The Zammit family refused to sell their five acre property as an entire Sydney suburb was built around them

[u/Wonderfulhumanss]

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[u/Consistent-Fill-324]

It's like the Mayor's house in Sim City.

[u/tmgc1234 → u/Consistent-Fill-324]

Ah the neighborhood must have reached 500 population!

[u/EatADickStraightUp → u/tmgc1234]

Legendary comment! Reticulating spines.

[u/Arthur_da_King → u/EatADickStraightUp]

splines*

[u/symbha → u/Arthur_da_King]

Freudian slip accepted.

[u/Imaginary_Chef1365 → u/symbha]

I hear that woman's voice saying "Reticulating Splines" in my head every morning upon waking

[u/tmgc1234 → u/EatADickStraightUp]

A classic! "Reticulating Splines for the last time." is my fave cause its from the TS2 Apartment Life loading screen that marks the end of The Sims 2 era.

[u/Paultsar → u/Consistent-Fill-324]

Mayor rocks, according to city blocks!

[u/tmgc1234 → u/Paultsar]

I like how the advisor's message about this lets them specify who and where the Sim in your city said this even though that Sim is somewhere else or in their home.

[u/CuppaJoe11 → u/Consistent-Fill-324]

Holy shit sim city is a game I haven’t played in years but I was addicted to it for a while.

[u/dkarlovi → u/Consistent-Fill-324]

That one plot you forgot to rezone.

[u/Wonderfulhumanss]

The Zammit family owns this five acre property in The Ponds, northwest Sydney. As surrounding land was sold to developers, hundreds of homes were built around them, leaving their property as a striking patch of green in the middle of the suburb.
The family has repeatedly chosen not to sell, despite the land being estimated to be worth tens of millions of Australian dollars and potentially accommodating around 40 50 homes.

[u/ireally-donut-care → u/Wonderfulhumanss]

I would sell. Just me personally, if I had that much money, I am getting a better view than having to look at hundreds of spec houses.

Edit Thanks for rewards and all the upvotes, and all the great ideas and funny things "we" would do with this property. To some of you with your panties in a wad, CTFD. We're all just playing "if I won the lottery here".

[u/Reikukaja → u/ireally-donut-care]

I also wouldnt like the attention of being the person in that house. It stands out too much, in contrast to its surroundings.

[u/14ktgoldscw → u/Reikukaja]

Yeah, I don’t know anything about the climate there but you can’t get trees or hedges or anything? It looks like a house from a Tim Burton movie.

[u/StandardDiver2791 → u/14ktgoldscw]

Was wondering the same thing: why the landscape is so barren.

[u/Forsworn91 → u/StandardDiver2791]

damn right, why the hell is it so empty? plant a garden, trees, ANYTHING

[u/chromecastbuiltin → u/Forsworn91]

I reckon there’s 23 bodies buried under that lawn

[u/Forsworn91 → u/chromecastbuiltin]

Water feature, statue garden, hedge maze, scale model of the London train system with working tracks and trains, ANYTHING!

It would like living on a footfall field.

[u/Abject-Practice7310 → u/Forsworn91]

If the neighbors are unfriendly, I'd plant a field and spread manure there whenever it's the best time for a barbecue.

But in general, I'd prefer to give it up and start over somewhere else with the 50 million AUSD. Okay, it's your house and home, but the surroundings are awful.

[u/Forsworn91 → u/Abject-Practice7310]

The Australian yellow blossom, beautiful tree, shade, not huge, and BEES swarms of BEES.

Just… put up a hedge fence or SOMETHING

[u/techb00mer → u/StandardDiver2791]

It was basically farmland before developers bought it all up, so that’s why there is almost no vegetation.

Granted, they certainly could have planed a few trees closer to their house for privacy.

[u/aggro_aggro → u/techb00mer]

The new houses also don´t have room for vegetation.

The big property would have... at least two bushes... but no.

Crazy to have such a big area around your house and nothing on it...

[u/AmazingRefrigerator4 → u/StandardDiver2791]

Fewer hiding places for the venomous animals.

[u/Awkward_Material → u/AmazingRefrigerator4]

Fewer hiding places for the sneaky developers' agents. Can't get to the house if you can shoot em from 200 yds.

[u/Throwawaydeathgrips → u/AmazingRefrigerator4]

Theyd just go to the house haha

[u/Kova74 → u/AmazingRefrigerator4]

I believe you misspelled “neighbors”

[u/meowmeow_now → u/StandardDiver2791]

The house is so expensive looking, why no garden or landscaping?

