Resources > Get Used to It!
Get Used to It!
Yards
BLOCK WALLS
Many yards tend to be somewhat small because land is very expensive here. It's expensive because, surprisingly, there is a shortage. Although the city is surrounded by an abundance of vacant land, it is all federal or state owned, and there are strict guidelines in place which limit the number of acres they may sell at auction each year.
During the real estate boom of the mid 2000's, the demand was much greater than the number of acres available for sale, which led to sky-high land prices. Now that the boom is over, prices have dropped, but are still by no means cheap.
Block walls surround virtually every house built in the last couple of decades. Occasionally, builders got creative and used some other kind of fence, but there's almost always a clear boundary.
The original purpose of the walls was to act as a sound barrier between a residential area and the busy street on the other side of the wall. But then builders began extending the wall from the back of the property to the front, thereby fully isolating each property.
In some subdivisions such as golf communities, a see-through fence is used along the back edge of the proeprty, so as not to obstruct the view of the course. A handful of new communities have begun using see-through fences, or have done away with the fence altogether, to promote a sense of community by not barricading the residents from their neighbor, but these types of communities are rare.
DESERT LANDSCAPING
In order to cut down on water consumption, residents are encourage to remove sod, and replace it with artificial turf, rock, or at least desert fauna which can survive on small amounts of water.
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POOLS
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