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...ruled against the Duffys, saying their house is seven feet too close to the street and two feet too close to the Mayer-Hamilton property line...wow, two whole feet! - the tolerant, open-minded, diversity-loving people of Montgomery County really do seem to put strict adherence to a lot of essentially arbitrary rules before harmonious relationships and personal satisfaction - there's a planned community there in the County which raises this to a new high - every home repair or improvement made must be first reviewed by the community's architectural review panel, including a public hearing attended by the homeowner and contractor - even down to such details as what kind of external light fixtures can be used (all must be the virtually the same) and what color the front door can be painted (to match the original decor of the development - which might have been determined by what colors and types of paint the contractors got the best deal on) - when our own town fathers start to impose such terrible policies as no tree larger than twenty inches in diameter can be cut down without a permit, I visit the community's web page to remind myself of just how bad it could really be.....

Your points about Montgomery County's "image" are right on target. Indeed, MC promotes itself, like you said, as some kind of tolerant, open-minded, diversity-loving utopia where the liberal elites love to congregate. The reality is actually far different. My personal experience has been that liberals don't "tolerate" anything or anyone that doesn't fall lock-step with their own ideology. The left especially despise politically conservative, (perhaps Republican, gasp) religious (perhaps Christian, double gasp) people whose value systems question the liberal/elitist psuedo superior stances.

Lol, yes, the good ol' "architectural review board". These boards are examples of what can happen when some people get a little power - and it isn't pretty. Oftentimes, these boards turn into gestapos, headed by some neonazi-like character who vaguely resembles the Kansas City serial killer.