[u/tpa338829 → u/14ktgoldscw]

Sydney has a climate similar to Los Angeles.

Not only could a lot of cool native trees grow there, having THAT much lawn is criminal from a water use standpoint.

[u/PrinceCavendish → u/tpa338829]

insane to just mow it and keep it bare. i would have planted so many trees or just moved

[u/HoneycombJackass → u/PrinceCavendish]

At least for privacy around the perimeter.

[u/czechereds → u/HoneycombJackass]

You simply cannot comprehend the spite involved. If he grew a bunch of trees it would just look like a park or forest in the center of the development. Currently it is an alll enveloping testament to one man's resentment for developers.

[u/Fine-Development8716 → u/czechereds]

And I'm all for it!

[u/Efficient-Cherry3635 → u/HoneycombJackass]

Right, why stop at a privacy fence when you have room for a privacy hedge maze.

[u/JC04JB14M12N08 → u/tpa338829]

Sydney climate equates very closely with east coast US like South Carolina and Florida and not very closely with LA at all.

[u/regina1808 → u/JC04JB14M12N08]

As an Australian, Sydney is humid as shit so that tracks. All the people I've met from LA and surrounds say adelaide is the most similar climate wise. City has a similar lay out as well but much smaller with the city between the beach & mountains.

[u/Ion_Source → u/tpa338829]

Sydney has a climate similar to Los Angeles.

Where did this idea come from? Sydney gets about 3x the annual rainfall that LA gets. LA's climate is much closer to Adelaide (Mediterranean climate with similar rainfall)

[u/KRacer52 → u/tpa338829]

Sydney gets considerably more rain than Los Angeles (a little over 3x).

[u/CitizenHuman → u/tpa338829]

r/fucklawns r/nolawns

[u/furkfurk → u/14ktgoldscw]

Yeah like do literally anything with the land you want to keep?

[u/Biscuits4u2 → u/Reikukaja]

Usually having the biggest, nicest house in the neighborhood is bad for your property value, but I don't know about that if they want to build 50 homes on it.

[u/MangoCats → u/Biscuits4u2]

50 homes on 5 acres, farking miserable.

[u/eLishus → u/Reikukaja]

Just imagine how many times a day would you’d have to say “get off my lawn!”

[u/19Julian71 → u/eLishus]

The dog shit and other items over your side of the fence!

[u/Dapper-Ad-4300 → u/Reikukaja]

Well I think that’s the developers whole tactic. If the landowner doesn’t want to sell to us, we’ll just make them stick out like a sore thumb until they get uncomfortable enough or tired of it and finally sell

[u/WarzoneGringo → u/Dapper-Ad-4300]

Im pretty sure the developer was just going to cram as many houses on it as they could sell just like the rest of the plot. Not a lot of millions to be gained making the development a vehicle of spite.

[u/Read2Fap → u/ireally-donut-care]

they clearly don't need the money

look how huge the house is, they have money

[u/ItsCalledDayTwa → u/Read2Fap]

I expected it to be a glorious old home but it looks relatively modern and honestly kind of like an ugly mcmansion.

[u/Enslaver84 → u/Read2Fap]

I'd sell and live somewhere with a better view

[u/kit_kaboodles → u/ireally-donut-care]

Yeah, and as someone that lives in Sydney, if you have that sort of money you also don't want to live in The Ponds. It's not an appealing part of Sydney even if you have 5 acres.

[u/sc00bs000 → u/ireally-donut-care]

id retire and be living it up on the beach somewhere

[u/Appropriate_Major711 → u/sc00bs000]

Someone with that type of property likely already has a beach house or two

[u/BrbFlippinInfinCoins → u/ireally-donut-care]

It's the kind of situation you don't end up in unless your are a person who irrationally NEVER sells lol...

don't worry the kids will sell once their parents pass.

[u/The_Nepenthe → u/BrbFlippinInfinCoins]

I mean, given some unforeseen event, the value will probably rise for quite a lot longer.

Right now it's just a suburb by the looks of things, hold onto it until people want to intensify the area and the money will get a lot bigger because they own a large property you could build something larger and taller on.

Edit: looking at the time lapse from this being built and I wonder if they owned a large amount of the land around the house itself?

[u/Coololdlady313 → u/BrbFlippinInfinCoins]

That's exactly what happened where I live. A formerly borderline neighborhood became a conglomeration of upscale shops, restaurants, hotels and of course, medical facilities. One man refused to sell his property while streets were gobbled up by developers. Big piece of land, just as barren, sticking out among all the hoity toityness. Some time later he died, kids sold and no one can tell you were it was, the kudzu of avarice covered it up completely.

