Nothing amongst neighborhood politics is more contentious than what a homeowner can do within their property, especially if it threatens the cohesion of their respective neighborhoods. Homeowners have gotten away with a variety of things across the United States, but home gardens, strangely enough, have frequently drawn the ire of city governments and homeowner’s associations.
There has been no shortage of news stories of homeowners being reported by neighbors or the cities themselves getting involved to take down community gardens, and it’s a uniquely American problem. In particular, neighborhoods that are under HOAs tend to discourage home gardens due to these gardens violating the cohesion of the neighborhood. Many HOA’s desired to maintain a certain collective look, neighborhoods that have identical lawns and have the appearance of an idyllic and peaceful area.
For many HOAs and homeowners, the suburban aesthetic is an important one, and unfortunately, home gardens upset that cookie-cutter aesthetic. Many see home gardens as unruly and ugly, in addition to the negative association with home gardens to the poor, not to mention the wildlife that is often attracted when growing food. It is an unfortunate reality, but many wealthy Americans see growing food as an absolute necessity, a thing that someone does when they are in a dire situation.
The polarization of home gardens sets a dangerous precedent, with so many towns and cities within food deserts and high costs of food. Growing food should be a right that everyone has. Home gardens help increase the keep citizens from overreliance on corporations for groceries. They can also break away from the need to keep up with the upkeep of these cookie-cutter lawns that are known to cause lasting environmental damage, being a financial burden to maintain.
