golf "communities"

THESE THINGS ARE EVERYWHERE ! CLICK HERE TO CHECK SOME OF THEM OUT...

The big question is - why did it take so long?

I suppose it's a natural - build suburban homes attached to golf courses... Wow! They're just as convenient as an attached garage! Now homeowners can live their isolated lifestyle and tee up any time they want!

AWESOME !!

Is it status? Is it a half-baked manifestation of the agrarian dream - where the greens of the golf course crudely represent the open plains of the perfect west? (Maybe we can go west forever!)

When one lives in a golf course housing development, I imagine one must feel like they are a pioneer, taming the undiscovered country. Why else would the owners of these things drive enormous off-road vehicles (now how's that for a stereotype)? What about the names that these developments get? Like "Evan's Green at the Farms of Westwood Towne Centre?" I mean, who is falling for this crap?

Apparently a lot of people. In the past 10 years, Golf "Communities" (emphasis on the quotes - to provide a sense of irony) have become enormously popular. That's a lot of broken windows due to stray golf balls.

In reality, these things are just another type of gated community. And, guess what, people... gated communities are harmful to our society. Why? Well, if you have to ask, you'll probably have a hard time understanding. In this case however, the "gates" are not so literal. In golf "communities," the gates take the form of the invisible-dog-fence of exclusivity. If one feels too guilty to keep the "bad element" out with blatantly obvious means (iron gates), one can simply do it with snobbery, exclusion, and distance.

What are people getting for all the money they shell out for these houses? Sometimes the construction quality is good, but often it is run-of-the-mill, approaching poor. The design of the spaces is usually uninspired - right out of the builder's book of standard floor plans. Worst of all, the developments are typically distant from urban centers, built on land that was previously undeveloped, or used for farming. Obviously, this adds to the problem of urban sprawl.

When are people going to realize that there is no dignity in these places? Or to be more accurate, no "real" dignity... it is packaged "class," packaged dignity - like the kind you see on television. When you move into a golf course housing development, you are moving into an illusion... an image of success, an image of a country lifestyle, an image of nature, an image of freedom.

Don't be fooled. You've just purchased another packaged commodity, right off the shelf. There are hundreds of "communities" JUST LIKE YOURS all around the country. It's just like buying a car, just like buying a twinkie, just like buying a new cel phone. It's just a product...

... or maybe the product is you.