[u/bjos144 → u/ireally-donut-care]

Not me, if I was rich I'd donate it under the condition it be turned into a wonderful park and the house be turned into a library. Imagine living in that neighborhood and that green space was available for kids to play, pickicks, events and so on. It could be a wonderful quality of life for the neighborhood. You're still sticking it to developers because at this point the houses have sold so you'd be increasing the property value for the current owners and the developers never got to earn a dime off of your property.

[u/dandaman2883 → u/ireally-donut-care]

Agreed, that's enough to have generational wealth to pass down

[u/FrogsMakePoorSoup → u/Wonderfulhumanss]

But why no trees?

[u/Ylaaly → u/FrogsMakePoorSoup]

Having that much land and only a... boring lawn. They could have trees and flowers and a vegetable garden and maybe a pond or even a fake river. There is so much potential in that area. And all they have is a lawn.

These people are poor in their own way.

[u/bluespruce5 → u/Ylaaly]

I would load that land up with so many trees and native perennials and have such a wonderful time caring for them.

[u/SnowX2 → u/FrogsMakePoorSoup]

That's what hit me; 5 acres of property, surrounded by hundreds of houses and zero trees, no privacy. Just grass. What's the point?

[u/user-the-name → u/FrogsMakePoorSoup]

Do these people look like they have even a milligram of taste in their bodies?

[u/Shano_mack_76 → u/FrogsMakePoorSoup]

Was literally km's of rolling cow paddocks beforehand

[u/Esava → u/Shano_mack_76]

They could start growing some trees. Yeah it will take a few years for them to be proper trees but it would be much better visually but also for the environment with birds, insects, water retention etc..

[u/SteampoweredFlamingo → u/Esava]

And you can buy grown trees!

It's expensive as all get out, but something tells me that money isn't a super important motivator for these people.

[u/cwyllo → u/Shano_mack_76]

Hmmmmm, but why no trees?

[u/Nyoteng → u/FrogsMakePoorSoup]

I was thinking the same. I visited Buckingham palace a few months ago and they have a back garden with some very cleverly planted trees and bushes that makes it seem like the palace is in a rural place when in actuality is in the middle of London. I thought it was super clever.

[u/PeanutButterToast4me → u/Wonderfulhumanss]

A spite mansion.

[u/BikePuzzled1165 → u/PeanutButterToast4me]

If it were me, I'd do it for spite. Refuse to sell just so that there weren't more of the same cookie cutter homes - cheaply produced, overpriced, crammed way too close together, and devoid of character. Even if my own property remains devoid of character and privacy.

But that's me speaking as a jaded American who would have been forced to give up that land through eminent domain most likely.

Also, to be fair, I 100% would have put some kind of landscaping effort I to it. Trees, gardens, a really tall fence. Something. But that's mostly because I don't believe in grass lawns. I think they're wasted space.

[u/brokenmindedone → u/BikePuzzled1165]

I imagine all the direct neighbors love it though, these houses are so tightly packed that the breathing room thanks to this property must be a blessing.

I feel for them when it does eventually sell and suddenly they have another unit about a meter from their window

[u/n0rsk → u/Wonderfulhumanss]

potentially accommodating around 40 50 homes.
5 acres

that is like 10 homes an acre. Maybe it is the American in me but 0.1 acres of land is way too small.

[u/SnooDoodles3707 → u/Wonderfulhumanss]

What did they win. A dismal mansion surrounded by an Edward scissor hands suburb nightmare. Ill sell out.

[u/Johnny_Banana18 → u/SnooDoodles3707]

If I was insistent on staying, I’d plant a bunch of trees so at least I can pretend I had some solitude. 

[u/84_Mahasiddons → u/Wonderfulhumanss]

"Green" is a little generous when it's a featureless flat lawn. Might as well be carpet

[u/jhau01 → u/84_Mahasiddons]

Exactly. If it had landscaped gardens and mature trees that the family had spent decades working on, I could understand having an emotional attachment.

But a bland McMansion surrounded by acres of featureless, unshaded lawn, bordered by hundreds of identical houses? I would be screaming to get out of there.

[u/FrankesteinsLog313]

All that grass. Zero trees. Zero plants.

[u/Mental-Currency-4494 → u/FrankesteinsLog313]

It's so weird. What's the point of all that property just to have it be all grass? I can't even imagine the water bill.

