northeast Calgary residents pave entire front lawns

[Bill Bumface]

^That must have been fun with all the snow last winter.

[Bean]

Originally Posted by undercoverbrother

Looks more like an old show home to me.

It was actually a regular house but has been converted to what I presume is more living space.

Google maps link

I doubt that it was ever approved with permits or bylaw and I'm sure that I wasn't the only one who couldn't stand that eyesore.

[calgarygeologist]

Originally Posted by Bean

It was actually a regular house but has been converted to what I presume is more living space.

Google maps link

I doubt that it was ever approved with permits or bylaw and I'm sure that I wasn't the only one who couldn't stand that eyesore.

The extended driveway looks better than the weed infested dirt yard that the neighbours have.

[BlackArcher101]

Originally Posted by calgarygeologist

The extended driveway looks better than the weed infested dirt yard that the neighbours have.

That tree waiting to be installed looks to be in good shape.

[calgarygeologist]

New suburban neighbourhoods are pretty disgusting places.

Bean, how old are the homes on that street? I would imagine the majority are at least five years old yet there is a shocking amount of homes that haven't bothered to do any landscaping in their front yards.

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by calgarygeologist

New suburban neighbourhoods are pretty disgusting places.

Bean, how old are the homes on that street? I would imagine the majority are at least five years old yet there is a shocking amount of homes that haven't bothered to do any landscaping in their front yards.

Yeah, and backyards can be even worse in those communities. I lived in the vinyl-sided paradise of Evanston for a few years in a new house. On my first weekend there, my neigbour and I sodded, planted trees, etc. and had our places looking pimp. Three years later all the white trash around me still hadn't done jack squat with their properties. I said 'eff it' and moved.

The city needs to mandate that developers landscape the front and backyards of new builds at least to a basic level and pass that cost straight onto the homeowners. There's no excuse for these people.

[Bean]

The houses on that street are now 10 years old. Unfortunately there were some other characters that parked cars on their lawn and left car parts/truck toppers out front for extended periods.

During the 8 years when were were there, we saw a pretty big exodus of original home owners who moved which I presume they had moved for the same reasons that we did. It's really tough to take pride in your home and be located in what we thought was a better area only to be constantly reminded of crap home owners like that. I suppose the silver lining is that those who moved were able to sell pretty quickly as they had fantastic lawns and curb appeal by comparison.

The picture I had posted was recent. If memory serves me correctly, they'll have 4 sets of winter tires that will be stored on the side of the house pretty soon with the seasonal change coming soon.

[Bean]

Originally Posted by Sliver

Yeah, and backyards can be even worse in those communities. I lived in the vinyl-sided paradise of Evanston for a few years in a new house. On my first weekend there, my neigbour and I sodded, planted trees, etc. and had our places looking pimp. Three years later all the white trash around me still hadn't done jack squat with their properties. I said 'eff it' and moved.

The city needs to mandate that developers landscape the front and backyards of new builds at least to a basic level and pass that cost straight onto the homeowners. There's no excuse for these people.

I agree with absolutely everything you've said except for the colour of the "trash". I've found that they come from all parts, my own ethnicity included.

[Nsd1]

As a Saddleridge resident this doesn't bother me at all. More cars on the driveway means less cars parked on the streets. Every house here has a car parked on the street on both sides of the road. Some streets are pretty narrow and two cars cannot drive side by side.

It doesn't look as nice as a landscaped yard but finding a well cared for lawn in saddleridge isn't easy. Most homes here have crappy developer installed sod and trees which look terrible. I've lived here for ten years and there are still houses here that don't have any sod or a fence. I'd rather look at concrete than grass that's covered 80% with weeds. In winter most people shovel their driveways and sidewalks onto the road anyway. I've even seen people shovel snow off the lawn onto the street. The city would make a killing by fining all the bylaw infractions here.

I don't know what it does to property values but people don't seem to have issues selling their homes that are next to a mega driveway.

[The Ditch]

sounds like it really sucks to live in saddleridge.

[You Need a Thneed]

Martin Crossing Place has a nice example of 5 houses in a row with 100% concrete front yards.

[The Familia]

The moral of the story is that this city is filled with crappy homeowners (from all ethnicities) who have no pride. The amount of lazy and cheap people is staggering. People who can't maintain a house and the property around it properly should live in a condo or apartment. I don't buy the money excuse either. No one is forcing you to build an elaborate waterfall in your yard. Simple sod, a tree or two, and some weed control is all that is needed. People will waste thousands of dollars on cigarettes or booze or a variety of other useless junk, yet they can't "afford" a lawn mower. I truly don't get it. Houses aren't cheap. If people are willing to invest in a house it usually means they intend to live in it and spend time in it. Don't they care about their investment?

[rayne008]

Originally Posted by calgarygeologist

The extended driveway looks better than the weed infested dirt yard that the neighbours have.

but look at what the neighbor to the right had to build just to save some of the curb appeal of their house...

[Wormius]

The thing I don't get is, if these are multiple families. Why live in the NE? Everybody should be chipping in to buy some acreage out in Springbank. If my kids ever want to live with me after they're done school and part of the work force, they'll be contributing to building an estate.

[cal_guy]

Originally Posted by MoneyGuy

Couple of points.

Doesn't Calgary prohibit throwing snow from sidewalks on the road? Someone said that. It should be illegal and enforced in these cases.

Sidewalks are city property and it's explicitly allowed in city bylaws. Snow from your property is not.

[calgarygeologist]

Originally Posted by rayne008

but look at what the neighbor to the right had to build just to save some of the curb appeal of their house...

That same neighbour should have saved a few more dollars and laid a few strips of sod on the other side of his driveway instead of growing weeds.

[Reaper]

Originally Posted by Bean

I used to live down the street from this winner. It wasn't about a lack of parking space as there is a park and 100 feet of curb space kitty corner from his house.

And it isn't a money thing as it is a half million dollar home in Panorama.

You say "half million dollar home" like it represents an expensive upper echelon price bracket for Calgary. For Panorama that would actually be on the lower end.

[Ryan Coke]

Originally Posted by Burninator

Where does the bylaw say that it is acceptable? Maximum driveway width is 7m.

http://www.calgary.ca/PDA/pd/Pages/C...aw-1P2007.aspx

I wasn't referring to the ugly full width driveways, I was referring to the bylaw allowing snow from the front sidewalk to be shovelled into the street.

[Bean]

Originally Posted by Reaper

You say "half million dollar home" like it represents an expensive upper echelon price bracket for Calgary. For Panorama that would actually be on the lower end.

You're right that it isn't the most expensive in the area however my intention was to comment that crap homeowners are not exclusive to just northeast Calgary.

[Hack&Lube]

Originally Posted by Wormius

The thing I don't get is, if these are multiple families. Why live in the NE? Everybody should be chipping in to buy some acreage out in Springbank. If my kids ever want to live with me after they're done school and part of the work force, they'll be contributing to building an estate.

With large families living together, it's often a cultural thing and often their jobs are based in the area of the city the homes are in. They want to be in close proximity yet still want separate homes.

I grew up in the NW and there was always a neighbourhood eyesore who would never do any landscaping or fencing and there would always be a jungle of weeds, death, and garbage on their lawn. Paved lawns is actually a step up from those who don't care at all.