Parking in front of other peoples Houses

[myopicpaideia]

What's the general feeling on this, those of you that own homes in typical residential areas? Are you one of those that gets offended when people park on the street in front of your house, or do you take the stance that the street is a public domain, and anyone has a right to park on the street as long as it is not marked off by the city as a no parking zone?

I ask because the new home I just bought and moved into is in a neighborhood that seems to have a prickly touchiness about this, whereas the neighborhood I moved out of did not seem to care one way or another.

I can understand the idea that you would normally park in front of your own house simply out of convenience sake, but sometimes it just doesn't happen. This is meant for discussion in situation where there is normally ample parking on the street, everyone has a 2 car garage, etc. I know that when parking is scarce, you can't really be picky about it at all, which actually gets to my point below, but anyway...

Scorp, I know you touched on this in another recent thread, but I am confused about your situation. Were you parking your cars in front of someone else's house, or was someone else parking in front of your house, or both?

For the record, I could care less about whose car is parked outside of my house, and I don't feel I should have the right to. I don't own the street in front of my house, bottom line. That's how I see it anyway.

 

[Acura NsX Pilot]

I for one know that any legal parking spot is fair game but it goes without saying that there are those who think that they own that spot in front of there house on the street.

 

[Mark G]

I don't care if someone parks in front of my house..........as long as they don't leave it there for days or weeks at a time.

 

[scorp965]

Scorp, I know you touched on this in another recent thread, but I am confused about your situation. Were you parking your cars in front of someone else's house, or was someone else parking in front of your house, or both?

My situation involved both my neighbor parking in front of my house, which he had apparently been doing for years before I moved in, and my parking in front of the neighbor's house across the street, or in front of the neighbor's house on the opposite side of my home. I try to avoid parking in a position not in front of my house, but we have four cars, and sometimes it is required, especially when there is a car already in front of my house, or somebody is having a party, it is trash can removal day, etc.

I don't particularly care one way or the other where you choose to park, but there are people who do, or have no cars to park in front of their house, but don't want a vehicle there to 'spoil their view'. In my situation, looking at my house from the street, the neighbor on the right side has the RV, several cars, trailer, etc. and parks everywhere. He also has a daughter who visits, and parks the wrong way on the street, or angles half way into the driveway, bumps cars, etc. - the neighbor on the left is retired, the kids have moved away, they park their two cars in the garage, and hose anything down that gets anywhere remotely near their property line. The person across the street is similar, but prefers to use his lawn edger right up against cars that park in front of his house, even going so far as to 'mow' the lawn a few hours after he had mowed it, just to bring out his edger and dish out some 'parking justice'.

Perhaps 25% of the time there is a different neighbor's car in front of my house - this forces me to either park across the street, or in front of the 'left' neighbor's house. Since my installation of security cameras the physical actions have become less, but the interaction between myself and these neighbors has dropped to almost nill. I wave to the person across the street, and perhaps 50% of the time they respond back, but the longest conversation I have had in 2 years with any of them lasted perhaps 2 minutes.

It's something of a 'kooky' situation, but I try to make the best of it, by making an effort to park in front of my house and using car covers all the time.

 

[Deltron Zero]

I think it really depends on the neighborhood. If I lived near the ocean in CA then I would expect cars to be parked in front of my house all the time. In my neighborhood it really isn't necessary unless someone was having a party. It would actually be pretty weird if someone did it in my neighborhood. I think there are some HOA rules against parking a vehicle on the street for more than a few days at a time.

 

[Daedalus]

This one does tick me off a little. I have neighbors (actually frequent guests I suppose) that like to park in front of my house with their rear bumper lined up with my driveway or slightly overlapping. This is so they can squeeze 4 cars between driveways, when 3 cars fit just right. It's a narrow street, so pulling out isn't as straightforward as it should be when they do this, plus it makes trash day a hassle because then I have to pull out before getting out to put the cans in front of the driveway behind their car. I solved this by parking my truck in the spot 6 days out of the week and leaving a good driveway margin for myself. The 7th day is street sweeping day so I take the truck to work and get home early enough to reclaim the spot.
Things have gotten better recently. The people across the street moved out and no one has moved in yet, and the people next door sold their old RV that always took up 2 spaces on our little block.
The people seem nice, and I don't need any more tension in this neighboorhood.

 

[Searchin4acoupe]

If I lived in an area where street parking was a full time necessity for most everyone (no driveways, etc.), then I would have no issue with where everyone's cars are. This isn't the norm in our neighborhood however. I once had a situation in our last house where a next door neighbor who overall was very discourteous about most everything, found it more appropriate to consistently park in front of my house, leaving zero cars in front of their house. That kinda rubbed me wrong. I never mentioned it to them until their car began to migrate into my grass on a regular basis. When I finally did say something, I was the bad guy.

If you don't have room in your sandbox for all of your toys, then you have too many toys.

 

[DocL]

This is a topic that always get on my nerves. I live in a small townhouse community where parking is at a premium. Every unit has either a one or two car garage with a dirveway that can hold two additional cars. There is no guest parking, and the street is barely wide enough for two cars to pass each other. Now, I own three cars and I never park on the street, whereas the person across from me owns one car and always parks on the steet. She always has friends over who park in such a manner where I can't back out of my driveway, thus I have to knock on her door for them to come out and move a car. I don't understand why people don't have common sense and fail to realize that they are causing an inconvienence for other people. I also don't understand why people fill up their garage with $5,000 of crap and leave a $20,000+ car outside. Since I know that there's nothing I can do about these rude neighbors, I decided to matters into my own hand. I bought some land and signed a contract to build a house with a three car garage and a driveway large enough for six cars. Problem solved!

