How far they go depends on the HOA, but one that just prevents egregious stuff like the above isn't fundamentally different from one that requires near uniformity.
I just ask because lots of people hate HOAs, but this is one big reason they exist.
I think it's the difference between principles and practices, and ultimately, the way people become small minded and ruin everything...
They're good in principle, but people get controlling, or agendas develop, etc. Not sure how one balances that properly. I guess it's partly exacerbated by the cultural extreme that Americans take freedom to (I'm not from the dis-US). Maybe the neighborhood as a committee would work better than one or two power couples?
I can certainly agree with that.
Maybe the neighborhood as a committee would work better than one or two power couples?
That just means being involved in the HOA, which would certainly help curb many problems, but its work, and understandably, most people don't want to do that.
I suppose you could build into the charter limitations which can't be exceeded without a certain percentage of the entire HOA agreeing? Not sure.
they exist to preserve property values
It's like they heard lawns were bad for the environment, but stopped listening at the part about replacing it with native plants.
I would have left the trees alone, but removed the grass and covered it with small black and grey stones. That way the trees would still look nice, and the rain water can still pass through the rocks and prevent flooding, unlike this mess.
This looks like a business now, itโs not a home anymore.
pass through the rocks and prevent flooding
Yah, that doesn't work that way. Water needs to get pulled into plants or water channels created by dead plant root systems, or it just runs off. This is why deserts have flash floods.
๐ต They paved paradise and put up a parking lot ๐ต
all better
now its a gulag
Dendrophobia? Agrostophobia? Botanophobia? All 3 wrapped into one tangle of neurosis?
Sure they didn't turn it into a shop? Those definitely look like they were made into display windows
In Australia it would be a 15-storey block of incredibly substandard flats lol
It's been ruined.
I mean I hate lawns as much as the next person, but I don't think the solution is to salt the earth and cover it in concrete.
Who hates lawns? ๐ค
I do. I'm not sure how much of an issue it is in other countries, but most (if not all) lawn grasses grown in the States are actually non-native (yes, even "Kentucky Bluegrass", which is actually native to Europe). I wouldn't really mind lawns as much if it was normal to use native ground cover.
Probably the majority of slrpnk.net lemmy
Ah yes, the prison yard aesthetic... lookin' good
Range Rover... checks out.
"Bad" taste for "bad" people ๐คทโโ๏ธ
No need to insult them, they donโt deserve that much hate. they probably thought it was a good idea. Even though most of us think itโs an abomination.
I'll be more moderate, but the opinion stay the same.
I just felt bad about what I did to my world in factorio for the first time ever :/
It should actually be an offence for someone to do this. That change from garden to hard standing will cause issues with any drains and probably cause flooding.
Looks like it ruined the whole area by the looks of it.
Just before the previous owners of my house decided to put the house on the market they painted all wood inside (stairs, doors, door frames, window frames, skirting) pitch black.
Yes thanks, I enjoy living in a cave. Removing, sanding and painting all that will take me 100s of hours.
Oh, and it was done with the cheapest paint possible while painting over all hinges, locks and sometimes windows.
Aah yes, the landlord special.
A few years back I would have asked why you bought it. But in this market I get it.
People are focusing on the house in the middle, but if you look at he whole picture, it isn't that one house. It's every single house on both streets. It's not just this specific owner. If this were the US, I'd suspect a HOA at work.
I believe the Brits call their HOAs "councils"
Not sure if joking, but councils are in charge of the municipal borough - usually a big town/city and the area around it.
Some people rent their houses from the council - council houses. This tends to mainly be people on low income, as the rates are low.
Because these are rented, the council can make sure you are not doing anything to harm the value of the house. When the houses need maintenance (new windows, new roofs), the council will perform it at no cost to the tenants - usually an entire estate at once, which is why they look alike.
Obviously the council has no say over houses it doesn't own. Unless you are breaking the law in some way (e.g. causing a health concern), you're allowed to do what you want.
Ah. That makes sense. I'd always heard Brits complaining about "the council" in regards to houses/property so I thought it was similar to an HOA.
Never understood homes that pave/block out all the greenery; makes the home depressing af all for saving some 30min of upkeep per week.
You don't even need that. Personally a overgrown garden looks better than no garden.