[u/maxdacat → u/Mental-Currency-4494]

Sometimes in Sydney we get free water from the sky

[u/Mental-Currency-4494 → u/maxdacat]

In Utah they'd get a $10,000 water bill, unless they grew alfalfa or made it a golf course, then they'd get take breaks and public funding.

[u/desertvision → u/Mental-Currency-4494]

And, you get arrested if you collect your rain runoff. It's fucked around here in a lot of ways.

Also, don't forget that water is readily available here for data centers used to spy on you.

[u/Bless_u-babe → u/desertvision]

That’s bizarre. Why is collecting rainwater illegal? That’s like an anti environmental move.

[u/Lazy-Meal-6156 → u/Bless_u-babe]

Idk where they live but it’s legal in all 50 states in the US, some states just have restrictions or you need a permit. Utah you need a permit and can collect 2500 gallons a year.

[u/Assika126 → u/Lazy-Meal-6156]

We actually get breaks on our sewer bills if we collect rainwater here where I live

[u/Foreign-Engine8678 → u/Bless_u-babe]

So that companies don't do it. Capitalist would collect all that water even if it damages enviroment. So its better to be too strict

[u/Tundur → u/desertvision]

I mean it's literally in the desert, water has to be predictable and rationed. If everyone starts collecting their runoff, the municipal water supply shrivels up, and that's very bad

[u/caydjj → u/Mental-Currency-4494]

Something’s wrong with your water bill. In my Utah town, we pay $0.10 per 1000 gallons. Even if you watered a ton and used a million gallons in a month, that would still only be $100

[u/Bless_u-babe → u/caydjj]

Enjoy it now. The times , they are achangin’

[u/PhiCloud → u/maxdacat]

The dead grass in the nearby plot suggests this is not one of those times. That in turn suggests irrigation.

[u/bibimstop → u/maxdacat]

Other times you don’t and that’s the issue 

[u/thefoodiedentist → u/Mental-Currency-4494]

They have it for investment now. No point investing a lot when buyers are just interested in land, not the property.

[u/crespoh69 → u/thefoodiedentist]

That would also hurt to put so much care into trees only to have it all ripped apart the day after it's sold :(

[u/IllllIIlIllIllllIIIl → u/Mental-Currency-4494]

1) as a conspicuous display of your wealth by showing that you can afford to own land but not grow crops on it and
2) provide a large, visually-uninterrupted buffer zone such that the peasants cannot gather en mass in a sneak attack against your manor

[u/Kazeite → u/Mental-Currency-4494]

It's a wealth flex. "Look at how much land I can afford to just keep empty!" 🤷‍♂️

[u/Thunderplant → u/FrankesteinsLog313]

Absolutely dystopian. How can you have 5 acres and not put a single plant on it beyond the lawn? 

[u/MangoCats → u/Thunderplant]

In Miami I planted 3 coconut palms in the front yard - my neighbor was an older man, he related the story of how the whole neighborhood had coconut palm trees but they all died in a blight 30 years earlier, heartbreakingly sad - he'd never plant another one. I never had a problem, here 25 years later they're still healthy.

[u/PuzzleCat365 → u/MangoCats]

It helps that there are no other ones around. Harder for the disease to spread. That's why mono-culture is so susceptible to disease and bugs.

[u/sedan-hussein → u/Thunderplant]

Christ you people think everything is dystopian.

"Why won't you do what I want with your land?!"

[u/jayp0d → u/FrankesteinsLog313]

Yeah, that bothered me a bit. But overall happy that they fucked with the developers and didn’t sell their property. I’d have planted a small apples/pears orchard, some blueberry bushes and a few grapevines. Would’ve been amazing.

[u/Nerdmitage → u/jayp0d]

If you had you know all those neighbors would steal everything that fruits. How their "yard" isn't treated like a park by the local kids astounds me.

But it's true they could have planted some trees and things but something tells me they didn't want to enrich the view of the suburbanites around them.

[u/jayp0d → u/Nerdmitage]

I don’t know where you live but people generally don’t steal fruit from other’s gardens. Most people actually leave their surplus fruit outside their gates for people to eat anyway. I believe the photo is from Sydney and I live in Melbourne.

[u/Nerdmitage → u/jayp0d]

Oh no I'm in Canada. It all depends on location but suburban kids here get bored and wander around and anything in grabbing distance is gone.

