When my neighbor was younger, he used to come by and do our berm with his snow blower. Always greatly appreciated.
I suppose on a sense they did that this year, too, as the snow plow guy who cleared a lot of my driveway cleared theirs, first.
I mean, it all depends. When I was in my 30s, I was certainly physically capable of shoveling my entire long driveway even if was only 3-5 inches, but the snowblower did it in 1/3 the time, and I wasn’t freezing & exhausted & sore when I was done. And I had a big enough garage that I didn’t mind giving it the space.
Yep - having the storage space makes so much difference.
Everyone’s experience differs. But when I see my neighbors with their 2-stagers, they look like overkill in all but the heaviest snows. I agree that for all but the lightest snows, the blower makes it ridiculously fast and easy. (And - sorta stupidly - it is sorta fun flinging the snow!) Something like this seems to be the most common in my suburban neighborhood - including mine. https://www.toro.com/en/product/38474 Has to be a MAJOR snow for mine not to be able to handle it. VERY deep AND heavy. And even with that, I can handle it by doing it several times during the snow. Sure, if I had the big 2-stage, I could just wait for the snow to end.
Another point - coincidentally this morning I saw the woman across the street trying - unsuccessfully - to get her Toro 1-stage to start. Snowblowers are pretty simple mechanical devices. But they are mechanical devices, and if you are not mechanically minded, or the type of person who performs minimal maintenance, there is the possibility that they could fail when you most need them. Not saying don’t get one. But don’t think you can completely ignore them, pay no attention to how they work, and just think they will work perfectly whenever needed.