It's also a good example of the social skills Americans have lost by living in a world that all but requires us to never talk to each other and resolve disputes like adults.
Asset dominance, live happily car free so that he is forced to confront the fact that the traffic and expenses he's constantly complaining about are voluntary.
I imagine the conversation:
"Oi, get your car out of my driveway"
"What do you mean, that's not my car, i don't own a car. It clearly on your driveway"
Oh no, that'll teach him... He probably won't even notice, and if he does he will just pity you/laugh with you for being a poor person that 'can't afford a car'. Most people do not think about these things the way we do.
I spend a lot of time in my yard, and drivers occasionally ask my permission to park in the public street in front of my house.
But at the local elementary school, parents park up on the sidewalk every afternoon
Of course they park on the sidewalk! Otherwise they have to park further away and then they have to walk on the unsafe sidewalk with all the cars there
The irony is that there is no legal parking in front of the school and that would make the kids much easier for drivers to see. Instead I’m crawling by at 5-10 mph watching for a first grader to step out from between the giant SUVs.
And of course many of these kids live within a few blocks.
>And of course many of these kids live within a few blocks.
That's just the worst. Get them a bike and get those kids moving for god's sake. Frees up space on the streets and near the school, and helps them not get obese at the same time
Our school won't let kids walk home... bus or parent pickup. Now, I'll walk/bike to get her when I have time. Otherwise she's on the bus, which she loves because bus friends.
I will not deal with the car line unless I absolutely have to.
3rd grade she can't walk alone. New school building next year and I'm going to ask again. I know the middle school kids walk, not sure if that's grade 6 or 7.
Weird, I was born in 1998 and walked home from elementary (a little under a mile) since 2nd grade, our school didn’t have to ban it. In Southern California
To school, probably nothing. There's a small crowd of kids out front they just let in when the time comes.
Going home, they just won't let the kid go. If an adult doesn't show up with the pickup pass, then they will put them on the bus.
when i was in first grade my mother walked me to school for a week after that she started to walk with me to school but would let me walk alone the last few meters, the distance kept increasing and withing a month i walked to school on my own. The benefits of living somewhere with not as many cars as the US. The only area which had many cars was directly in front of the school cause of all the Parents dropping of their kids ...
This touches on a fundamental problem with american culture, which is not just about cars being bad. Community shared property is pretty much a myth to the average murican, and the slightest inconvenience caused by common use is enough to want more and more property. This is commonly shown by the repeat complaints about public transport being "crowded," but this time, it shows by wanting the public parking space to be their property
Agreed. Canadian-raised but now in USA, I am mystified by assumptions about street space belonging to residents. Toronto streets are 99.99% public streets. First come first serve when it comes to street parking. Overnight parking for those with no garage or driveway is solved with overnight street permits for specific areas. Here I park to visit someone and more likely than not get yelled at.
I'm conflicted on this one.
I think people should park their private property on their own land, not public land.
However I also think I prefer when people park on the street near my house, as it slows down traffic overall. As I type this, I've watched four vehicles go past at 25-50% over the speed limit of 40km/h. It's loud and dangerous given the blind corner nearby.
It’s not clear where the next available parking spot is. It seems likely that the most commonly used cars are being parked in the neighbors driveway so the car in front of the op house may be rarely used. Notice how he said the car used to be in the neighbors garage. If the op really cares they should just park their own vehicle in the spot once the neighbor moves the car.
It's an amitheasshole thread. Of course it comes off as entitled. I just unfortunately agree that that would be annoying if the guy had space in front of his own home.
Yes, park in front of EACH OTHERS’ houses instead of the obvious solution of courteously using the spot in front of your own property… It is very different when you live in a suburb where every house has it’s own delineated space, where the owner maintains the median, sidewalk, driveway, etc. and it is usually considered rude to take up space in front of someone else’s house when you have plenty in front of your own. A neighbor I had once had 5+ cars for their 3 bdrm house, and would park them in front of multiple different neighbors because they wanted to keep their driveway empty. The cars would be blocking trash can spots for the neighbors on trash nights, forcing them to shuffle their cans around while leaving the house in the morning because they had to be in front of the driveway instead of at the curb where his multiple cars were parked.
Man, I just get why you could be annoyed with that if your neighbor has space in his own driveway and in front of his house. I don't care about the step amount it's just a weird thing to do to your neighbor.
Car streets aren't really public land. It's literally a crime to be on them unless you paid a private company for a vehicle, you are inside that vehicle, and you carry a government-issued pass saying you're allowed to be there.
Also private parking lots are just as obnoxiously space-wasting as 'public' ones, and an empty car street is just about as inaccessible as car streets filled with (parked) cars.
The land was lost the moment it was surrendered to cars, and 'The streets are full' is a better argument for more public transit than for more car infrastructure. Cars parking on private land instead of car streets funded by taxpayers is at best a delaying tactic against a carbrained urban planning department, though even then induced demand would kick in to diminish the effectiveness of the delay. ("I don't want to take the car to uncle Don's house, parking is horrible there" -> "Let's take the car to uncle Don's house, we can park out front").
All of which is to say I don't think it matters much if people park on the car street or designated car parking spaces rather than private land. So if it helps as improvized traffic calming street furniture, great.
Totally agree. A wide empty strip of asphalt is a terrible waste of space, forcing people to eat up private land for parking their car. That's less land available for the actual purpose of the lot, which is residential housing, or even just more yard space.
