When W3UR moved in next to W3LPL, with many hams already living within a mile,
I joked that they should turn it into a hams-only community.
When I asked W3LPL how far away a serious contester should live from another
serious contester (especially from an active multi-multi), he said he thought
10 miles or more was sufficient. W3LPL is 35 miles from me and K3ZO is 15 or
so.
On "nice houses" being near junkyards...when I was looking for rural acreage to
build, hopefully, both a new house and to put up multiple towers, I considered
this and saw it as not necessarily one-way disadvantageous that there was a
junkyard, liquor store, and other commercial operations either nearby or as
contiguous neighbors. Extensive parkland adjoining was a plus too (nearest
neighbor to the NE is over a mile away). So, though the towers aren't up yet,
I'm in the nice house and hope and expect the towers will also be compatible
with "the neighborhood." I'm willing to "eat it" that some would say the house
is overbuilt for the "neighborhood." Out in the countryside this is quite
often the case with nicer houses side by side with "subsistence houses," and is
accepted to some extent.
Some people seek out "estate areas" where their "estate home" (tongue-in-cheek
allusion to the complaint from one of W3LPL's neighbors, quoted in the local
newspaper, when 'LPL was first built -- a neighbor who called his own split
level "an estate home" -- a neighbor who has since moved away) is side-by-side
with other estate homes, so no one has to cast eyes upon anything beneath them.
And you pay a premium for this privilege. That's not for me. Actually, the
real "estates" I've been around always seem to have guest houses, tenant
houses, etc. of lesser stature, and real "estate people" want to pursue their
sometimes arcane interests (like ham radio) and don't necessarily give the #1
priority to keeping their property picturesque. So, I've seen
multi-millionaires and billionaires do some wild things on their property, but
I suppose they can afford to have a few thousand acres (or at least a few
hundred) and hire the professionals (e.g. attorneys) to allow them to do it
with minimal fuss from neighbors. I suppose some of the conflicts arise when
we try to pursue our dream, like the multi-millionaires and billionaires do,
but we don't have the wherewithal to buy a couple thousand acre estate to do it
on, so our towers are in closer proximity to neighbors.
Anyway, I'm glad to have the junkyard and liquor store and such nearby. I can
shoot deer and turkey and quail and geese in the backyard too -- not always
really popular things to do if you're living in a development and have
neighbors nearby! See, ham radio is not the only pariah activity!
Sorry to be so long -- I had intended to stay out of this kind of "mucky"
discussion and am trying to avoid controversy so I don't get sucked into it.
But I thought I might be able to add a couple points to entertain and amuse.
hihi. 73 - Rich, KE3Q
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