U.S. residents fight for the right to hang laundry

[njlib]

PERKASIE, Pennsylvania (Reuters) – Carin Froehlich pegs her laundry to three clotheslines strung between trees outside her 18th-century farmhouse, knowing that her actions annoy local officials who have asked her to stop.

Froehlich is among the growing number of people across America fighting for the right to dry their laundry outside against a rising tide of housing associations who oppose the practice despite its energy-saving green appeal.

Although there are no formal laws in this southeast Pennsylvania town against drying laundry outside, a town official called Froehlich to ask her to stop drying clothes in the sun. And she received two anonymous notes from neighbors saying they did not want to see her underwear flapping about.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20091118/us_nm/us_usa_laundry

[Captain Hilts]

1. I'm a dedicated line dryer. But NOT in my front yard, as this woman is doing. nt

[njlib]

7. I thought it was strange

I don't think I've ever seen anyone do it in their front yard. Maybe there isn't adequate space in the back or there's nothing to tie the lines to??

I've been thinking about hanging my clothes outside, in the BACK. My grandmother did it all the time when I was a kid and so did everyone else in the neighborhood. I have a neighbor two houses down who does it year round, but don't really have a place to run the line. Do they still make those "stands" to hang clothes?

[jwirr]

21. Yes, a hardware store is a good place to look for them.

[njlib]

23. Thanks

I'll have to investigate once I start getting a paycheck again! The front of my house gets sun all day long and the back doesn't get full sun until a little later in the afternoon. It's still sufficient for drying clothes, I would think. I'd like to do it to save money. Everything in my house, including heat, is electric and we're now heading into the $400+/month electric bill season. Luckily, it's been pretty mild so far and I've been only putting the heat on as low as possible at night, when it's getting into the 20's. During the day, we're still getting upper 50's/low 60's and even though today is cloudy, it's still pretty comfortable outside. I'm not looking forward to what it'll be a month from now!

[csziggy]

49. Ace Hardware sells them

http://www.acehardware.com/search/index.jsp?kwCatId=&kw=clothes%20dryer&origkw=clothes%20line&sr=1

Find an Ace near you, I think they are locally owned.

[njlib]

75. Thanks

I think there's an Ace Hardware in the next town over!

[barbtries]

11. it's her yard front or back

i can see getting riled up if she hangs her clothes out in her neighbors' yards.

[MidwestRick]

29. Maybe next

she'll park and abandon an old car maybe throw out the fridge and leave it in the front yard. I mean, it is her yard...right?

[Posteritatis]

34. Because those are identical situations, of course

Ridiculous straw man intended to justify micromanaging others' homes notwithstanding, sure, why not? It is her yard.

[MidwestRick]

36. Exactly the same thing

and no straw man. Sorry, but as an architect I do believe communities have the right to keep the community looking good. Sure "good" is subjective, but I would think most people here would have problems if their neighbors constantly dried their clothes in the front yards adjacent to their home.

[Posteritatis]

37. Right, rusty metal debris is just the same as laundry

What an idiotic claim. If you think they're identical, you should sell some of what you're smoking.

My neighbors dry their laundry outside, some in the front yards, and I couldn't care less. Anyone who could need something else to worry about, like possibly addressing their desire to control others' harmless actions.

[MidwestRick]

38. So you like having your neighborhood

look like shit. Bully to you.

[Posteritatis]

39. No, because it's idiotic to believe that clotheslines have that effect.

Exact same reasoning that has HOAs flipping out over holiday decorations or telling them what color curtains they're allowed to have or anything else. All you're doing is spewing excuses to tell other people why they shouldn't be allowed to do things that most civilized places never quite got around to forbidding.

[MidwestRick]

40. Like I said, if you don't mind the place looking trashy

(ie, clotheslines in the front yard in most civilized communities is considered trashy). That's great, enjoy!

[cherokeeprogressive]

52. "clotheslines in the front yard in most civilized communities is considered trashy" Fact or opinion?

I'd like to see where you got that information.

[varelse]

72. Careful what you wish for

I have a pretty good idea of the source of that little nugget :P

[verdalaven]

55. A clothesline is ultimate Americana

I don't think that clean clothes on a clothes line looks trashy.