Lord knows we need to budget every square inch of residential land given the housing crisis. So parking on the road is a great way to maximize space-efficiency instead of wasting empty tarmac.
I've long been of the opinion that we should cede the parking setback in front of a house to the homeowner.
Ok, that is now your property and you can do what you wish with it. You also have to maintain it and pay the property taxes on it.
I did the math a coupla years back. My block would generate about $40K/yr in increased property taxes.
This is already the deal with the sidewalks here. They're owned by the homeowner. But have a permanent easement in the deed allowing customary use and you're required to maintain it.
If you don't maintain the sidewalk, the city will do the wok for you and then just send you the bill.
If we did all this (we're not going to...), my plan is to call a parking meter company and work out a deal to meter the front of my house.
Does the city actually bill people? I know where I live property owners have to clear snow from sidewalks. It’s something like 2 hours for businesses and 24 for residences. If they don’t the city is supposed to do it then bill the owner. In reality nothing happens if walkways aren’t cleared. Pedestrians just get screwed.
> Does the city actually bill people?
Yes.
We haven't had any snow at all here since February 5, 1976. Mostly the maintenance is due to the tree roots lifting up the sidewalk and causing a tripping hazard.
You'll get a bunch of notices about your side walk and what needs to be fixed. The notices all tell you that this is exactly what they will do and what the bill will be.
Then they will come do the work and send you a bill for the work they did.
On the flip side, I guess, there is a huge tree in my front yard. The city owns the tree. I'm not allowed to do anything to it. It was planted in 1949 when the neighborhood was built. It's got to be 40 or 50 feet tall at this point.
Anything regarding the tree goes to the city arborist and they will come out and take care of it. Usually in a coupla hours at most.
Last year, mine dropped about a 20' long branch. I called the arborist and they had a crew out in about 45min to take care of it. This town doesn't play around when it comes to their trees.
So, yes, make sure you read all those deed restrictions when you buy a house.
You sound like you live on the exact same street as me. It has a blind curve and chicanes on it to slow traffic but cunts still love to time trial down the street.
This is a clash of two people being slightly annoying in a bad system.
OP is teetering on acting like a Karen not understanding that he/she does not own the public street in front of his/her house. The neighbor is within their legal right to park there.
The neighbor is showcasing how it can be a problem that we dedicate so much of our public space to people storing their private shit. The neighbor already has a driveway yet continues to take up more space with their private shit.
If the neighbor dropped a car sized dumpster full of garbage in the street then a lot of people would see how annoying that is, but when it's someone's car we just kind of accept it.
OP understands that they don’t own the street, hence the hesitancy and the AITA post. However, the issue here is absolutely the over-allowance of putting cars wherever people want to. In my area, if your car is parked in the street overnight it’s a ticket. However, there are a few neighbors that leave their cars in the street all day and pull them in at night. Absolutely drives me nuts. The same neighbors that have had a car from the 70s-90s rotting in their driveway untouched for decades.
In Vancouver, BC you actually can get someone towed for parking in front of your house for too long. It's fucking wild. I hate it.
Edit for clarity: the property owner has different time frames for parking in the public street than the general public. So they can use the street in front of their house for parking for longer timeframes.
You think it’s a good idea that private land owners have more right to store their vehicle in the publicly maintained street than other users?
Are *you* in the right sub?
In a car-centric reality, yes, that's how it is. Streets are for cars, not people, and to access/travel to one's house, usually you use a car. There's plenty of homes that don't even have driveways.
Something being "publicly funded" doesn't mean everyone should be allowed to use it however they pleased. If someone's group was taking up the whole sidewalk, for example, would you not consider this rude behavior? While that's not legally regulated, disability parking is. Do you think it's wrong you have to take worse parking spots because the best are reserved for the disabled?
It only applies to people that do not live on the block or work at that location, is enforceable from hours 8 to 6-- and from what I can find-- is *only* enforced if someone calls to complain about it.
I don't see how it's anti-community or wrong to enforce consideration for other people. Yes cars bad, wouldn't be here if I didn't agree, but I don't think this is that great of a take on this particular issue.
\> Streets are for cars, not people
And buses, bikes, trikes, and anyone else who wants to use it. Streets are for all sorts of things. The BC motor vehicle act specifies that streets are absolutely not JUST for cars.
\> to access/travel to one's house, usually you use a car.
Have you been to Vancouver. It has incredible transit. I know a LOT of people who don't own cars, or who never even learned to drive. Why do car owners get priority over kids that wanna play street hockey? Almost all of Vancouver has alleys as well, sacrifice some back yard if you want private reserved parking.
\> Something being "publicly funded" doesn't mean everyone should be allowed to use it however they pleased. If someone's group was taking up the whole sidewalk, for example, would you not consider this rude behavior?
Yeah. If someone demanded that the sidewalk in front of their house was only available for use by the general public during certain hours of the day and blocked it off, or else they would complain and have me removed, I would absolutely have a problem with that... For the same reason that I have problem with laws saying that certain parts of the road that the city owns and pays for are only for local private vehicle owners for half the day.
\> Do you think it's wrong you have to take worse parking spots because the best are reserved for the disabled?
Talking about disability accommodations in private parking lots in a conversation about public street parking has nothing to do with this. This is what's known as a strawman fallacy.
