# Neighbors who simply MUST park in front of my house **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 19, 2012, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neighbors-who-simply-must-park-in-front-of-my-house/644571 "2012-12-19T20:51:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![RobDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f07891/32.png) [@RobDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobDog)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2012, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neighbors-who-simply-must-park-in-front-of-my-house/644571/61 "2012-12-20T14:41:35Z")
> [@Morgenstern](#): > > If I read that correctly, you have a house with 1 parking space in front of it, no driveway and no other off street parking? I would think you would have noticed that before committing to that particular house. Well I don’t know where **spinky** lives, but you’ve described something like 95% of central London, so there’s really no choice. I also have to pay, handsomely, for the “privilege” of parking my car _anywhere_ on my street in the form of a yearly permit. Look, I personally really don’t mind if anyone parks in front of my house at all. What I do object to though is taking shit if I ask that person politely to move if I have a valid reason to want to park outside my house occasionally (see my post above). Who’s the self-entitled one in that scenario? ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2012, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neighbors-who-simply-must-park-in-front-of-my-house/644571/62 "2012-12-20T14:57:30Z")
> [@Cheesesteak](#): > > So a neighbor, who has a choice of where to park, chooses the front of my house instead of the front of his own house, thus giving himself a longer walk, I wonder why. What is his game? What caused him to stop 75ft shy of his house? All he had to do was let up on the brakes a little and he’d give himself a shorter walk into his front door, but he’s refusing to do so, and it makes no sense. When I’ve seen that happen, it’s usually for one of the following reasons. - The parking space in front of house A is across the street from the driveway apron of house C. On more than one occasion, the residents of house C backed their cars into the side of a car parked in front of house A. - The street curves in a way where, if a car is parked in front of house A, someone backing out of the driveway from house A can’t get a clear view of oncoming traffic. - Street trees in front of house A are “dirty”, dropping pollen, sap, nuts or branches onto the street. It’s a problem with silver maples in some areas; they grow fast and are tolerant of salt, but they’re brittle. - The owner is an older person. They might be the type who wouldn’t dream of entering their house through the front door, because they see it as being for guests and special occasions. They might see the on-street parking in front of their house in the same way; they’re saving it for special occasions., like if the Pope decides to visit. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2012, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neighbors-who-simply-must-park-in-front-of-my-house/644571/63 "2012-12-20T15:07:26Z")
But what if the Pope wants to visit me? He’ll see that the front of my house has a car in it, and he’ll go on to the next one… my neighbor’s! Clever and devious, my neighbors are. ---
**Author:** ![brazil84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8491ac/32.png) [@brazil84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brazil84)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2012, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neighbors-who-simply-must-park-in-front-of-my-house/644571/64 "2012-12-20T15:09:45Z")
> [@elbows](#): > > Count me as not understanding why people find this offensive. Completely baffles me. Also it’s a public street, anyone can park there any time. Well is there any use of public property which is legal but you still find annoying? For example, would you find it annoying if a homeless person stood in front of your house all day and asked your children for money every time they went out or came in? What if you were sitting on an empty bus and a smelly person got on the bus and decided to sit in the seat right next to you. Would you find that annoying? What if you were sitting in a public park, eating an ice cream cone and a stranger walked up to you and started questioning and criticizing your eating habits? > [@](#): > > And I’m glad I don’t live in any such tightass community that spends an iota of time worrying about something so trivial. Well I’m glad that trivial things do not bother you. I congratulate you on your awesomeness. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2012, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neighbors-who-simply-must-park-in-front-of-my-house/644571/65 "2012-12-20T15:11:51Z")
Around here, cars left in the street overnight get ticketed. Cuts down on that noise. ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2012, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neighbors-who-simply-must-park-in-front-of-my-house/644571/66 "2012-12-20T15:26:00Z")