100% agree this is a terrible looking house- I think the function of the raised platform must be because it's on a dangerous corner or intersection, so it acts as a safety structure from vehicles. They would've gotten special planning permission to do something like that.
Haha what the fuck, that looks absolutely terrible. How did they ever think this was a good idea?
The house was horrible enough to start with; a characterless inter-war bungalow with fake timbering and fake leaded glass. The conversion is just differently horrible.
For me it's the destruction of the garden that warrants it being here. I know it's the UK so the sun isn't always available (edit: just seen the Zoopla link, it's Bolton, so change "always" to "ever") , but losing shade and shelter like that is a tragedy in any climate.
That's an architect's house right there. Guaranteed. Stark feel, contrasting colors, even geometric lines, minimal but very intentional organic elements ("plants" in the windows - probably fake). I'm in the business and have worked on architect's houses. They are generally split 80/20 between ridiculous modern art and warm, inviting, immensely functional spaces. There is no in between.
It looks ssooo and now!! I really want to know why.
The only thing that makes sense in my mind is, maybe the owner's permanently on wheels and needs a flat, hard surface for their mobility device?
Facepalm
Itโs not the house for me, itโs the gardenโฆ
I found a real estate listing for the house (yes, you could own this beauty), but I don't know if posting it would count as doxxing per community rules, so I won't. In any case, this is not a business.
They want ยฃ300k+. Based on what was written, the whole idea was minimal maintenance and maximum room for parking. The back yard/back "garden" is the same as the front: just a bunch of tile. The interior is less offensive, but just what you'd expect: very modern, lots of black and white and bold shapes.
and maximum room for parking
Yet another example of what car-brain does to a person.
Kind of sounds like it is intended to be used as an Airbnb/rental property.
The wall update is nice, but removing all the greenery and putting pavers over all the grass is just gross.
Wow this is fucking incredibly annoying :(
Looks like it ruined the whole area by the looks of it.
Lol did you just link to a reddit post from Lemmy?
Yeah they did. itโs hilarious
What a fucking nightmare.
It looks like the whole neighborhood
Maybe they plan to park cars there.
Or maybe they just don't like cutting the grass. Can't blame them. I hate having to cut the grass all the time.
There are alternatives to having a lawn. The great people over at nolawns@slrpnk.net can help you.
Personally, I've replaced large areas with native plants. They take care of themselves.
Er... What were they going for?
Bleak urban funeral home ?
that is pain. Who would enjoy that? Maybe it is a store now, idk.
Some old fart who got tired of yelling at kids, โGet off my lawn!โ
Trees are a luxury, growing something like that takes time. I hope they really have a good reason for doing what they did.
And a public good. They keep things cooler when it's really hot out, keep things warmer when it's really cool out, mildly improve air quality, reduces noise pollution, provide measurable mental health benefits, and so on.
Around here removing big trees is illegal, on your property or not. I'm a fan.
Open soil instead of pavement also helps reduce flooding during heavy rainfall since the ground absorbs water instead of just making it run off to somewhere else.
At risk of doxxing yourself, can you expand on where you live? Just curious of the most general area. I love that law!
Toronto, and the law I'm referring to is a city bylaw.
The reason is probably "raking is work." I see this shit all the time in Florida, where we really need more shade trees.
Do not understand people who rake. Do the trees in the forest need their leaves raked? Then why do it?
Considering they also took out the shrubs Iโm betting not, though that tree closest to the house the roots may have been affecting the foundation I guess.
It legit looks like half of the weed dispensaries in my city. Who tf would actually do that to their home tho
I feel like the car in the picture is important context. I'm thinking that the home was turned into a business, and the pavement is for parking
Ah yes, the rare parking without any car access.
To the right of the bottom picture a sign(guessing the business) has been cropped out of view.
I was just thinking who needs this much parking space.
Just steal the image and put the source in the body text. That way you're not redirecting everyone to reddit. Sort of defeats the purpose of the protests.
Why don't they like trees?
Capitalism has drained their soul. They don't think artistically. They don't think about nature. They don't see beauty. Their art is corporate art.
Capitalism is when ugly house
Chad Soviet architecture enjoyer
Man I don't know, that's weird. Maybe they just prefer it this way? Some people don't like the cottage/nature kind of aesthetic. I think their house is ugly as sin but it's just a matter of personal taste.
Thats okay, but then why buy a cottag-y in nature house and then change it instead of buying something more fitting from the get go.
