From PlaceShakers and NewsMakers — Zoning Our Way to HOA Insanity

... [P]erhaps the smallest, most local form of governance — one that over 60 million Americans routinely submit themselves to — is the home owners association (HOA). And lately, HOAs haven’t exactly been getting great press in our collective efforts to build a better world.

Like the whimsy of chalk drawings on the sidewalk? Your HOA doesn’t. Want to make a show of patriotism? Take it somewhere else, rabble rouser. Got a hankerin’ for fresh veggies or just like to spend some time tending the garden?No can do.

So what happens? Ironically, we end up appealing to higher forms of government, just so we can gain permission to hang the clothes out to dry. The anti-local.

That’s not the way strong, resilient communities get built. Read more: Zoning Our Way to HOA Insanity | PlaceShakers and NewsMakers