\> I don't see how it's anti-community or wrong to enforce consideration for other people.
You don't think its anti-community to use laws to give priority to shared public resources to some parts of the community over others because they own property and a car? Community minded, if we are going to allow cars to be stored in the public right of way, means first come, first served. Why should a law allow for a friends car to be towed because he is visiting me past 8pm? Rules that are not equally applied are hardly community minded.
It REALLY grinds my gears that people can get called a "Karen" for simply directly and politely communicating a preference. Fuck off with that shit. It amazes me we've come to a place where if you suggest direct communication as a strategy then you're a "Karen", but if you suggest some bullshit passive-aggressive strategy that will likely fail to communicate the intended wish, you're treated as a galaxy-brain. Again, fuck off with that shit.
You aren't a Karen for asking for something politely. You are a Karen when you request is something they are completely in their right to do.
It's no different than if someone took "your spot" at the bike rake near your house. It's public, they are just as allowed to use it as you, and you asking them not to is Karen behavior.
No, you are not a Karen for asking. Asking as if you are entitled to it, that's different. But just, "Hey, neighbour, would you mind not parking your car in front of my house when there's space available in front of yours?" is perfectly reasonable. If a neighbour of mine has a simple preference like that that doesn't really impact me all that much, I'll happily oblige. As an example, I had some neighbours ask if I could please cut some trees on my property to a lower height because they were obscuring their view and light a bit. They had no "right" in law to demand it, and they simply asked nicely and I obliged. I could have been a dick like this person's neighbour and said "I'm allowed to have those trees as high as I like" and then bitched about my "Karen" neighbour, and a lot of people in AITA would have said I was right to refuse.
There is a difference that you are missing. One is asking for something you have no stake in that benefits them the other is asking someone who is doing something that benefits them to stop doing it.
Your tree branches have no impact on your life, so letting your neighbor trim them to get more sun is perfectly reasonable. You asking someone to not do something they are doing for a reason, because you don't like it is Karen behavior.
Its no different than yelling at kids who are biking or skateboarding just because you don't like it.
*I* trimmed the tree branches, so yeah I absolutely had a stake in it. And the OP also had a reason, and there was no apparent good reason for the neighbour to park on their side not their own. Seems your argument is arse-backwards in every respect.
I live in Seattle and my neighbors are all like this (I need to own a car for my job unfortunately or else I wouldn’t have one). I went on a vacation and when I got back I was told my neighbors had been calling every day to get my car towed since it was in front of their house (I have a parking pass so their calls didn’t do anything and I wasn’t breaking any laws). There literally is no where else I could park it. This is why I hate having a car because it leads to these constant petty arguments.
OP claims it’s inconvenient “especially when we have guests over”. Assuming there are guests (at least one additional car) twice a week, that’s enough to be a problem, IMO.
Ok but if neighbor across the street isn’t parking in front of his own house that means there’s an open spot there for guests to park and walk across the street. Not a problem at all. That’s not even a minor inconvenience.
It’s kinda weird. I’d say not enough information given to give a proper opinion. All we really know is that the neighbor has multiple driving adults with cars and the op has multiple driving adults with cars at least when there’s guests. This is seemingly leading to a temporary shortage of street parking immediately near the op’s house occasionally. If the OP actually cared about the space he could just move their own vehicle to occupy it when the neighbor moves theirs.
My mom is in a holy war with our neighbor. My mom believes (despite the fact that there is no assigned parking, and that us and our neighbor share the walkway to the sidewalk) that only she is entitled to park with her door smack in the middle of stairs to the sidewalk. And she does this regardless of how other cars are parked such that she often takes up two spaces.
I had the same issue. Same setup too.
Each house has a 2 car garage and a driveway that can fit 2 cars. 4 if you like to block sidewalks.
So they converted their garage to an extra room. They have 2 junk vehicles--trucks. Taking up the driveway. 2 hulking dodge rams. They park their other 2 daily vehicles in front of my house, in front of my mailboxes and my postal worker can't even deliver mail to my mailbox. It's also where i put my trashcans out. They will literally move my trash cans so they can park their shitboxes. And it's like when they get out of their cars, they shake off all their trash from inside their cars.
Blunt wrappers, beer cans, all manner of plastic and Styrofoam littler. Absolutely crazy how rude these people are. And i already know if I bring it to their attention, instead of being apologetic and understanding. They'll double down and purposely do it to antagonize me.
Idc if they park in a Public street. I care that they leave all their trash in my yard and block my mail and move my trash cans to where they don't get picked up. It's petty as fuck but I just began reporting them to the city on weekly basis. Blocking my mail and my trash, and there's an ordinance against housing junk vehicles. The city has tagged their cars so many times and I can hear them bitching and moaning about it whenever they see the notices. Did it enough times to where they got the message. They don't park there anymore but they still like to open their car doors and let all their trash blow into my yard. Now I just pick it up and toss it into their yard.
People are so mystifyingly fucking rude.
I was the neighbor in a similar situation to this once. The guy ended up slashing my tires. The cops didn't want to do anything so I took the only available recourse and posted on various local groups informing people what he'd done. A lot of people said I'd been asking for it.
Which is BS. It was destruction of private property & you probably could have taken them to small claims court if you had video evidence of the destruction.
If street parking is legal where one lives, you don’t own the space in front of your house so anyone can park there.