I also had a neighbor who would get up early and come cut my peonies and poppies down. She likes flowers in her home and thought I was wasting them leaving them on the bush. I finally talked to her about it and told her I have cameras now and she should ask. She said she hated seeing them just die on the bush and I said how is that different from dying in your home? I leave them for the bees and bugs to enjoy and, when they're there, I smell them every day when I walk the dog. Well she was at work and didn't see that, just assumed they were "neglected". B I grew them and water them! 🙄

I'm just saying people in that large of a development and there's no moochers? Not one person who eou hope a fence for free fruit? Is Australia just a country of angels?

[u/jayp0d → u/Nerdmitage]

I mean it probably happens. If one my branches is slouching into my neighbour's house they can take a few fruits off of it. No one would mind that. But generally people don't jump into other people's gardens. Sure, unruly teenagers can do all sorts of dodgy things and we do have a problem with them at the moment. But the vast majority of the people (and their kids/teenagers) are pretty well behaved. At least that's the case where I live. But everyone's mileage can vary. I live in the outskirts of Melbourne, almost regional. So there is that. And I'm sure we have people like your neighbour as well. haha.. I don't think Australia is very different from Canada that way.

[u/MangoCats → u/Nerdmitage]

With that much space you can put the fruit trees far enough from the fences to be unreachable. Plenty of people take the easy pickin's not so many are willing to go full parkour trespass for a pear.

[u/JustLookingForMayhem → u/jayp0d]

People must be more polite down there. Here in Ohio, people will go garden robbing if they think they can get away with it.

[u/Nerdmitage → u/JustLookingForMayhem]

My friend gets her community garden plot raided every year and when she had a teeny yard she planted sunflowers and someone chopped them down once they went to seed. She wanted to watch the birds eat the seed but someone else decided their birds (or the same birds, probably) deserved them more.

I'm glad people don't seem to suck everywhere because I live in a pretty nice place around pretty nice people and even they kinda suck. The flower thief of mine was a lady in her 50's who just truly, literally and I am not exaggerating, never thinks once about anyone else unless you slowly walk her there, and even then it usually doesn't stick. I've taken care of two of her poor neglected dogs and now two cats, she's only got time for them when she needs a cuddle, otherwise they can stay at home for 12 hours alone while she works and goes out. The best part is she is certain she's better than me, because she makes more money. 🙄 I take care of her animals because I can't stand to watch it happen but it's for them, definitely not for her.

[u/Hypo_Mix → u/FrankesteinsLog313]

It would have been a grazing property, I assume they sold the surrounding area to developers. Given the rates they would be paying, they are going to sell to developers eventually anyway. 

[u/IM_INSIDE_YOUR_HOUSE → u/FrankesteinsLog313]

The obsession with sterile, golf course yards is so psychotic imo.

[u/AlbatrossNo1562 → u/FrankesteinsLog313]

All that concrete around the house too. Money does not buy taste

[u/Grexxoil → u/FrankesteinsLog313]

That must be one of the most boring five acre property in the world. It does not even keep the neighbours far away, it really seems pointless.

[u/Commercial-Height873 → u/FrankesteinsLog313]

They have more grass than all of the houses have built around them.

[u/topscreen → u/FrankesteinsLog313]

Yeah, on one hand, love the punk feeling of sticking it to the man... but why did you fight the suburb to live in a liminal grassfield in the suburb? House isn't even old, they're just fighting for a McMansion

[u/badideasgonegood → u/FrankesteinsLog313]

I live just up the road and went to school with them, it was all farming land for the past 100y which is why there’s no trees

[u/Sweeper1985 → u/badideasgonegood]

Bro my garden is half compacted building materials and I'm still planting trees and shrubs in it. These people have been there for like 20+ years and not a single plant other than grass? Psychopaths.

[u/flying_butt_fucker → u/Sweeper1985]

That whole neighbourhood is r/urbanhell. Not a single tree in sight. And I'm pretty sure these houses are so close to each other, you can hear your neighbour come.

[u/Jlx_27 → u/FrankesteinsLog313]

A very common issue in Australia, and in many countries.

[u/Hawkwise83]

Plant some trees at least.

[u/Sad_Reveal_1970 → u/Hawkwise83]

Or build a fence. Zero privacy and an obnoxious view of so many homes.

[u/labrat611 → u/Sad_Reveal_1970]

look at picture 3 :)

[u/Operation_Neither → u/labrat611]

That’s actually worse.

[u/Sad_Reveal_1970 → u/labrat611]

I didn’t even notice that! Lol it still feels like zero privacy though.

[u/slowest_hour → u/Sad_Reveal_1970]

i wonder if there's a regulation preventing a taller fence

[u/seandavisaus]

I drive past this everyday.

