Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Clothes Lines

[Sharon Villines (sharon]

On Jul 17, 2006, at 10:26 AM, eileen mccourt wrote:

> Paso Robles, CA has a rule against clotheslines that are visible to the
> street, which I think many suburban cities do.  Since we are in the 
> city
> limits, we have to follow that rule.

When we first moved in several people wanted a clothesline and were so 
excited at the prospect of not using dryers and having their clothes 
smell "sun fresh." Since I had spent my teenaged years helping with the 
laundry every Saturday using wringer washer and hanging several bushel 
baskets (remember those?) out to dry was not at all excited about this. 
I was coming off a decade of  living in buildings in Manhattan that 
didn't allow washers and dryers in units. I was excited to have a 
washer and dryer in my unit. I wasn't about to give it up for a 
clothesline.

What really stopped the clothesline, aside from not really having a 
good place for one, was a neighbor's remark. I was showing her around 
she was admiring the laundry room on the commonhouse. I said we do have 
this but many people want to put up a clothes line outside the laundry 
room door. She immediate bristled. "Not in this neighborhood." She was 
sure the white trash had landed.

A few people occasionally put things to dry on racks on their balconies 
but no one really wants to be treated to their neighbor's underwear 
flapping in the wind.

Sharon
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Sharon Villines
Takoma Village Cohousing, Washington DC
http://www.takomavillage.org