 

[robr]

Parking where I live is a little tight but not bad. Basically there are a few extra spaces on the street vs. the number of cars. Many people don't have driveways but a few do. We have a two car driveway, but I park my car on the street if I think my wife may need to get out before the next time I go out since I hate doing the car shuffle thing. Given the situation around here, nobody seems to care who parks where as long as you don't block any driveways. Also it's a very narrow street, there is no room for cars to pass in two directions with cars parked on the street. While there are no signs prohibiting parking on either side of the street, cars only park on one side. If cars were to park on both, it would block the street. When I moved here I parked my car on the 'wrong side' of the street when I had to unload crap from my car I was bringing from the other house. I parked far enough onto the sidewalk so cars could pass. I ended up getting a ticket for obstructing the sidewalk. Guess I left my car there too long. The AZ plates I had on at the time probably didn't help either. Sigh.

 

[NSXin702]

I personally have no problem with someone parking in front of my house. But what does bother me is when someone parks in front of my house right in the middle of the space, so that only one car can park there, instead of two, forcing me to park my daily driver down the street. If 2 cars are already there, then it doesn't bother me one bit, I just don't understand how some people can be so inconsiderate, to take up 2 spots...

 

[Easy_Goin']

I personally have no problem with someone parking in front of my house. But what does bother me is when someone parks in front of my house right in the middle of the space, so that only one car can park there, instead of two, forcing me to park my daily driver down the street. If 2 cars are already there, then it doesn't bother me one bit, I just don't understand how some people can be so inconsiderate, to take up 2 spots...

My friend puts an "Orange cone" infront of his place. Looks like city works, and when the neigbours see it, becuz they are neighbours, they don't complain about it. ALtho he has to get out and move it everytime he gets home(or gets me when i'm with him), but it beats parking down the street and walking back!

 

[dyee]

Is the street in front of their house also their property? If it is then you're parking on private property. If not..... W(ho)G(ives)AF(***). Seems like common sense.

 

[Cairo94507]

I live in a quiet, 7 home, court. Neighbors on both sides of me have at least 4cars each, and no kidding, 6 motorcycles each. Oh and their garages are not for their cars, but they do keep their bikes in them. I get a little tight when they park across the street from my home and do NOT park in front of their own homes. That way when you pull into the court their home has a nice curb appeal, open look and across the street from mine is stacked with cars, blocking my open space view. Not a big deal, I have never mentioned it becasue I like them and generally they do the right thing. Oh, all of these homes have 3 car garages and driveways so they could accomodate 6 cars without parking inthe street. I have owned this home for 15 years and have never parked a car on the street or in my driveway overnight.

 

[SilverOne]

Maybe this is a west coast or even an OC thing. I've lived in 2 different neighborhoods in sub-urban Orange County, and both times, next door neighbor made a point to come and visit when I first moved in, and to let me know NOT to park at the spot in front of their houses.

Mind you, these are public streets, and in my view consider them public property. Parking should be a first come first serve basis.

Current neighbor has 2 cars, but uses their garage as a playroom for their kids, so they don't park inside. I have 4 cars with 2 in the garage, 1 on the driveway, and 1 that I do park on the street and drive everyday. I don't see the big problem with me parking my 1 car ANYWHERE on the public street, I don't care if neighbors park in front of my house either (again, it's public street). The next door ahole has left me notes on my car, knocked on my door..etc to complaint when my car was parked in front of his house because someone has taken the spot in front of my own house.

I don't konw what peple's big issue is.., if they dont' like cars in front of their house, then spent some money, and buy the god damn street, and make it a private property. If not, STFU.

 

[flaminio]

If it's a private complex, then the HOA might have rules about where one can park, and garage usage. My HOA requires that if you have two cars, they both must be parked in the garage. Of course, many people ignore that, and fill their garages with junk and park their cars outside.

If it's a public street, you can park whereever you are legally able to. The homeowner's claim ends at the curb. That said, I wouldn't be a jerk about it and park in front of someone's house to spite them -- that's a good way to get your car keyed. But if you're having guests over and parking is at a premium, they should be able to park there.

 

[heySkippy]

I don't mind if someone parks in front of my house for a short bit occasionally. I would mind if they made a habit of it.

 

[flaminio]

I don't mind if someone parks in front of my house for a short bit occasionally. I would mind if they made a habit of it.

Depends a bit on the kind of car, too :wink: . Sure, you can park your F430 in front of my house! But you with that rusted out Chevy... move along, please. :tongue:

 

[slamstrom]

In my neighborhood, eveybody parks in front of their own house except when they have a party. In which case, it doesn't bother me when someone parks in front of my house during that time. In the 20 years at my current residence, only once when a car was parked in front of our house for about 36 hours staright, and it belonged to a neighbor across the street. My neighbor was polite enough to ask if he can leave it their until the weekend (car broke down in front of my house) when his friend can come to help him fix his car. At my current residence, I have never had a need to park in front of my neighbor's house (can park 6 cars in the drive way + 2 in the garage). When I have a party or family visiting, I do let my neighbors know ahead of time as common courtesy to my immediate neighbors. No parking wars with my neighbors in 20 years. Great neighbors and neighborhood.

 

[NSXrunner]

Theres a fire hydrant in front of my house, so I dont have this problem. :biggrin:

 

[mickeylex]

I live in a suburban residential area where parking overnight on the street is prohibited. We have parking enforcement that hands out tickets for cars parked on the street. In addition, just about every house has a three or four car garage w/ at least enough room to park 2-3 cars on their driveway. So, normally, there would be no reason for anyone to park on the street on a regular basis.

I don't mind if my neighbors or guests of my neighbors park in front of my house when they need to occasionaly. However, I would talk w/ them if they made the front of my house their regular parking.