Hey, wait a sec.....aren't you the Maytag repairman?

[me b zola]

53. When my neighbors pay my mortgage

That's when they get to tell me how to maintain & use my yard.

[JonQ]

54. They may not pay your mortage

but they can certainly affect the value of your house.

[Captain Hilts]

57. BINGO. nt

[barbtries]

59. thank you!

I feel the same way. i will not belong to an HOA (that's what they're called right?) in this lifetime. 'course, i'll probably not own a home in this lifetime either, so it's all pretty academic. jmo.

[katkat]

66. looking good

To me, someone saying energy is "looking good," not some manicured fertilized and herbicide intensive lawn, that to me is looking bad.

This is the same thing as communities trying to use "weed' ordinances against people with nature-friendly plantings in their yards. I think without fail those ordinances have not held up in ocurt unless they were for fire protection.

[katkat]

67. MidwestRick

"As an architect" - you wouldn't by chance be one of those architects who drop "modern" skyscrapers in the middle of historic districts would you? Now those are eyesores.

[MidwestRick]

74. Architects

don't drop anything. They are commissioned to design buildings for their clients. Besides that, most "historical" districts have limits on what can be "dropped" into them.

[snake in the grass]

71. Most people here?

Speak for yourself!

I wish I had your problems. It must be such a relief for you and the other Babbitts to have time to worry about where your neighbor dries the laundry.



A place for everything and everthing in its place! Yeah, a real dream come true.

:puke:

[njlib]

76. Now, THAT'S ugly

and creepy! Looks more like a movie set than a place where people actually LIVE!

[snake in the grass]

77. I'm originally from Jacksonville, Florida.

While driving down to Miami to catch the plane to L.A., we passed countless settlements that looked exactly like that. It is beyond me how someone could voluntarily move into such a community. It would kill my spirit.

[barbtries]

47. yep

:)

[nadinbrzezinski]

58. All your sensibitilies aside before the clothes drier this was a common sight

And it is not a bad idea as the world of oil ends




This has a certain appeal



and when the oil runs out (or to be more exact it gets too expensive to bring it out of the ground) unless we have found alternative sources... guess what? A line, some clothes pins and the sun are your friend.

[JonQ]

51. Not if there's a homeowners association

if you choose to live somewhere where there are restrictions on what you may do in your yard you have to follow those rules.

They can be obnoxious but you are still bound by them.

[Captain Hilts]

56. It's inconsiderate to do so in the front yard. Would cars up on blocks be okay? Tall grass?

[Gormy Cuss]

62. Why is it inconsiderate? For that matter, what's wrong with tall grass?

A car on blocks is a potential safety hazard, so that concern has some merit.

You want to control the view? Put up a stockade fence around your house. Problem solved.
Some suburbanites are worried about the dumbest things.

[starroute]

27. It looks like her back yard is all trees

I found her address in some Perkasie Borough Council minutes online (from when she was asking in 2006 to have a fire siren removed from her property) and then checked it both on Google Maps and at zillow.com. The two sites show her location on the street slightly differently -- but in either case, her property seems to be all trees and hillside out back, with the only flat unshaded space in the front.

I know that town fairly well because it's just down the road from me, and it's a pretty nice funky area that hasn't been overrun by shopping malls or housing developments. I can understand why it would attract both people who want to keep up the tone and people who just want to do their own thing.

[csziggy]

48. Maybe that is not her front yard

With an "18th century farmhouse" the orientation of her house may not correlate to the orientation of the other houses in the neighborhood. If the neighborhood was built around her house, hers could appear to be "backwards" on the lot. Or maybe it is on a corner. I've seen old houses who essentially had no yard area that was private once the larger piece of land originally dedicated to it was sliced off and sold. Without looking at a plat of the neighborhood how are we to know? :shrug:

[Kolesar]

2. You gotta fight ... for your right ... to launder!

[Ozymanithrax]

3. My neighborhood association forbids solar cloths drying systems.

It's quite annoying, really.

[icee2]

4. Utility co's are greedy beyond belief. n/t

[ixion]

5. These people need real problems to worry about

because they obviously have too much time on their hands.

[glitch]

60. +6C nt

[Gormy Cuss]

6. Some fine neighbors she has there.

What are they afraid of, underwear blindness?

