Do I ever have some neighbours that I would like to recommend for an award for like the worst front yards in the City. I have a rental property next door that I have cut the lawn on and watered to keep it looking lived in. A young family across the street haven’t cut their lawn this year or given it a drop of water.

But then how can people care when the boulevards in most of our City are not maintained. There is a strip mall at the corner of Ospika and Massey Drive that all it has on it is last winters gravel. And its not the only one.

The merchants down town are no exception. They want tax dollars to beautify the down town but are to lazy to clean the snow in winter and at least hose off the area in front of their shops. Some of the trees that our money was used for are in sad shape for lack of water.

Most people in our City are not even aware of a bylaw that requires you to maintain your property. Phone the City and complain and the first thing they will do to cover their own butt is to tell the offender who complained and then you become the big as***ole in the neighbourhood.
Cheers

most of my neighbours are against me due to strata issues that they will probably complain about how my garden looks. Put alot of effort to make it pleasing to my roomate and I. At least I am satisfied with my garden. Greenest in the complex.

Way to go DPJ. I know I have made all thesa disparaging remarks but my back yard is my pride and joy which I enjoy daily. It is amazing how people can spend hundreds of thousanfs of dollars for a home and then not think to enhance it for their own joy.

Cheers

I would like to nominate one of these from Johannesburg, South Africa. They do not have to worry about neighbours complaining about the state of their private property. :-)

http://i28.tinypic.com/2w5rudx.jpg

Of course, Granville St. has sort of the same effect. :-)

http://i27.tinypic.com/dyra0l.jpg

Are you telling me Gus that my neigbours would be happier in SA.

But we do not live in SA. As I have pointed out we have bylaws that regulate the appearence of our property.
Cheers

bylaws??? with no clout to do anything. And why would you want your yard to look better?? So they can can tax you higher? There are no incentives to keeping up your yard---only taxes. Personally, I don't give a hoot what my neighbors yard looks like- - - the worse it looks, the lower my taxes. Sad isn't it? How about a tx cut for a good looking yard?? Then the slumlords would cut the grass too.

Taxes are based on the economic value of your house. Landscaping plays a very minor roll in the value of a home. It would only count when you try to sell it. If its been poorly maintained you would probably have to drop the price a lot more.

Good neighbours are aware of the appearence of their neighbourhood and if they arent its their loss not mine. Its called "community pride"
cheers

"we have bylaws that regulate the appearence of our property"

Yes, but they are pretty loosey goosey. :-)

We were house sitting for a friend a few weeks ago. The houses are very close together, you know those two storey houses in the newer subdivision. The lawns of both houses look very manicured.

So the neighbour came over and informed us that our friend likes to keep his lawn cut to the same height they do. In other words, they had cut their lawn and we were not right out there with the lawnmower to measure the height and make sure that our lawnmower was set to the same height and commence cutting.

It is one thing to have good looking yards, it's another thing to become a neighbourhood clone.

Okay, all together now, 8:10, time to leave for work. We all have to have our cars off the driveway at the same time.

Of course, no one is allowed to have a vehicle in the driveway that is older then 4 years. And nothing that costs less than $35,000. And none of these funny colours - only white, silver and black.

Ticky tacky houses all in a row, is it? LOL

Just in case you forgot the lyrics.

Little boxes on the hillside
Little boxes made of ticky tacky
Little boxes
Little boxes
Little boxes all the same
There's a green one and a pink one
And a blue one and a yellow one
And they're all made out of ticky tacky
And they all look just the same
And the people in the houses all go to the university
And they all get put in boxes, little boxes all the same
And there's doctors and there's lawyers
And business executives
And they're all made out of ticky tacky and they all look just the same
And they all play on the golf course and drink their martini dry
And they all have pretty children and the children go to school
And the children go to summer camp
And then to the university
And they all get put in boxes, and they all come out the same
And the boys go into business and marry and raise a family
And they all get put in boxes, little boxes all the same
There's a green one, and a pink one
And a blue one and a yellow one
And they're all made out of ticky tacky
And they all look just the same

Here is the "front yard" everyone sees when they enter PG from the east along first avenue.

http://i30.tinypic.com/mv23hh.jpg

This kind of "highway" front yard blight is the real problem we have in this city and putting pride back into MY city that I can do very little about. Yet City Bylaws can deal with this matter from the point of view of requiring sight obscuring fences in those locations. If they cannot get compliance, then they can go and plant something on the city property part. Other cities do it, why not us.

This has been like that ever since I came to this city. Decade after decade our City has not had the same vision I have had.

Is it so difficult to get from that reality to this reality? A simple cedar hedge. Surely that is not too much to expect!!!
http://i30.tinypic.com/1zo7tc4.jpg

All our property values would go up in this city because we could all be proud to live in a city that cares about the image we present to our visitors.

And then they had the nerve to move the tourist info cantre to 1st Ave.

Pinewood sub was the last division where the city stopped providing trees for th boulevards. Look at the Miller addition how attractive these streets are .Even those ticky tacky house start to blend in.

The problem with the new sub divisions there are these massive homes and no front yard . All you have is garages and concrete driveways. The die has been cast so we have to live with it. So good luck with the nominations for the great garden show
Cheers