Backyard Coffee and Jazz in Kyoto

It all goes back to zoning laws and regulations.

Yes! Every zoning and housing regulation commission should evaluate every proposal by the question if it enables our cities to be as quirky and wonderful as Japanese cities. If not, it's out!

Sadly, I think the lack of care for the other, and for social cohesion in Western nations preclude this.

Several years ago our next door neighbor applied for a zoning variance to allow their home to be used as an AirBNB. All was fine for the first month or two, then a graduation party booked it, 20 vehicles show up and parked on all the neighbors yards, loud party late into the night, etc.

All of this was reported for noise violations, parking violations, etc. to both the police and to AirBNB. Neither took any action.

Months later a college fraternity booked this AirBNB for the entire summer. All of the above plus nightly backyard ragers going until 2 AM. Neither the police nor AirBNB did a damn thing about it. We reached out to zoning to see if we could protest the variance after the fact and told no, the only way for the variance to be revoked would be for the police to make so many calls to the house that it is deemed a public nuisance. Except the police won’t show for nuisance calls and even if they did it would take years of this for a hearing to be held which may or may not decide on our favor.

So… as much as I love the idea of the Japanese civic style. I would never give up strict zoning in America for it. People suck.

Mh, the obvious solution seems to be to enforce existing laws rather than invent new ones.

The sad artifact of my experience is that I learned first hand the benefit of a stereotypical mafia organization and its extralegal services and their benefits to the otherwise law abiding public.