i dont want to get into who this unfairly targets... i just think it's not really a worthwhile law. if it's not a health & safety issue all this does is create an "in" for city code enforcement to start bugging people about what their porches look like. these sorts of laws are usually shot down in court. and believe it or not, many make it all the way to the state supreme court, or even the US supreme court.

OMG I hate couches on front porches! So awful.

I live in a college town so I desperately wish theyd be outlawed here. One of my neighbors has a leather recliner and matching foot stool/ottoman on his porch. Grr!

Now, if you want to have build an "outdoor room" that is a big trend now a days, then put it in your back yard, and make it gorgeous.

But I dont see the types of people who put couches on their front porch spending the $ to do this...

honestly i think that there are betters uses of the government's time than to make these types of laws but i guess if they have the ability/power to do it then they will. i can understand how they would want their city to have a certain look and having indoor furniture outside - well that's just crazy. i don't know - i feel like it's really a waste of energy.

I completely agree with this law. I hate to see that gross furniture outside. It's not just college students it's also some of the residents as well that do this. The city wants to make those older neighborhoods more appealing and this is a good start. I live 90 miles away from Lincoln and here in Grand Island we have a huge problem with it as well. It's so gross.

I agree with yesteryear.

My college banned inside furniture outdoors in university-owned houses, but I think that's an entirely different situation. (The situation there was unique because almost the entire student body live in university-owned housing, either dorms (generally freshman), suites/apartments (sophomores, some juniors), or houses (juniors, some seniors). So, the university had a lot of jurisdiction over the houses students lived in.)

one of the most famous landmark cases allowing cities to zone for aesthetic purposes had to do with a clothesline being hung on private property but in the public view (on the front lawn). people v. stover... i think it was in NY or NJ. anyway, the city won. so yeah, lilkimbo, even though we think it's ridiculous, there's a precedent if this makes it to a higher court.

Thanks for the info, yy!

Wow. The lawmakers in Lincoln, NE have TOO MUCH time on their hands.

I'd like to see them banned in college towns because they can be a fire hazard. Someone is out on the couch smoking, and figuring they are outside, just drops their but on the couch. The seminary my wife went to had a major apartment fire because one of the students did just that, and the couch went up. They people who lived in the apartment were lucky that they were still awake when the couch caught fire, because they didn't have much time to get out.

*Disclaimer* This story is through my wife, so accounts may be a little off.

This is citizensugar news? Really? They have banned indoor furniture outdoors in the college town of East Lansing, MI as well (or maybe they just tried, i forget). But the residents really really hate it because it's so trashy.

They were banned in another college town in Alabama about four or five years ago, along with parking cars on the lawn. I think pink flamingos and foil in windows were next on the agenda. Next think you know they'll be going after girls who where uggs with mini skirts.

dave thats true but if they can't prove that all college kids would do that all the time then that's not really going to stand up in court. if that were the case they'd have to outlaw indoor smoking in apartments as well. unfortunately, they don't even need to go that far, it's an aesthetic decision. this is why when i finally do buy a house i'm not going to do it in a neighborhood with a 'homeowners association' that has tons of rules about what i can and cant do on my property. the only instance where i totally agree with these ordinances is in the case of historic preservation. if you choose to buy a house that's part of a historic neighborhood there should be laws in place to protect the character of the area.

true... we can dream right? someone needs to tap one of those girls on the shoulder and say "hey, that went out of style in 2004."

"Next think you know they'll be going after girls who where uggs with mini skirts."

That went out of style in 2004...and it looked ridiculous even for the five seconds it was in style.

I had friends in college who had couches and chairs on their balconies and porches. I always refused to sit in them because they were gross! They were mildewy from the humidity here and there were spiders etc. in them.

I've lived in N Colorado (about 60 mi from Boulder) all my life. Both the town I grew up in and the town I live in now have bans on indoor couches on outdoor front porches. The town I grew up in implemented this about 10 years ago, when the Broncos won back-to-back Superbowls, because there were riots in which many of the couches on said porches got burned in the middle of the street. They passed the issue and riots happened again the next year, just not with as many burned couches.

Not only are the couches left outside incredibly gross to the point of being a public health issue (weather, bugs, human waste, food, money that should never be used again), but having that cheap fuel around for drunken college kids is not a good idea, plus what Dave said about cigarette fire risk. I also heard there were homeless people crashing on couches, scaring young college girls coming out of their shared house in the morning. The neighborhoods look better without them, since putting couches out front was almost used as a disposal method. Now there's couch recycling drives, where people break them down and recycle the usable materials left in them! You can still put outdoor couches outside, but those are a different weather-proofed material, so they don't get nasty as quick. We've got a stipulation on our lease that says essentially: indoor furniture goes inside, outdoor furniture goes outside (or in if you really want to, that's your business).