> [@brazil84](#): > > Well is there any use of public property which is legal but you still find annoying? > > For example, would you find it annoying if a homeless person stood in front of your house all day and asked your children for money every time they went out or came in? > > What if you were sitting on an empty bus and a smelly person got on the bus and decided to sit in the seat right next to you. Would you find that annoying? > > What if you were sitting in a public park, eating an ice cream cone and a stranger walked up to you and started questioning and criticizing your eating habits? > > Well I’m glad that trivial things do not bother you. I congratulate you on your awesomeness. 1. I’d call the police and report him. It’s their job to determine if he’s a threat, not mine. 2. I’d change seats. 3. I’d move on, it’s a public park. See, I resolved all your problems without raising my blood pressure a single point. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2012, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neighbors-who-simply-must-park-in-front-of-my-house/644571/67 "2012-12-20T15:27:02Z")
> [@Cheesesteak](#): > > If you live there, you generally know when parking is open and when it’s crowded, it’s not difficult to know that a car which is always in front of your house, and never in front of the other house is there by choice. They’re always in front of your house - never in front of the house on the other side or across the street?And you know not just that they parked during a time when it’s easy to park but specifically that the space in front of their house was open at that time? And you know they used the car in between, not that the car was parked on Friday and not moved until Monday? Or is it that you expect them to constantly keep looking for when the spot in front of their house opens up and then immediately move the car from the front of your house.I am almost never parked in front of my house- but it’s not by choice. Most of the time, when I get home the space in front of my house is occupied - either by parent or teacher from the school at the corner or someone from the senior center on the corner or someone visiting one of the neighbors or a neighbor who has one of the former people parked in front of their own house. I will park in front of my own house if the space is open, but I will not suspend my life to see if the space opens up later. > [@](#): > > And there’s no way in hell I’m going to challenge a neighbor on where they park their car. > > There’s illegal and then there’s just rude. This is rude because THEY value having the front of their house open and gain that value by taking it away from me. \*If \*that’s really why they’re parked in front of your house and \*if \*you also value having the front of your house open, then I suppose it’s inconsiderate more than rude. Although I sort of wonder about a place where street parking is legal and 1) if your one annoying neighbor doesn’t park in front of your house, no one else will and 2)the view if no one is parked in front of your house is likely to be something other than the car parked directly across the street. > [@](#): > > Analogy, neighbor has a garage light, and because they find the light annoying, choose to point it away from their home’s windows, which happens to mean pointing it at my windows. Is that rude? Maybe - or maybe they’re just clueless. If it bothered me I’d ask them to move it. I wouldn’t even consider that a “challenge” . ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2012, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neighbors-who-simply-must-park-in-front-of-my-house/644571/68 "2012-12-20T15:33:41Z")
> [@brazil84](#): > > Well is there any use of public property which is legal but you still find annoying? There are plenty of uses of public and private property I find annoying- but rudeness is not measured by my annoyance and there’s no point in me raising my blood pressure because my neighbor painted his house like the Partridge Family bus. (there really is a house like that, not on my block, but a few blocks away) ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2012, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neighbors-who-simply-must-park-in-front-of-my-house/644571/69 "2012-12-20T15:49:11Z")
> [@](#): > > 1. I’d call the police and report him. It’s their job to determine if he’s a threat, not mine. > > 2. I’d change seats. > > 3. I’d move on, it’s a public park. > > See, I resolved all your problems without raising my blood pressure a single point. Nailed it! Life’s pretty easy if you don’t let stuff you can’t change annoy you! ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2012, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neighbors-who-simply-must-park-in-front-of-my-house/644571/70 "2012-12-20T16:37:55Z")
> [@Cheesesteak](#): > > It’s kind of like the “urinal game” where there is apparently a set of rules regarding which urinal a man is supposed to use. Normally, I don’t care, but if there’s a bank of 20 open urinals and you sidle up next to the one I’m using, I’ll wonder why. If you always use the one next to mine, regardless of where I pee, I’ll wonder why. How _you_ doin’? ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2012, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neighbors-who-simply-must-park-in-front-of-my-house/644571/71 "2012-12-20T16:42:44Z")
