Gated Communities?

[Mo_Gearhead]

The shooting case in Florida has me contemplating Gated Communities.

While I enjoy living where I need binoculars to see my neighbors, I know many people love the urban/city life and crave the closeness of other people, HOA’s and the implied security of such environments.

When I visit cities/towns that have Gated Communities, I am often puzzled by the layouts. One that I can think of has a man sitting in a “guard shack” at its only vehicle entrance. He asks you the reason of your visit, appears to write that in some logbook and gives you a colorful card to display on your dash, opens the gate and lets you in - you later drop the card in a box upon leaving. The amusing part of this whole game of “supposed security” is; the entire perimeter is un-fenced. ANYONE could walk onto the property from three sides - or attack by boat from the side that is bordered by a lake. Hilarious.

I have, of course, also seen Gated Communities that have large rock walls, or tall, ornate and costly steel fencing that do indeed surround the entire complex. Many seem to have just a keypad (no guard shack) that owners use to open the gates.

My questions are: Since these communities ( I assume ) are considered private property, when a fire occurs or when the police are dispatched, do they have the “codes” to open the gates?

How are plumbers, repair men, UPS deliveries, the mail service, etc. handled with the keypad-only situation?

And in the case of my first example, would a person that walks onto the property be considered a trespasser, if he wanted to walk the golf cart path for exercise or go into the clubhouse for a beer and a sandwich?

Anyone living in a Gated Community care to comment?

[Hugh R]

25 home HOA, gate with key pad, garners housekeepers have one code, kids have another code which changes annually or so. Not a security gate but a privacy gate. No common property,the property lines extend to the middle of the street, with easements for all HoA members across the street. I'm the prez, no one else wants to do it. Low key, and works well. We are an HOA out of necessity,as we are om a private road, and need to fund thrash, road repair and the gate. Ups has the gate code, USPS has their own key, sheriff and fire have. Knox box (key).

[Zeke]

I've worked in many gated communities. Not in any order:
Fire and police have a bypass but they wait for the gate as you do. Same with mail, etc. although there may be a main mail box at the entrance.
Service people call the house where they have an appt and the owner opens the gate remotely with their phone.
A "clubhouse" would obviously be private and only serve on accounts, no cash.

What this does is keeps tabs on the houses. It would be difficult to case the place. And, no door bell ringers and throw away porch flyers and papers.

I don't like working in such places. It's not uncommon to see a line of trucks full of gardeners and trades at the gate at 7:00 am. Takes a while. And that's one more benefit, no one works before the gate lets them in. Some don't open until 7:30 and don't allow noise until 8.

[romad]

Gated communities are one thing, but they is also some kind of association that dicate what cars you can drive, when to mow your yard, when you can have the garage door open, size and shape of your mail box, and what pets you can own. No thanks...... who thrives on this crap is a mystery to me.

[VaSteve]

I live in a non gated but HOA community. I like preventing the neighbors from doing things i'd likely do myself...having 50 cars for instance.

I like having neighbors around for my kids' sake.

I won't live in another community like this howeever. Its not low key...the pres of the HOA is a wanna be something...he's on the HOA who's who on the web. No kidding.

[nostatic]

Never have lived behind gates or with an HOA. And hopefully never will.

[GH85Carrera]

My neighborhood is not gated but there are several in the area. I like the HOA that says you are not allowed to park a boat or RV in your driveway long term. For a weekend it is OK, but no long term storage. No junk cars allowed. No parking long term on the street. Park in your own driveway or garage. If you don't like those rules don't buy a house there.

[JavaBrewer]

Hit or miss...mostly miss. I live in a gated community going on 10 years now and my prior 3 homes only 1 was not in a gated HOA. I appreciate HOA rules regarding maintenance and controlling community aesthetics which protect us from homeowners who refuse to water their lawn, keep 10K potted dead plants in the yard and paint their home a shade of Pepto-Bismol pink. The negatives, which can be substantial, are directly related to how active the HOA is. Fortunately our HOA is lacking in "Nazi" like members so it's pretty peaceful here unlike the HOAs of my past.

The gate simply limits the street traffic. It is not a security device. YMMV.

