___ fences make ___ neighbors
It’s good fences, right? That’s what it says in Frost’s poem, at least—though Mending Wall is hardly an endorsement of fences.
Perhaps we should define “good” when using this phrase. If the term refers to privacy, I suppose that depends on the neighborhood, after all.
But privacy isn’t all that a fence provides; it also provides visual boundaries that can used to enhance a property’s aesthetics (think “white picket” here). It can also detract from the aesthetic. Case in point: the modified barrier separating me and my next door neighbor. It’s comprised of the standard six-foot divide that the developer installed, and extended by a variety of boards, all of different heights.
Supposedly, this is to keep the neighbor’s dog from jumping, but given its age and size, I’m a bit skeptical that this feat is even possible (and he didn’t manage it in the first two months of living here).
Nonetheless, I’m at a loss of what to do; I’m not the only neighbor annoyed by the change in scenery, and I hear that I can report this as a violation, but our neighborhood hasn’t really connected as a community, and the family just reclaimed this property from foreclosure.
Perhaps it’s time to grow vines.
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most fences are missed design opportunities. So most fences aren’t good. I don’t know what that says about neighbors.
But clearly if Mike Oz posted a Worst Fence of the Week, this would be on it.