Even if the house was a good bargain, I cannot imagine the added cost of tearing out all those trees, paving the front yard, and remodeling/updating the interior would be cheaper than just buying a house that was already like that.
I personally don't like it, but I respect their right to do whatever the fuck they want with their property. If they want a fugly house, then that's their right.
Honestly, no. At least where I live, they're finally starting to do something against gravel gardens. They are illegal here (have been for decades but no-one did anything against it) and they're absolutely terrible for the environment and destroying green space (additionally to them being very bad for bees and further sealing the floor which is awful when any flood happens). Luckily people shouldn't be able to do absolutely everything they want if it hurts everyone so much.
Gravel gardens seal the ground? I thought it was just gravel on top of dirt.
I would prefer housing authorities don't require manicured grass lawns. They are so expensive to keep up and repair, especially since many don't use native grass species so they need watering in the summer if you don't want them to go brown.
How do you feel about HOAs?
I'm not living in the US. As far as I know, it's something very ridiculous that every house needs to look absolutely the same (I feel the freedom). And no, what I wrote isn't "the same", mandating how every garden needs to look exactly the same is something entirely different to fighting against very specific "garden" styles that combat the environment and are bad for the infrastructure (see floods). I'm fine with people having their garden however they want and doing stuff, but it needs to be in certain boundaries, e.g. that you aren't allowed to seal all ground which is terrible for bees, the environment in its wholeness and dangerous during floods.
If there are some rare edge cases where many things depend on it and there are very good reasons to set a certain boundary but otherwise leave the freedom to do the own garden and house how they want, that's something different to just mandating that there is no possibility to choose anything about it's looks and destroy all creativity and uniqueness.
Got it. HOAs get bad press for requiring every house to look the same, but the basic function they serve also includes preventing stuff like the above. How far they go depends on the HOA, but one that just prevents egregious stuff like the above isn't fundamentally different from one that requires near uniformity.
I just ask because lots of people hate HOAs, but this is one big reason they exist.
I think it's the difference between principles and practices, and ultimately, the way people become small minded and ruin everything...
They're good in principle, but people get controlling, or agendas develop, etc. Not sure how one balances that properly. I guess it's partly exacerbated by the cultural extreme that Americans take freedom to (I'm not from the dis-US). Maybe the neighborhood as a committee would work better than one or two power couples?
I can certainly agree with that.
I suppose you could build into the charter limitations which can't be exceeded without a certain percentage of the entire HOA agreeing? Not sure.
they exist to preserve property values
It's like they heard lawns were bad for the environment, but stopped listening at the part about replacing it with native plants.
I would have left the trees alone, but removed the grass and covered it with small black and grey stones. That way the trees would still look nice, and the rain water can still pass through the rocks and prevent flooding, unlike this mess. This looks like a business now, itโs not a home anymore.
Yah, that doesn't work that way. Water needs to get pulled into plants or water channels created by dead plant root systems, or it just runs off. This is why deserts have flash floods.
๐ต They paved paradise and put up a parking lot ๐ต
all better
now its a gulag
Dendrophobia? Agrostophobia? Botanophobia? All 3 wrapped into one tangle of neurosis?
The guy that owns this house
Sure they didn't turn it into a shop? Those definitely look like they were made into display windows
In Australia it would be a 15-storey block of incredibly substandard flats lol
It's been ruined.
I mean I hate lawns as much as the next person, but I don't think the solution is to salt the earth and cover it in concrete.
Who hates lawns? ๐ค
I do. I'm not sure how much of an issue it is in other countries, but most (if not all) lawn grasses grown in the States are actually non-native (yes, even "Kentucky Bluegrass", which is actually native to Europe). I wouldn't really mind lawns as much if it was normal to use native ground cover.
Probably the majority of slrpnk.net lemmy
Ah yes, the prison yard aesthetic...
lookin' goodRange Rover... checks out.
"Bad" taste for "bad" people ๐คทโโ๏ธ
No need to insult them, they donโt deserve that much hate. they probably thought it was a good idea. Even though most of us think itโs an abomination.
I'll be more moderate, but the opinion stay the same.
I just felt bad about what I did to my world in factorio for the first time ever :/
It should actually be an offence for someone to do this. That change from garden to hard standing will cause issues with any drains and probably cause flooding.