[njlib]

10. LOL

Now see, they're lucky I don't live there because I'd go out and buy every kind of underwear imaginable in every size, color & style...REALLY give them something to be aghast over!

[bedazzled]

24. i'd have victora's secret underwear window coverings

transvestite size

i'm aghast that the article says 20% of us live
in these horrible condos. no wonder everyone is
deranged - these condos are awful.

[Solly Mack]

8. Oh, to offend the pretentious

[jwirr]

9. This is the most insane idea I have ever heard about. For thousands

of years our ancestors dried clothes including underwear outdoors! I do agree that it could be done elsewhere than the front lawn but that may be all she has. As to the underwear issue dry everything else outdoors and the underwear in the bathroom. My MIL was so modest she did it that way so no one would see her underwear. There is nothing like the smell of clothes that have been hung out to dry.

[njlib]

13. Not to mention

that in today's economy, who couldn't benefit from having an extra $83/month?

[Posteritatis]

35. I wonder if the HOA didn't see those savings as money they should have instead. (nt)

[asjr]

14. And sleeping on sheets that have been dried

outdoors in the sun is one of the greatest things to be able to do.

[Kolesar]

20. with a sweet partner...eom

[Captain Hilts]

25. There is NOTHING better!

[marions ghost]

17. just put the underwear on a line behind the shirts

where they aren't so visible.

Americans can't deal with the sight of underwear, except when it's poking out of their clothes in the name of fashion.

[Ozymanithrax]

12. Link to Project Laundry List.

Project Laundry List

[southernyankeebelle]

15. Listen I love to dry my cloths on the line outside but when you live

in these associations then you have to live by the rules. Rules are rules if you want to hang your cloths then move to an association that allows that or try to get that law changed. If everyone did what they wanted then why have an associations.

[njlib]

16. I've never understood the need for associations anyway

How long have they been in existence? How did people live in neighborhoods before associations came about?

[marions ghost]

18. In my area

it's hard to find a neighborhood that does NOT have such an association. You must search far and wide.

I have seen people go to ridiculous lengths to hide their clotheslines, while all manner of other ugliness is ignored.

What I especially hate is the stipulation that you have to use certain colors of paint (usually very bland and homogenous). This does not speak of cultural diversity. Let people express themselves with their houses. For some it's the only creativity they will ever have in their lives.

(I feel the same way about Xmas decorations--they should not be legislated).

Typical American distraction--the look of the neighborhood must be regulated to the nth degree, while business and gov't certainly ISN'T.

[njlib]

22. Agreed

Nothing's more boring or creepy than having everything look the same. I'm lucky to live in a place where there's lots of diversity as far as styles of homes, landscaping, etc. Some areas are obviously newer and the homes are all very similar looking, but for the most part, there's a pretty good mix of old and new.

[starroute]

31. But you know Ann Coulter says diversity has jumped the shark

In the brave new GOP future, no doubt everyone and everything will be forced to be the same anonymous shade of beige.

(Go see today's Rude Pundit if you haven't run into the Coulter story yet.)

[Captain Hilts]

26. They exist because of folks not mowing their lawns or parking cars on the lawn. Yeah, it's

weird folks do that kind of thing.

[gmoney]

43. It's ostensibly to protect property values.

If I decide to paint my house bright purple, or park a mobile home outside, or if I let trash accumulate and don't trim the hedges etc., my house allegedly could become an eyesore (i.e. not homogenous with the rest of the neighborhood), and could adversely effect the value of other homes nearby.

Most white-bread burbs with homeowner associations feel the need to preserve at least the illusion of affluence, and I think line drying is something that just isn't done, especially when there are perfectly good machines and dryer sheets for the job. :sarcasm:

[Gormy Cuss]

19. The thread is about clothes, not cloths

and at least five states think HOAs and towns are overreaching when they prohibit clotheslines.

[Posteritatis]

32. That's 45 and one district too few. (nt)

[jakefrep]

63. Fuck the homeowners associations.

The sad thing is their property values are probably tanking in spite of their stupid rules.

