Don't forget the zero lot lines.

We have a "Cedar ridge" near here. First thing they did was cut down all the cedars on the development.

I draw maps of new developments for a living, and I have long said that the name of the subdivision indicates whatever they had to kill the most of in order to develop; Crane's Roost displaced all the cranes, Oak Harbor cut down all the trees. As for curvy streets, they make a subdivision much nicer to live in. Traffic is slowed, privacy is enhanced, noise abated. My state is a developer's dream... constant construction everywhere, but most of the better developers have realized the importance of trees in the neighborhood. Houses with trees sell a lot better, and for a lot more than treeless wastelands.

It is very possible to keep trees, shrubs and patches of natural meadow, with good planning it's being done more here in the UK. However I do agree with Winding roads are there to slow traffic down

I believe that HOA is the new way to spell Hell.

Yes! 100%... houses that are just boring and copies of other houses- zero trees and zero shade...hate it!

Well, the reason for the less than straight roads is the developers attempt to manage the speed of traffic in the subdivision. Straight roads of the length needed to accommodate the same number of homes would be an open invitation to speeding, racing, and likely the death of someone as a result. Living with the curved roads can actually (eventually) lead to fewer deaths. Of drivers, wildlife, children and pets.

It's really horrible in WNC....these new houses (starting at $350K in a place where people are lucky to make $10/hr!) are going to bake! The mountains are being rapidly denuded to build c**p for Boomers from other states (I'm one...no McMansion) while the locals are living in their cars!

Ok I LOVE trees and got quite a few in the front and back gardens, they're quite old and very tall and need maintenance not to have branches on roofs, neighbours or just to let sun in. It costs a lot, as in thousands, just to give them a trim. We can do it safely as they're at least 10-15 feet tall. I wouldn't allow to remove them unless they're dead/diseased but it's quite an expense

I hate developments without trees. I know why they cut them down, but when I bought a house last year and I bought the one with all the beautiful trees.

I will never live with an HOA. Trees!! Yes! Hate the urban feel of most subdivisions. I need green in my life

I just moved into a new build a year ago and these are the biggest problems: no trees, no grass (we’re also in a drought in UT rn so they won’t let us put in a lawn and our weeds r going crazy), no sprinklers (not that big of a deal to me, but it is to my neighbors) and construction all around us. The winding roads doesn’t bother me, becuase I like to explore around on my bike and enjoy the adventure but the no trees definitely do.

I hate them too, remind me of ant colonies.

You can't complain about no mature tress and the lack of straight roads at the same time.

I agree with you that cutting down all the existing trees is terrible. However (and depending on the situation), it's often necessary. First, in an urban subdivision, the developer will often be regrading an entire site in order to get "good drainage" - that is, so that there aren't dips and valleys and little hills on the site. Leaving such varied topography on an urban subdivision site can lead to drainage issues. This isn't an issue, by the way, in rural subdivisions where lots are larger - say 2 acres or so. But it is in urban areas where lots are typically about 6000 sq. ft. or so. Secondly, in most urban subdivisions, a below-ground drainage system (storm water system) will be installed. This invariably drops the local water table by 10 to 20 feet. Do that suddenly to a tree or a stand of trees and you invariably kill the tree. And a dead tree in an urban subdivision is, frankly, dangerous - and a liability. There's more - but I've run out of space to type.

Yes, this! My husband's father raised him to believe that large trees are bad because they make the house look smaller. FIL was born and raised in pre-WW II Great Britain, so maybe it was the fashion then.

People drive much faster on straight roads but otherwise you’re right about the rest

Loathesome. And they plonked down a big honkin' DAY CARE Center for them to stick their kids in, right down the road in what used to be a big cornfield.

I just bought a 1981 home, we have huge old Aspen and fir trees in the back yard that make it a forest oasis. The lot isn't huge but the trees make it magical and secluded. I really don't like the bare look of the new subdivisions either. Just lifeless.

I lived in a historic neighborhood and they managed and are managing to mow down every house for student housing or parking lots. These houses had character and personality and were from the 1940s-70s. It just makes me so sad and mad. No one who is born after 2022 will even know what once existed there, the beauty and the uniqueness.

New subdivisions have a lot of young families move in. The roads twist and turn to keep cars at slower speed. People get up to 40+mph on a stray away without realizing it. It's for the safety of the kids.

And we have 5 large ones currently being built right now. Cutting down the big trees is a thing!

My parents bought a big new hone in a large development in Texas. Where the eff are all the shade trees? Southeast Texas in the summer without shade trees? Duh! Also, those stupid twisting and roundabout road designs make chasing your own tail simple. I don't have time for tail chasing. I'm to busy looking for an effing shade trees!

These stupid developments are all over near where I live in MN. What's wrong with the simple grid pattern design? It's easy to navigate. It looks orderly. You don't need a few hundred new street names for all the extra looping and zig-zagging streets.

I would upvote this 1000 times if I could. There is supposed to be a law in Georgia that doesn't allow the treees to be clear cut. But the fine is a joke, and I'm not sure it's enforced anyway. I would rather see the uncut forest that used to be where the latest atrocity subdivision was put in that I have to pass.

Or having no yard anymore

This article is a joke

Everything you described and hate is the communist ideology. Literally.

Couldn't agree more!!!

Totally agree with the trees... Who wants to live in an area with no trees or no big trees?. The curvy road thing I understand. It's to keep people from driving through the neighborhoods as a pass through.

I have a major issue with only McMansions being zoned to be built in cities nowadays. You can fit a 3 bedroom, 1 bath home in 600 square feet so why must all homes be a minimum of 1500 square feet now? That's almost triple the amount of floorspace and a single person wouldn't need that much space and shouldn't be forced to spend an extra $100,000 to $300,000 to build something bigger than necessary. The cost to cool and heat large homes isn't worth it and people shouldn't be required by law to have to live above their means in order to own or build a home. It shouldn't be illegal to build a 1,000 square foot home in almost every major city's residential zones. 1,000 square feet is a 4 bedroom 2 bath home. That is more than adequate for any normal family. And considering the cost of inflation has made it impossible for person to support a family, governments shouldn't be allowed to force people to have to have 2 to 4 working adults in order to afford to live in a home affordably.

What are HOAs?

The reason for the roads being like that is to stop people from going too fast I'm pretty sure, or at least that's what I've been told

Not only is it cheaper to clear cut, but the heavy construction equipment often damages root systems, making the existing trees unstable and dangerous. They COULD build with more care but , well, money.

If the HOA is so bad, why do they have them?

The reason for no straight streets is that people tend to speed through them. This becomes very dangerous for pets, children, older folks, and anyone with a disability. It is also a noise nuisance. So, to nip this problem in the bud they make the streets curved.

I refer to all the curving roads as the spagetti bowl...

I CANNOT w these developments. And HOAs.