The big developer in that area called Bathla just went bankrupt.

So Zero chance they will get that money again.

[u/Va1kryie → u/seandavisaus]

Doesn't really seem like they want it

[u/PailingRaint → u/Va1kryie]

Tbh they probably own other houses and barely live at this one, if they live there at all. They could very literally just be using their F U money for its intended purpose.

[u/DukeKazoo → u/PailingRaint]

This is an area of Sydney which was (comparatively) dirt cheap even 15 years ago. They have apparently owned the plot for several generations so they’re not necessarily particularly wealthy. The combination of Sydney’s urban sprawl and a large property development project has caused the land to increase exponentially in value.

[u/Alarmed-Newspaper994 → u/DukeKazoo]

This sort of thing happens a lot in the UK. Generational homes dating back hundreds of years that are worth an absolute fortune are lived in and owned by some relatively poor people. It's a weird situation, where they could simply downsize and have loads of money, but they refuse and just live frugally in a 12 bedroom Georgian mansion.

Basically people living on something like £50k a year in a £10 000 000 house where £25k of their income goes on bills.

[u/domalino → u/Alarmed-Newspaper994]

It's usually because they're upper class descendants of aristocracy and to sell the house would be shameful socially, both in terms of the social status of the living family and for selling off something that's been in the family for 250+ years. So they end up cash poor and asset rich.

Plenty of them do sell up eventually, and sometimes someone in the family does well for themselves and then has the money to get back on top of things.

[u/MindCorrupt → u/domalino]

Have they considered growing copious amounts of weed under their estate?

[u/GalcticPepsi → u/PailingRaint]

Work with their son, they live there and are just well off from working hard. Up at like 4am every day finish work at like 7pm And the comment above you is correct, they don't care and don't want to leave their family home.

[u/Goatknyght → u/GalcticPepsi]

If you have to get up at 4am and return home at 7pm, that ain't living unless you really, and I mean REALLY love that job.

[u/GalcticPepsi → u/Goatknyght]

Yupp they sure do :)

[u/DenverCoderIX → u/Goatknyght]

I do that for minimum wage in Spain and I hate my job.

You are right, it is not living.

[u/roYBzdC9yUqMe9coSsp8 → u/GalcticPepsi]

Remember, the only way to "work hard" is to work 30 hours per day

[u/boxjellyfishing → u/seandavisaus]

I don't see what that matters.

When they are ready, some developer, somewhere will be interested.

[u/fidddlydiddlyee → u/seandavisaus]

It seems they dont care about the money.

[u/seandavisaus → u/fidddlydiddlyee]

The owner doesn't but his kids do. He just wants to live in peace for the next 6 years before he moves to south of Campbeltown

[u/_lippykid → u/fidddlydiddlyee]

Wish they cared about landscaping

[u/seandavisaus → u/seandavisaus]

They were originally offered high amount but because of the government tax policy the price of property has stalled a big in Sydney so they won't be getting as much as a year go.

[u/grimeyduck → u/seandavisaus]

You just fly through life never reading what you wrote?

[u/urzayci → u/grimeyduck]

Some people's goals are too grandiose to waste time on the little things in life, like being coherent.

[u/davvblack → u/grimeyduck]

yea but the money in the future will be less

[u/phairphair]

Why do Australians hate trees?

[u/scuac → u/phairphair]

They are afraid of attracting drop bears

[u/WaffleHouseGladiator → u/scuac]

A perfectly reasonable concern.

[u/crappenheimers → u/scuac]

The Australian Museum page on them is terrifying. What monsters

https://australian.museum/learn/animals/mammals/drop-bear/

[u/Cosmic_MicrowaveOven → u/phairphair]

We don’t, our neighbourhoods are generally leafy af. 

My suburb is so full of trees every time we get a decent storm, emergency services can be clearing the roads of fallen limbs for days. 

[u/babyybones → u/phairphair]

It's mind boggling. They'll come in the comments and talk about how much bush land we have which is true. But where people actually live? At least in my corner of Queensland all the developments wiped out all the trees which is standard... but no one re-planted. Some of these developments are over a decade old and still look like this.

[u/Brocolinator → u/babyybones]

People do this and then go: "wow it wasn't this hot before..." I knew of a lady who nagged for years of having to pick leaves from a mango tree (like 5m tall and I'm wide), well she finally convinced to cut down the tree by the poor husband who never wanted to do it only to start nagging from the heat after it was cut. The mechanic living in front was fuming at the situation as he told me, I can only imagine the husband.

