Actually the most entertaining and best informed commentary is from the pro-chicken people! The nay-sayers sound small, limited, boring, uneducated and afraid of everything different than themselves. Perhaps those are the newspaper's targeted readers, the ones with time on their hands to sound off about how they want the world to be...
But I feel for people in HOA's. At times I am a Very Tired Working Mom, and the thought of living in a maintenance free, easy environment where my hardest decision is the fragrance of my bubble bath GETS REAL APPEALING!!!! Especially when my painful shoulder feels more important than my manners! I believe the boundaries of people paying for that stress-reduced environment ought to be respected. The rest of society gets a lot more colorful, with jagged edges, rusty old cars, non-square lawns and sometimes live chickens, out here in the great bigger world, but for the people paying for simplicity, plain green lawns (maintained by hired help) and silent neighbors probably deserve what they want, and should be respected for the time and work they put into their home environment.
I currently don't live there, so there's no reason to bother me about it, I'm way over here outside the HOA life. My home is over 110 years old and practically begs for gardens with chickens. But I think after my next heart attack, when I'm no longer able to be the colorful, gardening, chicken lovin nut that I (legally) am, if I put my hard earned money into the lovely, simple lifestyle I just pray the young lady who rehomed my last noisiest rooster doesn't move in nextdoor. There's a time and a place for everything.
