On 7/31/13 5:10 PM, wrote:
On Wed, 31 Jul 2013 16:48:20 -0400, "F.O.A.D." wrote:

On 7/31/13 4:34 PM, wrote:

I don't think growth is a good thing but nobody listens to me
The gated community thing came here from rich people coming down from
up north.
They say they are coming here to "get away from it all", then they
bring it "all" with them.
These are homogeneous communities of like thinking 50 and 60
somethings coming here with a pocket full of cash they made up there.
The politicians can't cash in on it fast enough.
Our impact fees are a lot bigger than that but it doesn't mean much in
the price of a half million dollar house. Their HOA fees are more than
that every year. Some of these places also expect you to spend almost
that much at the country club and will bill you whether you do or not.
At the club my wife manages the minimum is $500 a month and they are
the cheap seats compared to some around here.

I am real happy that most of this goes on East of US41. West of me is
a wildlife/aquatic preserve for miles. I can avoid 99% of the clutter
in my daily travels. In the boat, we can poke around in the mangroves
for hours and not see more than a small fishing boat now and then
plugging the edges for red fish.

These are the people I volunteer with

http://www.dep.state.fl.us/coastal/sites/estero/





Heheh. Our HOA fees are $200 a year, which covers the cost of cutting
the lawns in the common areas and the electric bill (and bulbs!) for the
lights on the brick entrance sign.

Yep, same here ($205) but that also includes a boat ramp and the
shelter in the park.



Ours used to include a nasty letter from the HOA if you parked your boat
in your driveway for more than a few days, but then so many households
here got trailerboats, the HOA gave up on that one.

We have a first class boat ramp just a few miles from here. Well, more
than one, actually.