[Rick Lee]

We have a ton of them here in the Phoenix area. I think they offer a grossly false sense of security. When we were shopping for a house, we often needed a gate code to get into the neighborhood. I was usually coming on my bike, wife was coming from work in her car and our realtor (Eric Coffey) was coming in his car. Eric usually had the gate code on the MLS printout, but I almost always either rode my bike through the pedestrian gate on the sidewalk or followed another car in. My wife usually called from the gate to ask the code or have us walk in front of it to make it open or she also followed another car in. Any somewhat determined thief would have no problem at all getting in. Other than being a giant "keep out" sign, I really don't see what a gated community offers in terms of added security. The only way they keep me out is if I was planning to casually drive or ride through to look at the neighborhood. Usually, I just skipped it if I didn't get behind some other vehicle going in. I have the gate codes for the few friends I have here who live in such communities. I highly doubt anyone has kept from being robbed because of a gated community.

[Groesbeck Hurricane]

I remember the "estates" gated community a co-worker of mine lived in. He loved it. Had to have five or more acres, homes had to be specific size ranges, so many car garages, so many bathrooms, only a specific type of construction and exterior facade allowed within a specific range of colors, no fencing allowed, no animals other than inside only cats and some very specific breeds of dogs (mutts apparently were not allowed), only able to do things outdoors during certain periods, had to have so much in forest and so much in lawn, no livestock.......

Oh, they were called something like Black Horse Equestrian Acres and had horses and barns all over the front gate and entrance. Yeah, no horses were allowed.

I thought the place idiotic. Guess it is why I don't live with hoas.

[URY914]

Was Stepford gated?

[RWebb]

Originally Posted by nostatic

Never have lived behind gates or with an HOA. And hopefully never will.

Bingo.


gated "communities" are for those who cannot handle real communities

[ErVikingo]

Down here you don't have much choice about that.

[Zeke]

Originally Posted by romad

Gated communities are one thing, but they is also some kind of association that dicate what cars you can drive, when to mow your yard, when you can have the garage door open, size and shape of your mail box, and what pets you can own. No thanks...... who thrives on this crap is a mystery to me.

There are whole cities like that. Google Irvine CA.

[aigel]

Some towns publish crime maps. If you analyze a map, you will clearly see a significant reduction (95%) of burglaries and other property crime in gated communities if they are in problem areas adjacent to regular neighborhoods. What I am saying is that they do deter crime significantly, if you are in a pretty rough area.

That said, they always remind me of the movie "The Truman Show". I have had the option to live in them and couldn't get myself to do so. Here in CA they usually are very new, the lots are tiny, everything looks the same and there usually is no mature tree in the whole complex. You also are so close to your neighbors that you could shake their hand out of your bathroom window or grab food off their plate when they are in their "yard" for a bbq.

That's my impression.

G

[flipper35]

Across the county road from us is gated in the wintertime, but that is only to keep the livestock in when they graze. I don't think I could live with a HOA unless it was a politically incorrect one. Maybe make it a rule you had to own at least one sports car, couldn't have a house the same as the neighbor, must own a family freindly dog...

[azasadny]

Around here, the "gated communities" are named after the animals that were displaced (Pheasant Ridge, Beaver Creek, etc... and other such BS). Me and my neighbors are the folks who were kicked out of HOA's. Hey, we have to live somewhere!!

[Shadetree930]

I did not care for the gate. It was a PITA for everyone involved. Guests, Pizza, Cleaning Lady, and most important ..... ME.

If someone wanted in they could gate surf off someone who did have the code. I resented the stop n go exercise just to get to my home. Oh sure it looked all hoity - toity ... but puleeze ... security .... I think not.

We eventually moved 'outside' the gate (but same Country Club) ..... one of the driving rationales was the PITA factor of that efffing gate.

[azasadny]

It's called "security theater"...

[jorian]

My neighbour and I have a gate and a shared driveway. I call it "The Compound", a la the Kennedys. We have a creek that runs under the driveway. Named that Chappaquidic naturally.

Love the privacy a gate affords and its one more defense against property crime and crimes of opportunity in particular. Not really the same as a GC but I sure like it.