The Growth Of Private Communities

Private housing associations with covenants, conditions and restrictions are setting the rules that many middle-class Americans have live by. What is the impact of the growth of planned communities on the nation? Should we be concerned?

1 minute read

September 5, 2001, 8:00 AM PDT

By Abhijeet Chavan @http://twitter.com/legalaidtech


"Private housing associations increasingly lay down the laws that middle-class Americans live by. What are they doing to the country?...In many of the fastest-growing parts of America, development is being driven by 'master-planned communities' of one sort or another...Some residents have to cough up for maintaining the roads, pavements and street lights, looking after the parks and providing security. A maximum size for dogs?usually 30lbs?is increasingly common. Leisure World, California, has its own television station. The proliferation of [covenants, conditions and restrictions ] is driven by the trend towards master-planned communities...where the developer tries to create not just a cluster of homes but a way of life."Article examines the growth of planned communities and including communities designed for particular activities.

Thanks to Kevin Hammond

Tuesday, September 4, 2001 in The Economist

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