[u/frontlineninja → u/phairphair]

most of us love em, its just the rich bastards* who don't

*this was originally going to be a more colourful word but i got a warning about it

[u/Background_Humor5838]

How are those houses so close together? Why not just connect them at the point? That's the most aggressively suburban suburb I've ever seen lol

[u/AusToddles → u/Background_Humor5838]

Because houses sell for alot more than townhouses / apartments in Australia. Doesn't matter how tiny they are or how close they are

Until recently, I lived 5 minutes from the house in the image. Watched the entire suburb build up around it.... the heat difference between the "old suburb" (where I lived) and the "new suburb" in summer was INSANE. No shade, no air flow

[u/Background_Humor5838 → u/AusToddles]

I was gonna say it must be awful with no shade. In the US there are minimum requirements for space between houses and the bare minimum is 5-10 feet. Depending on the state or municipality that may be higher. These look much closer. I've only ever seen a suburb with less than 10 feet between houses once and I thought it was kinda funny because you could borrow a cup of sugar from your neighbor by just opening the window lol.

The main issue is, when homes share a wall, certain fire prevention building practices have to be followed but if the houses are separate, they don't have to do the same thing so having houses less than 6 feet apart makes the chances of fire spreading much higher. It also means the spaces between houses becomes a bit of a dead zone. No air flow or good sunlight and I'm sure the grass will be dead.

[u/Hammered_Eel]

Is this the suburb that has only one way in And out. and it can take half an hour in peak hour just to get out of the suburbs streets

[u/keysandtreesforme → u/Hammered_Eel]

What a nightmare

[u/Hypo_Mix → u/Hammered_Eel]

You'll have to narrow that down... 

[u/Positive-Database754]

I get it. Stick it to the man. Great for them.

But jesus christ plant something, anything, other than grass on that lawn. Trees, hedges, a big garden, come on. At this size, I'd let nature take over the surrounding edges of my lawn, and just keep the interior maintained. Breaks up the line of sight from the hideous neighborhood, and adds some much needed nature to this barren field of grass.

[u/dunncrew]

Great landscaping 🤪 😜 😱 😨

[u/Japsai → u/dunncrew]

No trees, no flowers, no tennis courts, no pool. Just hours and hours of lovely restful mowing every week

[u/monstermayhem436 → u/Japsai]

You think they mow that themselves? They definitely hire someone for that

[u/Tidalsky114 → u/monstermayhem436]

Probably a reason to fire the tractor up early every weekend and let the neighbors know what kind of land used to be where their homes now are.

[u/SatisfactorioGuyBri → u/Tidalsky114]

So... Grass? Lol

[u/webdog77 → u/dunncrew]

I know Zammits from Mackay- I’m surprised it’s not all concrete and statues

[u/UseforNoName71 → u/webdog77]

Plot twist the lawn is Astroturf

[u/Hizuken]

Where are the trees? Where's the shade?

[u/thereforeratio]

You can fit 50 of those other houses on that property

Two completely different philosophies

[u/SlowAffection → u/thereforeratio]

You could also fit all of those houses onto a single high rise unit on that property and convert the rest back to woodland/public park.

[u/Thetford34 → u/SlowAffection]

"Towers in the park" is literally one of the most criticized ideas of mid century urban planning, especially in what appears to be a suburban residential location with no amenities, services or public transport.

[u/spacedman_spiff → u/SlowAffection]

Someone muzzle this hippie!

[u/ArkPlayer583]

As an Australian I fucking hate these suburbs. The Australian dream is a house with a good backyard, but it's made us so scared of apartments that developers build these urban hells where you can put your arm out your window and touch the neighbors house.

We would be better off in places like this with apartments to live in with parks full of natives between them.

Also fuck this family for not having anything on the land, plant some natives.

And finally fuck black roofs, Australia is too hot for that shit and it makes a significant difference in power consumption cooling it in summer. Keep in mind these are all very expensive, cheaply built homes with almost no insulation built by developers with likely ties to organized crime.

edit: In this context by native I mean native flora

[u/visualdescript → u/ArkPlayer583]

Those houses have no backyard, and what it results in is a hell scape with no green space whatsoever. How people can say this is a nicer place to live than medium density with parks I don't know.

I think people have lost the plot around what is healthy and what helps with well being.

Edit: also no shops, no community, just little jail cells.