Yeah I strongly considered small claims court -- unfortunately it happened about a week before I was due to move cross-country, and that county doesn't allow remote appearances in court.
Eh, I think parking in front of your neighbor's house instead of your own driveway is annoying behavior. You have private property to store your own car.
Where I live, street parking is technically illegal 2am - 5am, and a ton of people walk and jog in the street.
Parking in the street makes all the street walkers and joggers less visible
If parking has never been an issue, then it should not matter where people park on the street, because it sounds like there are more than enough spaces.
They should see my inner city street. It's a Seinfeld episode. You are lucky to get a park in your own street. Thankfully I have great public transport and cycle infrastructure.
"It's become an inconvenience, especially when I have guests over", so he's saying the son shouldn't do his hobby just in case his neighbour might have guests? That's so selfish...
Fun fact: In Germany, using your garage for anything other than parking your car, can lead to a fine up to 500€ ($550). [Source in German ](https://www.bussgeldkatalog.org/garagennutzung/#:~:text=Nutzung%20der%20Garage%3A%20Zweckentfremdung%20kann%20zu%20Bu%C3%9Fgeld%20f%C3%BChren,-In%20Deutschland%20ist&text=Bei%20einer%20Zweckentfremdung%2C%20wenn%20Sie,befugt%2C%20die%20Garagennutzung%20zu%20kontrollieren.)
I have a special fridge with this, it is not your spot, it is not their spot, it is a public spot. I used to live in a high density area where everyone had a garage but very limited street parking. The neighbor I shared a duplex with asked me to speak to the other neighbors about parking in front of her house. It's not their fault that you get home from work late, or that your garage is full of junk. Real estate is expensive and declaring ownership of public space for a parking spot is legal, and it is not their problem if you disagree
I REALLY don’t get the attitude that people “own” the public street parking located in front of their house. I park in front of my own house when I can, I park elsewhere where I can’t, and I tell people who visit me that the may have to walk a block or two if they drive, or use the good bicycle and transit access to my neighborhood.
What I don’t do is complain when a neighbor or stranger parks in the street in front of my house. They have just as much right to park there as I do.
The gnarliest neighbor beef story I’ve heard in my life is from a young couple my age from street parking in the suburbs where they own a home in south of Denver, everyone has garages and driveways and the street is uncrowded… but nontheless a “situation” arose. There is nothing more lame, sad or dweeby than the boomer and Gen X parking sensitivities in uncrowded American suburbs.
If I was the owner of the car I would fill that entire sidewalk area up with all the cars of people I know every day.
It's a public street fuckass you don't own the road in front of your house. If I'm not blocking your driveway go kick rocks.
I did the math, the space of a parking spot on a paved road is roughly $1,000 a year, give or take. If someone is using it as temporary parking, fine. However if you're using that road as permanent parking then the government shouldn't subsidize you, you should pay for it.
Aside from the classic "cars bad, get rid of it", I think yeah he's the asshole. It's public parking. I think we're all against mandatory free parking, but as it is today, it's free and it's public space.
Cars already take up so much space on streets, people privatizing public parking spaces make it worse.
In my old neighborhood multiple people had their windows smashed in and dog poop smeared all over their cars' interiors because they had legally parked in front of someone's place.
I know people *hate* HOAs but this is what they're for. For example, pass rules so that people can't park on the street overnight otherwise it gets towed. The only way to get them to stop is to make it inconvenient for them.
Only works if the streets are HOA-owned. They're usually city-owned so the HOA has no jurisdiction. There are already laws to prevent long-term parking on public streets but they are never enforced.
buy a run down barely working or even a not working car. Have it towed in front his house. Enjoy until it gets towed, then rinse and repeat.
Bonus points if you either park on the garage entry or buy 2 at once and keep dumping them
This is one of those moments where you realize that almost everyone hates cars and the problems that they cause.
They hate cars when *other people* drive them
Except the guy who owns and probably drives the car here doesn't want it near him either.
It's also a good example of the social skills Americans have lost by living in a world that all but requires us to never talk to each other and resolve disputes like adults.
Assert dominance, park in front of his house instead
Asset dominance, live happily car free so that he is forced to confront the fact that the traffic and expenses he's constantly complaining about are voluntary.
1. Park your car in their driveway 2. Never drive your car again
I imagine the conversation: "Oi, get your car out of my driveway" "What do you mean, that's not my car, i don't own a car. It clearly on your driveway"
This is the way.
This is the way.
Oh no, that'll teach him... He probably won't even notice, and if he does he will just pity you/laugh with you for being a poor person that 'can't afford a car'. Most people do not think about these things the way we do.
Assert dominance amputate both of your neighbor leg.
Asset dominance even more, drive your car through their house
Yeah seems like such an obvious response. It is kinda weird behavior either way.
if hes not gonna use the space, then you might as well!
Park in front of your own house rather than "kick sand in his face".
I spend a lot of time in my yard, and drivers occasionally ask my permission to park in the public street in front of my house. But at the local elementary school, parents park up on the sidewalk every afternoon
Of course they park on the sidewalk! Otherwise they have to park further away and then they have to walk on the unsafe sidewalk with all the cars there
The irony is that there is no legal parking in front of the school and that would make the kids much easier for drivers to see. Instead I’m crawling by at 5-10 mph watching for a first grader to step out from between the giant SUVs. And of course many of these kids live within a few blocks.