> [@PunditLisa](#): > > We’ve had lots of threads re this. I absolutely agree that it’s courteous for drivers to park in front of their own house, if there’s a spot available there. However, since there’s nothing illegal about it, your choices are to either befriend them and humbly request that they move their cars elsewhere, or to suck it up. > > BTW, in this situation, I think it was the OPer who was the biggest dick: > > 1. How was DH1 supposed to know that it was moving day? Did you swing by beforehand and let him know? If not, why did you expect him to accommodate you? He doesn’t know what he doesn’t know. > > 2. When you realized that you couldn’t access your house, did you knock on his door so that you could explain the situation and ask him if he’d mind moving the truck BEFORE parking the van in his driveway? That would have been the courteous thing to do. > > 3. Before plopping the moving truck in his driveway, did you knock on his door and ask permission? If not, you trespassed on his property. That’s passive-aggressive, not to mention illegal. YOU were the aggressor here, and you’re the one who started the relationship off on a bad note. > > . 🆒 Yes, and why couldn’t the Op use their own driveway? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![brazil84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8491ac/32.png) [@brazil84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brazil84)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2012, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neighbors-who-simply-must-park-in-front-of-my-house/644571/72 "2012-12-20T16:53:42Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > There are plenty of uses of public and private property I find annoying- but rudeness is not measured by my annoyance So if somebody did something which annoyed you; and that person should know it annoyed you but they did it anyway without any good reason, you would not necessarily see it as rude? > [@](#): > > and there’s no point in me raising my blood pressure because my neighbor painted his house like the Partridge Family bus. Well there is no point in getting annoyed at most annoying things in this world. I myself find myself regularly getting annoyed anyway at annoyances, even if it is pointless. If you have conscious control over such feelings, then I congratulate you on your awesomeness. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2012, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neighbors-who-simply-must-park-in-front-of-my-house/644571/73 "2012-12-20T16:54:20Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > 🆒 > Yes, and why couldn’t the Op use their own driveway? 😕 That’s where he keeps his boat, motor home and '68 Corvette that he’s been rebuilding for the last sixteen years. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2012, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neighbors-who-simply-must-park-in-front-of-my-house/644571/74 "2012-12-20T17:39:31Z")
> [@Morgenstern](#): > > 1. I’d call the police and report him. It’s their job to determine if he’s a threat, not mine. > > 2. I’d change seats. > > 3. I’d move on, it’s a public park. > > See, I resolved all your problems without raising my blood pressure a single point. But if it doesn’t annoy you, why are you taking any action at all in the first place? If it’s not annoying, why not let the homeless guy stay, and stay in your seat and smell the smelly guy or let the guy harangue you for as long as he likes? Wasn’t that the whole point of the question you were responding to - finding things that are legal, but happen to be annoying to you? I thought it was about your personal emotional reaction to it, not to your actions. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2012, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neighbors-who-simply-must-park-in-front-of-my-house/644571/75 "2012-12-20T17:42:06Z")
Wait, you can smell your neighbor’s car? In that case you shoudl be annoyed. I thought you just had this weird sense of entitlement to property that doesn’t belong to you. ---
**Author:** ![FlyingDragonFan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c89c15/32.png) [@FlyingDragonFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlyingDragonFan)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2012, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neighbors-who-simply-must-park-in-front-of-my-house/644571/76 "2012-12-20T17:44:56Z")
I had a next door neighbor on a street where the houses were all fairly narrow, so there wasn’t much room in front of each and every house. You could squeeze two cars in there, but it was tight. One time a friend of ours came over and parked in front of the neighbor’s house, and then we all left in my car, which had been parked in our driveway. We came home to find the neighbor parked in _our_ driveway, instead of _hers_. I went over to find out what was what, and she yelled at me for there being a car in front of her house. Being that she was kind of on the kooky, screamy side of things anyway, I just had our friend move their car down the street, rather than deal with her. Fortunately issues like that with her were fairly rare. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2012, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neighbors-who-simply-must-park-in-front-of-my-house/644571/77 "2012-12-20T17:49:40Z")
> [@brazil84](#): > > So if somebody did something which annoyed you; and that person should know it annoyed you but they did it anyway without any good reason, you would not necessarily see it as rude? If someone did something that they _knew_ annoyed me, for no good reason, I might see it as inconsiderate. I don’t expect people to read my mind , I might have no good reason to be annoyed and to my mind, “rude” implies breaking a rule that is more commonly accepted than this one is. Cutting in line- rude. Even the line-cutters believe its rude when they are the victims. Parking in front of someone else’s house- some people think it’s rude, inconsiderate, etc while others believe it’s a fact of life. > [@](#): > > Well there is no point in getting annoyed at most annoying things in this world. I myself find myself regularly getting annoyed anyway at annoyances, even if it is pointless. If you have conscious control over such feelings, then I congratulate you on your awesomeness. It’s not awesomeness , nor is it conscious control. It’s more of an attitude. Why get upset about what I can’t change? So I can be angry/annoyed all the time? ---
