It really shows the extremes to which our culture can go with the obsession of not having anything but homes in a residential area.
This is a fairly common trick used by utility companies. Here in Toronto our Hydro camouflage their substations on residential streets so they fit in better with their neighbours.
Scouting New York has an entry about a row of brownstones that is actually a small power plant:
Not really good camouflage - there’s no garage/carport or driveway. That makes it stand out to me.
People like to go the other way too.
People who don’t like the look of infrastructure don’t deserve to enjoy its benefits. Embrace the glorious pipes, wires, and conduits that make your comfortable life possible!
This newly built wastewater pumping station in Oakville, Ontario is disguised as an old fire station
http://www.oakville.ca/business/2013-livable-by-design-awards-345-dundas-street-west.html
There’s one in my hometown. Looks fairly similar to other houses in the area except for the danger signs in the window.
Here is another one.
As long as the pumps keep their yard mowed and don’t play loud music after ten p.m. I don’t have a problem with them.
Fire Station 13 in London, Ontario looks like this. I couldn’t find a good shot of it except in Google Streetview.
There’s one in Murphy, TX. It used to sit by one of the main roads in what was farm land. Those farms have been bought and turned into a big shopping center. So the facade on the house was redone to make it more integrated with the shopping center. In that same shopping center there is a Verizon sub-station that previously was just a brick structure with no windows or decoration at all. It’s facade has been redone also. Landscaping has also been used to hide them somewhat. You can tell something is up with the buildings when you see that there are no signs on them or direct access from the parking lots, but other than that they blend in really well.
Here is the tell. The pumping station has a metal roof, because the utility is smart enough to not want to have to replace the roof every 20 years. And because no builder/developer will ever offer a metal roof, and no home owner is ever willing to pay the extra amount for a metal roof even it if would cost them less in the long run. They think they’ll only be there for 5 years, but guess what - you’ll land in another house with a cardboard roof and you’ll have to replace that one…
So the tell is Americans are too stupid to invest in durable house construction.
Theres things like this all around the world. rather awesome i think 
Locally there’s a large mobile phone antenna located in the local park area camouflaged as a tree, and there is fake underground vent houses in london i know of too
http://www.urban75.org/london/leinster.html
I like to imagine baffled would-be burglars.
Yeah, but the neighborhood kids keep breaking in and spray-painting “HEISENBERG” on the walls.
What’s with all the America-hate here? It’s misplaced. I know plenty of people who would opt to pay more for quality construction and who keep a keen eye out for it when buying a house.
