Oxfordshire HOA

I see that you are trying to create a website to allow the community to stay connected for social events etc...BUT it would be nice if we had someone that was just as interested in helping to maintain the appearance of our community. 

Let me start at our entrance...I have to say that it looks much better than it has in  many years...BUT it does not look like a $300,000 community by no means!  We have (I'm guessing) what seems to be a new home that they have been trying to build for almost a year...weeds up to your knees.  Just a drive further, you have a rental property with weeds growing through the cracks in the driveway/curb along with 20 cars parked all over the place...go just one more house and you have a homeowner that was interested enough to put the "social" sign in their yard that doesn't know how to edge their lawn...go down the street a little more, you have people mowing their lawn and haven't learned how to blow their lawn clippings out of the street, as well you will find a white van that is broken down and has been sitting in the same place for YEARS...another block you will find what appears to be a broken down truck sitting on "littleton ct" all day & all night for weeks...I could go on and on...I don't see the CCR's posted on the website you have created, which clearly state "no overnight parking on the street".

I understand that people volunteer their time, which I have the same chance to do BUT I can assure you I would not fit in with your little click...since you are more interested in "drinks on the drive" then reminding homeowners of the little things that make such a huge difference in the appearance of our community. 

You take the time to write a two page newsletter, and not one time do you remind the community about any of the items above. 

Thanks for reading...and I'm sure I have wasted my time, but at least I hope I have given you something to talk about while you are at your little "drinks on the drive".

OH...one last thing...may I suggest that you do your next "drinks on the drive" at Crown Hill & Twin Falls, so that you can enjoy the dog that constantly barks.

Janette Parker

I think a bigger problem than any that you cite are people who are constantly at war with their neighbors. Fortunately we don't have a lot of that in Oxfordshire but there is some and when it rears its head the damage is far greater and more lasting than an occasional barking dog or a few grass clippings that usually blow away fairly quickly. One of the reasons we bought our house here when I retired 16 years ago is that Oxfordshire has people of all ages, including kids. That means there are sure to be plenty of dogs and a fair amount of noise. As a neighborhood geezer,  I not only don't object to any of that I actually enjoy it. If I didn't I would have bought in one of those geezer ghettos that some in my demographic prefer. 

I am fortunate to have terrific neighbors, most of whom are a good deal younger than I. They've been very willing to help when I need it as Father Time slows me down. Just yesterday, one of the neighborhood kids who was born after we moved here but is now in his teens showed up in my yard to ask if I needed help with a ladder I was putting away. I didn't but it was nice of him to ask. When my wife had a stroke nearly two years ago and our lives were very upheaved, several of my neighbors pitched in to keep my lawn mowed and provide other forms of assistance, all without asking or being asked. When we finally moved back into our own house after living with our older son while my wife recuperated some of them sent food over, obviously hoping to spare my wife the ordeal of eating my cooking.

Over the years we've watched a lot of neighborhood kids grow from little preschoolers to poised and polished college graduates and we've enjoyed it all. They feel almost like family to us.

Those are some of the things I like about Oxfordshire. The few things I don't like pale in comparison.

Janette, I live on Crown Hill, just across from Twin Falls and I have detected no problem with "the dog that constantly barks." But if you have such a problem, why not just speak to the owner of the dog and tell him or her that the barking bothers you? Based on my own experiences, which include a couple of instances when I had to speak up about something a neighbor was doing, I would be willing to bet that the owner would be quick to quiet his barking dog. That's the way Oxfordshire people are. They are polite, pleasant and considerate, almost to the person.

My hope is that you can enjoy living in Oxfordshire as much as we do.  It really is a nice place to live.

Best wishes.

Ron Alridge