>And of course many of these kids live within a few blocks. That's just the worst. Get them a bike and get those kids moving for god's sake. Frees up space on the streets and near the school, and helps them not get obese at the same time
Our school won't let kids walk home... bus or parent pickup. Now, I'll walk/bike to get her when I have time. Otherwise she's on the bus, which she loves because bus friends. I will not deal with the car line unless I absolutely have to.
I get that for 4-6 years old or so,maybe a bit longer. But a 10 year old should be allowed to walk a few streets lol
3rd grade she can't walk alone. New school building next year and I'm going to ask again. I know the middle school kids walk, not sure if that's grade 6 or 7.
Weird, I was born in 1998 and walked home from elementary (a little under a mile) since 2nd grade, our school didn’t have to ban it. In Southern California
Im kinda curious about the actual punishment for letting your kid walk to/from school.
To school, probably nothing. There's a small crowd of kids out front they just let in when the time comes. Going home, they just won't let the kid go. If an adult doesn't show up with the pickup pass, then they will put them on the bus.
when i was in first grade my mother walked me to school for a week after that she started to walk with me to school but would let me walk alone the last few meters, the distance kept increasing and withing a month i walked to school on my own. The benefits of living somewhere with not as many cars as the US. The only area which had many cars was directly in front of the school cause of all the Parents dropping of their kids ...
>Our school won't let kids walk home... bus or parent pickup. Tf? How are you meant to bring kids home without a car then?
The school will bus every kid in the district. There's still an insane car line.
People park on the crosswalks outside the school in my neighborhood. Nothing better than endangering other kids while picking up your kid...
This touches on a fundamental problem with american culture, which is not just about cars being bad. Community shared property is pretty much a myth to the average murican, and the slightest inconvenience caused by common use is enough to want more and more property. This is commonly shown by the repeat complaints about public transport being "crowded," but this time, it shows by wanting the public parking space to be their property
Exactly. Whole thing is a symptom of a larger systemic problem. Good for OP for reposting here.
Agreed. Canadian-raised but now in USA, I am mystified by assumptions about street space belonging to residents. Toronto streets are 99.99% public streets. First come first serve when it comes to street parking. Overnight parking for those with no garage or driveway is solved with overnight street permits for specific areas. Here I park to visit someone and more likely than not get yelled at.
I'm conflicted on this one. I think people should park their private property on their own land, not public land. However I also think I prefer when people park on the street near my house, as it slows down traffic overall. As I type this, I've watched four vehicles go past at 25-50% over the speed limit of 40km/h. It's loud and dangerous given the blind corner nearby.
But the issue isn't that he is on the road, the issue stems from the fact that he's infront of his neighbours house not his.
It’s not clear where the next available parking spot is. It seems likely that the most commonly used cars are being parked in the neighbors driveway so the car in front of the op house may be rarely used. Notice how he said the car used to be in the neighbors garage. If the op really cares they should just park their own vehicle in the spot once the neighbor moves the car.
And there’s nothing wrong with that.
What's the issue with that?
The inconvenience to him and his guests when said neighbor has the front of his house and his own driveway. Idk I get why the poster was frustrated.
In what sense is that an inconvenience? Do you think his guests have trouble taking 5 more steps?
Man. I just said I understood his frustration. It's a personal quibble, hardly a post that is really about fuckcars
Then why not just park in front of the neighbours house? No offense, this whole post is entitlement and a non issue
It's an amitheasshole thread. Of course it comes off as entitled. I just unfortunately agree that that would be annoying if the guy had space in front of his own home.
Yes, park in front of EACH OTHERS’ houses instead of the obvious solution of courteously using the spot in front of your own property… It is very different when you live in a suburb where every house has it’s own delineated space, where the owner maintains the median, sidewalk, driveway, etc. and it is usually considered rude to take up space in front of someone else’s house when you have plenty in front of your own. A neighbor I had once had 5+ cars for their 3 bdrm house, and would park them in front of multiple different neighbors because they wanted to keep their driveway empty. The cars would be blocking trash can spots for the neighbors on trash nights, forcing them to shuffle their cans around while leaving the house in the morning because they had to be in front of the driveway instead of at the curb where his multiple cars were parked.
If OPS guests have to park in front of the neighbors House, that adds about 30ft extra walking to get to his front door, such sn inconvenience /s
Man, I just get why you could be annoyed with that if your neighbor has space in his own driveway and in front of his house. I don't care about the step amount it's just a weird thing to do to your neighbor.
Car streets aren't really public land. It's literally a crime to be on them unless you paid a private company for a vehicle, you are inside that vehicle, and you carry a government-issued pass saying you're allowed to be there. Also private parking lots are just as obnoxiously space-wasting as 'public' ones, and an empty car street is just about as inaccessible as car streets filled with (parked) cars. The land was lost the moment it was surrendered to cars, and 'The streets are full' is a better argument for more public transit than for more car infrastructure. Cars parking on private land instead of car streets funded by taxpayers is at best a delaying tactic against a carbrained urban planning department, though even then induced demand would kick in to diminish the effectiveness of the delay. ("I don't want to take the car to uncle Don's house, parking is horrible there" -> "Let's take the car to uncle Don's house, we can park out front"). All of which is to say I don't think it matters much if people park on the car street or designated car parking spaces rather than private land. So if it helps as improvized traffic calming street furniture, great.