[juno jones]

28. I don't get the reasoning against clotheslines.

When our dryer went out, we had to put up a clothesline for a few days. Our landlord was a little put out. "I don't want the place to look white trash," he says. Which made me laugh. The shingles are coming off the roof, the paint is peeling in places and I'm the first person to trim back both the landscape and volunteer plants that have grown into BUSHES, but a clothesline in the backyard is beyond the pale. :wtf:

We protested that it was only for a week or two and he relented, but really. And our backyard can't really be observed by any neighbors especially in the summertime when the plants are in leaf.

[Posteritatis]

30. It's just control-freak homeowner's association mentality in most places

Hm, that's probably a redundant statement on my part.

[juno jones]

44. Funny thing is

we live in the county and have no HOA. This is just some wanna-be middle class guys assumptions that clotheslines are gauche.

Worse yet is that he is a merchant marine. He has no clue what happens in the world in reallife where you make your own food, do your own laundry, and clean your own damn place up. Thus the damage to the house that he continually overlooks despite having been told about it.

We need a new landlord (he's also a god-botherer, which makes for some hilarious times around this pagan homestead) but we're getting a 3 bedroom with a nice (now gardened ;) ) backyard for less than some apartments of the same size here.

[DU GrovelBot]

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[B Calm]

41. I wouldn't live in the city limits for any amount of money!

[earth mom]

42. These are the kind of people who think homeless people and obese people are unsightly and disgusting

and should be disappeared from the face of the earth.

Gawd forbid their sensibilities are offended! :eyes:

[MidwestRick]

45. Or maybe

just maybe...these are people who don't want to see the the resale value of their homes dropped because of their neighbor's house?

[earth mom]

46. We're not talking a junk yard next door. We're talking clothing that is there a few hours a day.

C'mon now, stop being so uptight and trying to control other people. :eyes:

[MadHound]

50. Wow, first the cell phone thread, where you were on the wrong side of being an asshole,

Now over here doing the same thing on laundry drying.

I think that your DU name is just one letter off, here, I'll trade you a D for that R of yours.

Lighten up dude, it's not all about you.

[glitch]

61. The resale value of your house has a lot more to worry about than the laundry hanging next door. nt

[Captain Hilts]

73. You'd think we accidentally logged onto FreeRepublic with all the selfish individualism on display

here.

It's none of your damned business what I do in my own yard!!!!

That sort of thing.

[FunkyLeprechaun]

64. I find this weird

I've been living here for three years and see my neighbours' clothes all the time! It's quite a common sight in the UK.

[noamnety]

70. It should be a normal sight here in the US as well.

But we're in this stupid culture where we believe it's humiliating or "low class" to do things that are practical but don't waste resources, like using free solar power to dry clothes, or growing our own veggies. People get their homes foreclosed on here for growing vegetables in public instead of hidden in the back yard, because it lowers the property values (code for makes us look like we're in a lower class) if we can't afford to pay other people to grow our food for us.

I believe some states are working on legislation to prohibit homeowners associations from creating restrictions that require residents to waste resources, and hanging the laundry and growing vegetables should fall under that.

[noamnety]

65. we don't do such things in "civilized" communities

in "civilized" communities, we have a servant class to do our laundry ... or machines to replace the servants. It's considered poor breeding to do such tasks ourselves, at least in public.

in "civilized" communities, we use resources unnecessarily (at the expense of people living in developing countries) so as to maintain the public appearance of us not having to clean up after our own selves. "Civilized" people have others clean up after them.

That's the real offense. Nobody is really offended that they see a shirt hanging on a line, or a pair of underwear. Those are just pieces of cloth cut in certain patterns, inanimate objects. The "offense" is that we publicly did our own chores by hand - and not manly chores like mowing the lawn, but these are the lowest of the low chores - chores that women do (preferably immigrant women who aren't lily white).

If doing laundry was considered a man's job like chopping wood, we wouldn't be so humiliated by seeing the evidence of chores being done by the homeowners.

[Fumesucker]

68. I think it's some kind of law of nature that homeowners associations are invarably run

By the most flagrant assholes in the entire neighborhood.

It *never* fails, which is why if you want your life micromanaged and made a living hell by flaming douchnozzles, buy a home in a neighborhood with a HOA.

[dusmcj]

69. maybe she should hang her laundry wearing a corset, hose and pumps

and see how that works for her neigh-bors.

A nation of candyasses.