Looks like it ruined the whole area by the looks of it.
Just before the previous owners of my house decided to put the house on the market they painted all wood inside (stairs, doors, door frames, window frames, skirting) pitch black.
Yes thanks, I enjoy living in a cave. Removing, sanding and painting all that will take me 100s of hours.
Oh, and it was done with the cheapest paint possible while painting over all hinges, locks and sometimes windows.
Aah yes, the landlord special.
A few years back I would have asked why you bought it. But in this market I get it.
People are focusing on the house in the middle, but if you look at he whole picture, it isn't that one house. It's every single house on both streets. It's not just this specific owner. If this were the US, I'd suspect a HOA at work.
I believe the Brits call their HOAs "councils"
Not sure if joking, but councils are in charge of the municipal borough - usually a big town/city and the area around it.
Some people rent their houses from the council - council houses. This tends to mainly be people on low income, as the rates are low.
Because these are rented, the council can make sure you are not doing anything to harm the value of the house. When the houses need maintenance (new windows, new roofs), the council will perform it at no cost to the tenants - usually an entire estate at once, which is why they look alike.
Obviously the council has no say over houses it doesn't own. Unless you are breaking the law in some way (e.g. causing a health concern), you're allowed to do what you want.
Ah. That makes sense. I'd always heard Brits complaining about "the council" in regards to houses/property so I thought it was similar to an HOA.
Never understood homes that pave/block out all the greenery; makes the home depressing af all for saving some 30min of upkeep per week.
You don't even need that. Personally a overgrown garden looks better than no garden.
100% agree this is a terrible looking house- I think the function of the raised platform must be because it's on a dangerous corner or intersection, so it acts as a safety structure from vehicles. They would've gotten special planning permission to do something like that.
Maybe the new owners are allergic to nature? ๐
WTFF. That's terrible
Haha what the fuck, that looks absolutely terrible. How did they ever think this was a good idea?
The house was horrible enough to start with; a characterless inter-war bungalow with fake timbering and fake leaded glass. The conversion is just differently horrible.
For me it's the destruction of the garden that warrants it being here. I know it's the UK so the sun isn't always available (edit: just seen the Zoopla link, it's Bolton, so change "always" to "ever") , but losing shade and shelter like that is a tragedy in any climate.
That's an architect's house right there. Guaranteed. Stark feel, contrasting colors, even geometric lines, minimal but very intentional organic elements ("plants" in the windows - probably fake). I'm in the business and have worked on architect's houses. They are generally split 80/20 between ridiculous modern art and warm, inviting, immensely functional spaces. There is no in between.
It looks ssooo and now!! I really want to know why.
The only thing that makes sense in my mind is, maybe the owner's permanently on wheels and needs a flat, hard surface for their mobility device?
Facepalm
Itโs not the house for me, itโs the gardenโฆ
I found a real estate listing for the house (yes, you could own this beauty), but I don't know if posting it would count as doxxing per community rules, so I won't. In any case, this is not a business.
They want ยฃ300k+. Based on what was written, the whole idea was minimal maintenance and maximum room for parking. The back yard/back "garden" is the same as the front: just a bunch of tile. The interior is less offensive, but just what you'd expect: very modern, lots of black and white and bold shapes.
Yet another example of what car-brain does to a person.
Kind of sounds like it is intended to be used as an Airbnb/rental property.
The wall update is nice, but removing all the greenery and putting pavers over all the grass is just gross.
Wow this is fucking incredibly annoying :(
Looks like it ruined the whole area by the looks of it.
Lol did you just link to a reddit post from Lemmy?
Yeah they did. itโs hilarious
What a fucking nightmare.
It looks like the whole neighborhood
Maybe they plan to park cars there.
Or maybe they just don't like cutting the grass. Can't blame them. I hate having to cut the grass all the time.
There are alternatives to having a lawn. The great people over at nolawns@slrpnk.net can help you.
Personally, I've replaced large areas with native plants. They take care of themselves.
Er... What were they going for?
Bleak urban funeral home ?
that is pain. Who would enjoy that? Maybe it is a store now, idk.
Some old fart who got tired of yelling at kids, โGet off my lawn!โ
Actually, I like the updates, however, some potted plans would help drive the updates home!
There house, who gives a fuck what theu do with it, remove all the grass, or let it grow to fuck. Dont be a nosy cunt.