**Author:** ![curlcoat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea5d25/32.png) [@curlcoat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curlcoat)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2012, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neighbors-who-simply-must-park-in-front-of-my-house/644571/78 "2012-12-20T18:11:50Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > I’ve posted about this before, but can someone explain exactly why you are bothered by this? I just don’t get it. Did you read the thread? I don’t remember what others have said, but in my case it meant that I couldn’t put our trash cans out (not cool on hot S Cal summers), they sometimes blocked driveways and I don’t think I mentioned this earlier, one of them had a habit of leaving trash in one of the big flower pots on the boulevard. And in my case, they didn’t _need_ to park in front of our house - for some reason they wouldn’t park in front of their own house. > [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > Also, to not have 15 cars in a residential neighbourhood so you take up all the spaces around you. Most residential neighbourhoods aren’t zoned for someone operating a junkyard out of their house. That too! Our offending neighbors have five cars in a house that, garage and driveway, could hold three of them (tho not any more as they made the garage into a bedroom). It would help if they didn’t think they needed 2 huge SUVs and a very long classic car (which needs a muffler so it would quit setting off the alarm in our truck). ---
**Author:** ![brazil84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8491ac/32.png) [@brazil84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brazil84)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2012, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neighbors-who-simply-must-park-in-front-of-my-house/644571/79 "2012-12-20T18:22:30Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > If someone did something that they _knew_ annoyed me, for no good reason, I might see it as inconsiderate. I don’t expect people to read my mind , I might have no good reason to be annoyed and to my mind, “rude” implies breaking a rule that is more commonly accepted than this one is. Cutting in line- rude. Even the line-cutters believe its rude when they are the victims. Parking in front of someone else’s house- some people think it’s rude, inconsiderate, etc while others believe it’s a fact of life. Well, if somebody decides to park in front of your house (without any other reason), presumably they do so because they perceive some value in not having a car parked in front of their house. So they are doing something to others they would prefer not to have done to themselves. Even if it’s not written in any etiquette book, common sense should tell them not to do it. > [@](#): > > It’s not awesomeness , nor is it conscious control. It’s more of an attitude. Well I congratulate you on your great attitude. > [@](#): > > Why get upset about what I can’t change? So I can be angry/annoyed all the time? Well a lot of us lesser beings have feelings which are difficult to control. For example, if I am driving in the city and I get stuck behind a cabbie who blocks the road to drop off a customer when he could easily have pulled over, I get annoyed even if the delay is only for a minute or two. I realize it’s a fact of life in the city, but I still get annoyed about it. Probably if you measure my blood pressure, you’d find it’s slightly higher than before I got stuck behind that cab. Perhaps I would end up living a year or two longer if I had your superior attitude. ---
**Author:** ![spinky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@spinky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spinky)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2012, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neighbors-who-simply-must-park-in-front-of-my-house/644571/80 "2012-12-20T18:25:40Z")
> [@elbows](#): > > I completely disagree that it’s widely believed and understood to be polite, to not park in front of your neighbours house. This thread clearly demonstrates it is not. This seems to be an overstatement. I believe it would be more correct to say that it’s widely believed and understood to be polite to _prefer_ parking near your house instead of your neighbor’s. I’m parked in front of my neighbor’s house right now because someone was parked in front of mine when I got home the other day, and I haven’t moved my truck yet. At some point (probably today), I’ll go move my truck back to my side of the street so he can park there, since he currently can’t park directly in front of his house. I don’t consider it a big deal, but it seems like common courtesy. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neighbors-who-simply-must-park-in-front-of-my-house/644571.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/neighbors-who-simply-must-park-in-front-of-my-house/644571.md?page=5)