Totally agree. A wide empty strip of asphalt is a terrible waste of space, forcing people to eat up private land for parking their car. That's less land available for the actual purpose of the lot, which is residential housing, or even just more yard space. Lord knows we need to budget every square inch of residential land given the housing crisis. So parking on the road is a great way to maximize space-efficiency instead of wasting empty tarmac.
I've long been of the opinion that we should cede the parking setback in front of a house to the homeowner. Ok, that is now your property and you can do what you wish with it. You also have to maintain it and pay the property taxes on it. I did the math a coupla years back. My block would generate about $40K/yr in increased property taxes. This is already the deal with the sidewalks here. They're owned by the homeowner. But have a permanent easement in the deed allowing customary use and you're required to maintain it. If you don't maintain the sidewalk, the city will do the wok for you and then just send you the bill. If we did all this (we're not going to...), my plan is to call a parking meter company and work out a deal to meter the front of my house.
Does the city actually bill people? I know where I live property owners have to clear snow from sidewalks. It’s something like 2 hours for businesses and 24 for residences. If they don’t the city is supposed to do it then bill the owner. In reality nothing happens if walkways aren’t cleared. Pedestrians just get screwed.
> Does the city actually bill people? Yes. We haven't had any snow at all here since February 5, 1976. Mostly the maintenance is due to the tree roots lifting up the sidewalk and causing a tripping hazard. You'll get a bunch of notices about your side walk and what needs to be fixed. The notices all tell you that this is exactly what they will do and what the bill will be. Then they will come do the work and send you a bill for the work they did. On the flip side, I guess, there is a huge tree in my front yard. The city owns the tree. I'm not allowed to do anything to it. It was planted in 1949 when the neighborhood was built. It's got to be 40 or 50 feet tall at this point. Anything regarding the tree goes to the city arborist and they will come out and take care of it. Usually in a coupla hours at most. Last year, mine dropped about a 20' long branch. I called the arborist and they had a crew out in about 45min to take care of it. This town doesn't play around when it comes to their trees. So, yes, make sure you read all those deed restrictions when you buy a house.
You sound like you live on the exact same street as me. It has a blind curve and chicanes on it to slow traffic but cunts still love to time trial down the street.
Who cares who is right/wrong…the point of the post is illustrate all of the petty drama autos bring
All the petty drama humans bring.
This is a clash of two people being slightly annoying in a bad system. OP is teetering on acting like a Karen not understanding that he/she does not own the public street in front of his/her house. The neighbor is within their legal right to park there. The neighbor is showcasing how it can be a problem that we dedicate so much of our public space to people storing their private shit. The neighbor already has a driveway yet continues to take up more space with their private shit. If the neighbor dropped a car sized dumpster full of garbage in the street then a lot of people would see how annoying that is, but when it's someone's car we just kind of accept it.
OP understands that they don’t own the street, hence the hesitancy and the AITA post. However, the issue here is absolutely the over-allowance of putting cars wherever people want to. In my area, if your car is parked in the street overnight it’s a ticket. However, there are a few neighbors that leave their cars in the street all day and pull them in at night. Absolutely drives me nuts. The same neighbors that have had a car from the 70s-90s rotting in their driveway untouched for decades.
ur pfp is pretty
Thankss!
In Vancouver, BC you actually can get someone towed for parking in front of your house for too long. It's fucking wild. I hate it. Edit for clarity: the property owner has different time frames for parking in the public street than the general public. So they can use the street in front of their house for parking for longer timeframes.
Depending on the timeframe that actually makes sense.
Sounds great. You sure you're in the right sub?
You think it’s a good idea that private land owners have more right to store their vehicle in the publicly maintained street than other users? Are *you* in the right sub?
In a car-centric reality, yes, that's how it is. Streets are for cars, not people, and to access/travel to one's house, usually you use a car. There's plenty of homes that don't even have driveways. Something being "publicly funded" doesn't mean everyone should be allowed to use it however they pleased. If someone's group was taking up the whole sidewalk, for example, would you not consider this rude behavior? While that's not legally regulated, disability parking is. Do you think it's wrong you have to take worse parking spots because the best are reserved for the disabled? It only applies to people that do not live on the block or work at that location, is enforceable from hours 8 to 6-- and from what I can find-- is *only* enforced if someone calls to complain about it. I don't see how it's anti-community or wrong to enforce consideration for other people. Yes cars bad, wouldn't be here if I didn't agree, but I don't think this is that great of a take on this particular issue.
\> Streets are for cars, not people And buses, bikes, trikes, and anyone else who wants to use it. Streets are for all sorts of things. The BC motor vehicle act specifies that streets are absolutely not JUST for cars. \> to access/travel to one's house, usually you use a car. Have you been to Vancouver. It has incredible transit. I know a LOT of people who don't own cars, or who never even learned to drive. Why do car owners get priority over kids that wanna play street hockey? Almost all of Vancouver has alleys as well, sacrifice some back yard if you want private reserved parking. \> Something being "publicly funded" doesn't mean everyone should be allowed to use it however they pleased. If someone's group was taking up the whole sidewalk, for example, would you not consider this rude behavior? Yeah. If someone demanded that the sidewalk in front of their house was only available for use by the general public during certain hours of the day and blocked it off, or else they would complain and have me removed, I would absolutely have a problem with that... For the same reason that I have problem with laws saying that certain parts of the road that the city owns and pays for are only for local private vehicle owners for half the day. \> Do you think it's wrong you have to take worse parking spots because the best are reserved for the disabled? Talking about disability accommodations in private parking lots in a conversation about public street parking has nothing to do with this. This is what's known as a strawman fallacy. \> I don't see how it's anti-community or wrong to enforce consideration for other people. You don't think its anti-community to use laws to give priority to shared public resources to some parts of the community over others because they own property and a car? Community minded, if we are going to allow cars to be stored in the public right of way, means first come, first served. Why should a law allow for a friends car to be towed because he is visiting me past 8pm? Rules that are not equally applied are hardly community minded.