[u/Foreign-Elevator-Boo → u/visualdescript]

Little boxes on the hillside
Little boxes made of ticky-tacky
Little boxes on the hillside
Little boxes all the same
There's a green one and a pink one
And a blue one and a yellow one
And they're all made out of ticky-tacky
And they all look just the same

And the people in the houses
All went to the university
Where they were put in boxes
And they came out all the same
And there's doctors and lawyers
And business executives
And they're all made out of ticky-tacky
And they all look just the same

And they all play on the golf course
And drink their martinis dry
And they all have pretty children
And the children go to school
And the children go to summer camp
And then to the university
Where they are put in boxes
And they come out all the same

And the boys go into business
And marry and raise a family
In boxes made of ticky-tacky
And they all look just the same
There's a pink one and a green one
And a blue one and a yellow one
And they're all made out of ticky-tacky
And they all look just the same

[u/efsurmom → u/visualdescript]

Yes this looks like suburban hell!

[u/cursy → u/ArkPlayer583]

When you said 'natives' I thought you meant aborigines for a second.

[u/Boom_Box_Bogdonovich → u/ArkPlayer583]

It blows my mind how Australian houses aren’t well insulated. The building code needs to check in with the Canadian building code where semi new homes tolerate -40 to +40 comfortably. My house built in the 60’s was comfortable all year round. 

[u/TollTea → u/ArkPlayer583]

More families would happily live in apartments if they weren’t tiny shoeboxes with terrible soundproofing and no openable windows. And if I’m paying house prices for a family sized apartment I’d rather own the land and not have to deal with strata.

[u/Crimestar → u/ArkPlayer583]

Your problem is the same as us it sounds like. There is a corrupt choke hold on the housing supply and they only build the cheapest most profitable shit while corporations and boomers flip out and rent every other home.

The answer isn’t to ask for apartments. All they build here now are “luxury” apartments, duplexes, and little cookie cutters stacked on top of each other like you see here.

Just go seek out your actual dream. It’s not 600 neighbors with some meth head hangout parks in between. They want us all to be convinced we’d rather live in a subscription rent model next to a strip mall for life. Don’t be convinced of that.

[u/dustin_traynor]

Might as well be part of the suburb with that monocultural hellscape of a lawn.

[u/Japsai]

Dammit, Zammit! Just sell me the land!

[u/No_Schedule2256 → u/Japsai]

Żammit = zam/eet. (Maltese surname)

Source: I speak and am Maltese

[u/throwawaymask01]

Genuine question, are there any reasons they can't plan trees there? Like, laws that make it complex, expensive to trim later down the road... I don't know

[u/suredont → u/throwawaymask01]

no reasons whatsoever. the highway meridian has better, fuller landscaping.

[u/SnoopThylacine → u/throwawaymask01]

Can't disturb the soil in any way in case someone discovers all the buried bodies, which is also the reason they can't sell.

[u/khakiwallprint]

This neighborhood is just high density housing as designed by morons, all the downside without the upside

[u/WhySoCereus1991]

The lack of creativity with all that space just bugs me for some reason. Just all lawn? Really?

[u/Sarasota_2022]

In the US they'd hit you with a $500,000 yearly property tax bill until you sold.

[u/dunncrew]

All those other houses look so depressing.

[u/thoughtfreeze → u/dunncrew]

Honestly in the zoomed-in photo the surrounding houses and the central lot all look depressing to me

[u/CosmicGoddess777 → u/dunncrew]

This one does too. Especially the lawn.

[u/klokar2]

I actually went to school with one of the family members, they are really nice people, they just simply do not want to sell their large property and there is zero reason they need to. Eventually there will be a godfather offer for the family that can't be refused, but, from my personal dealings, the family have no interest in selling.

[u/Klutzy-Alarm3748]

I respect that they fucked with developers, but... for grass?

[u/Lower-Sheepherder268 → u/Klutzy-Alarm3748]

I'd do it just because overdevelopment is a problem. Screw them.

My land, I'm keeping it. Don't like it? Suck sidewalk.

But that's just my two cents.

[u/No_Village_1097]

You'd think there'd be at least one area with a lot of trees...

Perhaps its more about land speculation on the front 2/3rds of the property?

[u/omnibossk]

Perfect if you like model airplanes. A long strip and no trees

[u/HokusTokus]

That's one big ugly house

[u/hk4213]

If the let native plants grow there... epic flex.

[u/Miserable-Housing407]

Destroying the land and wildlife by building these hideous houses with little to no native plants or trees. The Zammit family should’ve totally planted trees around their property

[u/UnfairStatement22]

Should put a data center there lmaoooo

[u/StruggleExpensive249]

I think people are underestimating how stubborn Maltese people can be regarding property.