October 15, 2021

It's a tragedy really...

We have this one particular back road that is/was amazing.

In fact, nine times out ten in the good old days (pre-COVID) I would choose to go that route to and from work, even if it did add a few minutes to my "commute."  (Let's be real, my "commute" is laughable to most commutes). 

It was a deliciously winding road through the countryside with a few houses sprinkled here and there.  To drive down that road in either Spring or Fall was an absolute delight.

Well, about a year or so ago, while out for a Sanity Drive - you know, a drive with no destination but gets me out of the house and, depending on the day, possibly saves The Husband's life - I noticed a sign near one of the wooded areas  that declared a new housing development was going to be built.  I was kind of sad but figured the developer would want to keep the charm, plus I know how strict our town is on new developments, so I figured it would be ok.

Over the next several months, I noticed they removed a few trees to make way for the roads for the development.  I assumed that, much like our neighborhood, they would leave a good majority of the trees and tuck the development mainly out of sight behind the trees.

Imagine my utter shock and dismay when I was driving down this once delightful road to discover they had clear cut the ENTIRE parcel!  Not one, single tree was left.  And then the houses went up.

Now, I KNOW that a new development takes time to flesh out the landscaping, etc. before it actually looks nice.  I know this first hand.

But y'all, while these houses aren't the worst thing I've ever witnessed but, holy cow - they weren't houses that I (were I the developer) would want to be on full display either.  I wondered how this developer got away with this monstrosity.  Then I discovered that this development is just outside the town limits in an unincorporated area - and that's how they got away with it.

All of that isn't even the worst part of this story.

So a couple of days ago, while on a Sanity Drive, I happened down that road once again.  Guess what they've done?

Planted puny, anemic looking trees at the entrance of the development.  All evenly spaced apart.  So, they ripped out all of those glorious, mature trees just to plant other trees - trees that will take years to grow and will never be as majestic as the trees they ripped out.

And to think, this developer had a chance to tuck those houses, unobtrusively and out of the way, preserving the charm of this once beautiful road.  Instead, they chose to let greed take over in order to utilize every square inch of that development..

I guess I'm going to have to find another delightful, unspoiled road for my Sanity Drives since they effectively ruined this one for me for years to come.

20 comments:

  1. Sadly, this is what they call "progress". Aesthetics isn't profitable.

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  2. I hate when they tear out all the trees. There are some areas near me that are still pretty wooded, but a few have for sale signs along the road and I hate the thought of all those beautiful trees getting ripped out.

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    1. Yes, I am seeing for sale signs all over the place. I know that this area needs more affordable housing and support that BUT they really could have handled this better.

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  3. What a tragedy. I wish we could do something about this kind of development. Here we sometimes go out to a favorite hiking area to find that it's closed for logging. And destroyed for decades in the future. :-(

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    1. Yes, something really should be done. *sigh*

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  4. I will never understand why they take down mature trees. Wouldn't the homes hold more value if you built around the big, nice shade trees?
    Ughhh...so darn sad!

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    1. You'd think so but it's all about the almighty dollar.

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  5. What a terrible loss. This sort of mentality in developers is actually quite outdated and crude. I can't believe it was approved.

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    1. The fact that it is in an unincorporated area between our town and the next is how they got away with it.

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  6. I think it's done this way because it's much cheaper for them to bulldoze everything. It's such a shame though. I hope you find a new Sanity Drive.

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    1. I'm sure it is but cheaper doesn't equal better.

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  7. Oh the horror; oh the pain
    It makes me weep to hear this sort of stuff
    Often the trees they use are prone to disease as they are all alike; the quickly die with the right condition or bug.

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  8. UGH.

    You know where I live. Downtown is HUGELY historic. Even the business signs need to be approved. The sea shanties that still stand down on our biggest beach from the 1800's remain untouched because 1) History, and 2) no one can figure out who they belong to. Yet the bait shop that has stood square in the middle of the parking lot by the boat ramp since the 50's was refused their lease renewal. They are literally forcing them to close up after all this time and will bulldoze it for parking spaces.

    I loved visiting here when I was a kid. When I think back to when I would come here as a teenager to find the ever elusive rope swing in the pond with the island, and we'd drive for miles and miles until we found the dirt opening between the guardrails, I think how lucky I am to have that memory. Because now, it has literally been replaced by 15,000 homes (not a lie/exaggeration) and the only access now is through private property. Today's youth will never know the satisfaction of jumping into that completely contaminated pond, or making the stretcher from branches and beach towels because your friend forgot to let go and broke his hip when he hit the tree on the back swing and the ambulance couldn't make it in. *sigh*

    Anyhoo... so sorry about your road. The good ones are getting harder and harder to find.

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  9. Awww, what a shame. That's really too bad. Trees really make a neighbourhood, IMO

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  10. Booo! That is super frustrating! Hopefully the trees grow quickly and beautify the space again, but what a disappointment in the meantime!

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  11. Not one tree left?! That's wrong and makes me sad. I live in a subdivision where most of the original trees remain, with our houses smooshed in among them. It can be done.

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