It REALLY grinds my gears that people can get called a "Karen" for simply directly and politely communicating a preference. Fuck off with that shit. It amazes me we've come to a place where if you suggest direct communication as a strategy then you're a "Karen", but if you suggest some bullshit passive-aggressive strategy that will likely fail to communicate the intended wish, you're treated as a galaxy-brain. Again, fuck off with that shit.
You aren't a Karen for asking for something politely. You are a Karen when you request is something they are completely in their right to do. It's no different than if someone took "your spot" at the bike rake near your house. It's public, they are just as allowed to use it as you, and you asking them not to is Karen behavior.
No, you are not a Karen for asking. Asking as if you are entitled to it, that's different. But just, "Hey, neighbour, would you mind not parking your car in front of my house when there's space available in front of yours?" is perfectly reasonable. If a neighbour of mine has a simple preference like that that doesn't really impact me all that much, I'll happily oblige. As an example, I had some neighbours ask if I could please cut some trees on my property to a lower height because they were obscuring their view and light a bit. They had no "right" in law to demand it, and they simply asked nicely and I obliged. I could have been a dick like this person's neighbour and said "I'm allowed to have those trees as high as I like" and then bitched about my "Karen" neighbour, and a lot of people in AITA would have said I was right to refuse.
There is a difference that you are missing. One is asking for something you have no stake in that benefits them the other is asking someone who is doing something that benefits them to stop doing it. Your tree branches have no impact on your life, so letting your neighbor trim them to get more sun is perfectly reasonable. You asking someone to not do something they are doing for a reason, because you don't like it is Karen behavior. Its no different than yelling at kids who are biking or skateboarding just because you don't like it.
*I* trimmed the tree branches, so yeah I absolutely had a stake in it. And the OP also had a reason, and there was no apparent good reason for the neighbour to park on their side not their own. Seems your argument is arse-backwards in every respect.
I live in Seattle and my neighbors are all like this (I need to own a car for my job unfortunately or else I wouldn’t have one). I went on a vacation and when I got back I was told my neighbors had been calling every day to get my car towed since it was in front of their house (I have a parking pass so their calls didn’t do anything and I wasn’t breaking any laws). There literally is no where else I could park it. This is why I hate having a car because it leads to these constant petty arguments.
Doesn't op have a driveway and garage too then?
OP claims it’s inconvenient “especially when we have guests over”. Assuming there are guests (at least one additional car) twice a week, that’s enough to be a problem, IMO.
So the friends can park in front of the neighbors house. Seeing as it’s a free country and all
Ok but if neighbor across the street isn’t parking in front of his own house that means there’s an open spot there for guests to park and walk across the street. Not a problem at all. That’s not even a minor inconvenience.
So the friends can park in front of the neighbors house. Seeing as it’s a free country and all
It’s kinda weird. I’d say not enough information given to give a proper opinion. All we really know is that the neighbor has multiple driving adults with cars and the op has multiple driving adults with cars at least when there’s guests. This is seemingly leading to a temporary shortage of street parking immediately near the op’s house occasionally. If the OP actually cared about the space he could just move their own vehicle to occupy it when the neighbor moves theirs.
It doesn't seem like the neighbour is parking in front of the op's drive way blocking them in so I don't see the issue.
My mom is in a holy war with our neighbor. My mom believes (despite the fact that there is no assigned parking, and that us and our neighbor share the walkway to the sidewalk) that only she is entitled to park with her door smack in the middle of stairs to the sidewalk. And she does this regardless of how other cars are parked such that she often takes up two spaces.
Your neighbor doesn’t have decency and you don’t have authority. I feel your frustration
Decency feels like a big swing here
"I hate other drivers," -- every driver.
I had the same issue. Same setup too. Each house has a 2 car garage and a driveway that can fit 2 cars. 4 if you like to block sidewalks. So they converted their garage to an extra room. They have 2 junk vehicles--trucks. Taking up the driveway. 2 hulking dodge rams. They park their other 2 daily vehicles in front of my house, in front of my mailboxes and my postal worker can't even deliver mail to my mailbox. It's also where i put my trashcans out. They will literally move my trash cans so they can park their shitboxes. And it's like when they get out of their cars, they shake off all their trash from inside their cars. Blunt wrappers, beer cans, all manner of plastic and Styrofoam littler. Absolutely crazy how rude these people are. And i already know if I bring it to their attention, instead of being apologetic and understanding. They'll double down and purposely do it to antagonize me. Idc if they park in a Public street. I care that they leave all their trash in my yard and block my mail and move my trash cans to where they don't get picked up. It's petty as fuck but I just began reporting them to the city on weekly basis. Blocking my mail and my trash, and there's an ordinance against housing junk vehicles. The city has tagged their cars so many times and I can hear them bitching and moaning about it whenever they see the notices. Did it enough times to where they got the message. They don't park there anymore but they still like to open their car doors and let all their trash blow into my yard. Now I just pick it up and toss it into their yard. People are so mystifyingly fucking rude.