Yeah, the government could be spending their time on something more important, but assuming a riot or series of riots like we had, there was definitely a lot of cost the city had to cover because of it (like street repairs and cleanup). And all it would take is one homeless person to assault someone for there to be an outcry...

While I think porch couches are trashy,and tic tic ticky tacky a la "Pink Flamingos" why are there so many laws. Seriously people are getting regulated to death, I'm sure there are more pressing issues that require law in this city other than tacky porch furniture.

No, I don't think they should be allowed to legislate aesthetics.

On a side note, Citizen, the answers to your poll question are a little confusing. You ask, "Should lawmakers have the ability to legislate what you can put on your own property?" but the "Yes" answer states, "Yes! There's no harm in the couches, it's just neighborly — and it unfairly hits students," which is actually answering "no" to the poll question. Then your "No" answer states "No way. Small things make a big difference and couches outside bring everyone down," which is actually answering "yes" to the poll question.

Sorry for being nitpicky, it just struck me as odd.

"Seriously people are getting regulated to death,"

That's very libertarian sounding of you! Come to the dark side. We have cake!

I'm very sensitive to this issue. For a while, I had the bench seat out of my project car on my porch, because there wasn't really anywhere else to store it. And I fear that someday I will be kicked out of the neighborhood.

You build Kits or just restore?

Restoring a couple of cars now. I like the history of it as much as anything else.

Not much going on in Lincoln, NE I guess

My dream is to restore a 1957 Chevy Bel-Air or a 1961 Plymouth Fury!

I think the Uggs are the greater crime, and far more commonly seen.

In other news, wicker furniture with overly-padded and luxurious cushioning is trembling with fear at the news.....

I can't say I have a huge problem with neighbourhoods being as pretty as possible, and its not a huge thing to ask of people to use more appropriate seating outside. Big deal. Money is no excuse when you can easily pick up cute lawnchairs or wicker for a song.

City aside, HOA's are the devil. They actually measure our grass.

I've been looking for a 55-57 chevy forever too! But they're so pricey even in the worst shape. A 61 Plymouth Fury has has mad style though, especially as a police car.

I think in this case targeting aesthetics is the peripheral benefit of the real target and that is waste. As a few of you know I lived in Berkeley Ca. two blocks from U.C. Berkeley and every May and June the streets of Berkeley are littered with discarded ratty old sofa's and chairs, so there may be a few reasons why they're taking this action.

I feel for the students on a budget but hey you can grab a cheap plastic out door chair at the dollar store or even for free on craigslist as easy as you can collect a ratty old sofa.

My parents used to organize the big regional car show around here. I grew up on this stuff. I have sat in:
1. KITT
2. The Peggy Sue - Buddy Holly's Car
3. The original Batmobile
4. The Wienermobile
5. Ectomobile from Ghostbusters
6. Grave Digger
7. Bigfoot
8. Shelby Mustang GT500
9. General Lee

Eat your heart out Org!

Where in Texas do you live again GS? I'd cruise up in the 68 to check it out.

It was where I grew up in East Texas. They don't do it anymore now. I miss it. There are some cool shows in DFW though. Austin should have some good ones, no?

The libertarians have cake?!?

All the liberals only ever gave me celery stalks and carrot sticks.

I'm sure they give you sprouts and soy milk too!
And yes, we have cake. The real deal too. Dairy, eggs, white flour and sugar, you name it!

Now that you guys have started talking about cake, I'm going to end up making one out of the mix I have in the cupboard. Thanks for making this a carb day for me

Hmmm... cake... um.. Yay Constitution! Stop trying to take away our Liberty!

When do we get cake?

Whoop!

Dose this law just apply to couches or dose it apply to benches as well?
It is funny, there must be a lot of couches out there to make this law. Personally I've always felt an outdoor couch is just an insect motel! So what are they going to do t enforce this law? I'm picturing someone towe the couches away!

I did not vote yes because couches outside are right, because it does look trashy. I voted yes because if one owns property one should be able to do what they want to with that property,( with the exception of septic issues), be it build a Wal Mart, cut every last tree off from it, put a couch on the lawn or add sand to the waterfront to make a beach.