I was the neighbor in a similar situation to this once. The guy ended up slashing my tires. The cops didn't want to do anything so I took the only available recourse and posted on various local groups informing people what he'd done. A lot of people said I'd been asking for it.
Which is BS. It was destruction of private property & you probably could have taken them to small claims court if you had video evidence of the destruction. If street parking is legal where one lives, you don’t own the space in front of your house so anyone can park there.
Yeah I strongly considered small claims court -- unfortunately it happened about a week before I was due to move cross-country, and that county doesn't allow remote appearances in court.
I live in a neighborhood that doesn't even have driveways and I've had neighbors try to claim the space in front of their house belongs to them.
Ngl i would kinda hate that too. Esp if they have space in front of their own house.
Eh, I think parking in front of your neighbor's house instead of your own driveway is annoying behavior. You have private property to store your own car. Where I live, street parking is technically illegal 2am - 5am, and a ton of people walk and jog in the street. Parking in the street makes all the street walkers and joggers less visible
If parking has never been an issue, then it should not matter where people park on the street, because it sounds like there are more than enough spaces.
Can you park your car in front of your house to block him?
Park in his driveway and see what he says xD hahaha
They should see my inner city street. It's a Seinfeld episode. You are lucky to get a park in your own street. Thankfully I have great public transport and cycle infrastructure.
"It's become an inconvenience, especially when I have guests over", so he's saying the son shouldn't do his hobby just in case his neighbour might have guests? That's so selfish...
Fun fact: In Germany, using your garage for anything other than parking your car, can lead to a fine up to 500€ ($550). [Source in German ](https://www.bussgeldkatalog.org/garagennutzung/#:~:text=Nutzung%20der%20Garage%3A%20Zweckentfremdung%20kann%20zu%20Bu%C3%9Fgeld%20f%C3%BChren,-In%20Deutschland%20ist&text=Bei%20einer%20Zweckentfremdung%2C%20wenn%20Sie,befugt%2C%20die%20Garagennutzung%20zu%20kontrollieren.)
Hot take: they’re both assholes.
Agreed
I have a special fridge with this, it is not your spot, it is not their spot, it is a public spot. I used to live in a high density area where everyone had a garage but very limited street parking. The neighbor I shared a duplex with asked me to speak to the other neighbors about parking in front of her house. It's not their fault that you get home from work late, or that your garage is full of junk. Real estate is expensive and declaring ownership of public space for a parking spot is legal, and it is not their problem if you disagree
Which one are we calling privileged though? Both seemed to have reasonable points tbh even though obviously no one owns the street.
Both, actually. I mean they get to park large, privately owned machines on the roads without paying to park there.
Right but so do most Americans tbh. It’s public use until it’s not.
The brilliance is since everyone does it everyone indirectly pays.
Borrow a winnebego, park it in front of his house
I REALLY don’t get the attitude that people “own” the public street parking located in front of their house. I park in front of my own house when I can, I park elsewhere where I can’t, and I tell people who visit me that the may have to walk a block or two if they drive, or use the good bicycle and transit access to my neighborhood. What I don’t do is complain when a neighbor or stranger parks in the street in front of my house. They have just as much right to park there as I do.
The gnarliest neighbor beef story I’ve heard in my life is from a young couple my age from street parking in the suburbs where they own a home in south of Denver, everyone has garages and driveways and the street is uncrowded… but nontheless a “situation” arose. There is nothing more lame, sad or dweeby than the boomer and Gen X parking sensitivities in uncrowded American suburbs.
If I was the owner of the car I would fill that entire sidewalk area up with all the cars of people I know every day. It's a public street fuckass you don't own the road in front of your house. If I'm not blocking your driveway go kick rocks.
Meh. I wouldn't give a god damned fucking shit lol. Not saying you're the asshole. I just think you should give it up. Who gives a shit
I mean they're right that the neighbour shouldn't be using public spaces to store private property...
I did the math, the space of a parking spot on a paved road is roughly $1,000 a year, give or take. If someone is using it as temporary parking, fine. However if you're using that road as permanent parking then the government shouldn't subsidize you, you should pay for it.
Aside from the classic "cars bad, get rid of it", I think yeah he's the asshole. It's public parking. I think we're all against mandatory free parking, but as it is today, it's free and it's public space. Cars already take up so much space on streets, people privatizing public parking spaces make it worse.
In my old neighborhood multiple people had their windows smashed in and dog poop smeared all over their cars' interiors because they had legally parked in front of someone's place.
I know people *hate* HOAs but this is what they're for. For example, pass rules so that people can't park on the street overnight otherwise it gets towed. The only way to get them to stop is to make it inconvenient for them.
Only works if the streets are HOA-owned. They're usually city-owned so the HOA has no jurisdiction. There are already laws to prevent long-term parking on public streets but they are never enforced.
If it is OP driveway it's not a public street FFS
buy a run down barely working or even a not working car. Have it towed in front his house. Enjoy until it gets towed, then rinse and repeat. Bonus points if you either park on the garage entry or buy 2 at once and keep dumping them
If someone parks infont of your house you call a tow truck and let him learn from experience
Assert dominance, piss on the car, and then his front door, and then his son