# Parking on Residential St.s **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 14, 2005, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parking-on-residential-st-s/316941 "2005-08-14T06:25:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2005, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parking-on-residential-st-s/316941/21 "2005-08-15T16:13:44Z")
> [@Balthisar](#): > > How about new subdivisions, the kind where they’re privately built? Do covenants typically cover such (other than an outright ban)? My parents’ old subdivision had strictly-enforced parking restrictions. You could park in your garage, driveway, or within your property line. IOW, your car could be parked on the street, but only if it fit within “your” piece of the curb. These were in their HOA agreement, and were enforced by HOA officers. Robin ---
**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:** [August 16, 2005, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parking-on-residential-st-s/316941/22 "2005-08-16T15:16:47Z")
> [@Balthisar](#): > > Cars parked in front of houses really cheapen the look of an area. I spend all this time on my lawn and the landscape, only to have some POS, rusted station wagon to look at from my window, or have someone think it’s mine? However, they provide an additional buffer between the sidewalk and a street, increasing the perception of safety and comfort for pedestrians. Increasing the amount of on-street parking is also being used for traffic calming in some areas now. In cities where people put chairs and whatnot in front of their houses to reserve spots, it’s more of a custom, and there’s no law where such spaces are reserved for residents. There are some exceptions, like cities and towns that have a resident parking sticker program, but they don’t entitle you to reserve certain space. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2005, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parking-on-residential-st-s/316941/23 "2005-08-16T17:22:36Z")
> [@Balthisar](#): > > I spend all this time on my lawn and the landscape, only to have some POS, rusted station wagon to look at from my window, or have someone think it’s mine? Someone might think it’s yours?!? So it’s okay to park a Maserati in front of your house, but not a Yugo? I can park my nice, shiny car there, but if it gets dented up I have to go somewhere else until it’s fixed? That’s a pretty shallow attitude, isn’t it? Here’s something I really and truly don’t get. If parking is very important to you, why not live somewhere that has a parking space or garage? It’s all a matter of priorities. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2005, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parking-on-residential-st-s/316941/24 "2005-08-16T17:45:06Z")
> [@InvisibleWombat](#): > > Someone might think it’s yours?!? So it’s okay to park a Maserati in front of your house, but not a Yugo? I can park my nice, shiny car there, but if it gets dented up I have to go somewhere else until it’s fixed? That’s a pretty shallow attitude, isn’t it? Well, is the Yugo in good condition or can I see through the non-window part of the doors? In any case, no, you don’t have to go someplace else. That’s the point. You can leave your dinged up car there all you want, and _I_ have to be the one to look at it. It’s something I accept, but I don’t have to like it. That’s not a shallow attitude at all. I guess I shouldn’t have done landscaping or cut the lawn or done anything to improve the appearance of my home so that I wouldn’t be called shallow. Hell, if you take your car to get fixed instead of letting it just stay dinged, then you’re the shallow one! 😛 > [@](#): > > Here’s something I really and truly don’t get. If parking is very important to you, why not live somewhere that has a parking space or garage? It’s all a matter of priorities. In my case, I did. I never had to park in the street. I had a long driveway and a garage. Had I the requirement to park in the street, I wouldn’t have had a problem with POS vehicles; I’d’ve just left one of our cars there all the time. But most of the time there was no car in front of my house, and no car most of the time is still better than a nice car all of the time. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2005, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parking-on-residential-st-s/316941/25 "2005-08-16T17:52:55Z")
> [@elmwood](#): > > However, they provide an additional buffer between the sidewalk and a street, increasing the perception of safety and comfort for pedestrians. Increasing the amount of on-street parking is also being used for traffic calming in some areas now. Oops, meant to add that this must be only in certain areas. Talking about my area – it’s southeast Michigan BTW – the vast majority of the houses in desireable, non-rich neighborhoods are detached single family residences, all of which have driveways, many of which have garages, some of which are attached or non-attached. Lot sizes vary; in my current house the 0.5 acre is considered absolutely huge, but the house is an totally average one-story ranch. Having cars on the street at all is a sign of the older, less desireable neighborhoods where street parking was the only type of parking, because the houses are built practically one on top of the other (new subs are going back to this style for some reason, but at least they have integral garages now). When cars are parked up and down the entire length of a street, it looks tacky considering our neighborhood. So, my statements aren’t meant to be snobbish; they’re meant to reflect the culture where I live. Another good example is that apparently people out east view row houses as being high class. Culturally that’s shocking to me, but it’s a whole other region. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2005, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parking-on-residential-st-s/316941/26 "2005-08-16T18:22:09Z")
> [@Balthisar](#): > > In my case, I did. I never had to park in the street. Sorry, I didn’t make it clear that the second paragraph of my post wasn’t directed at you; it was a side comment. What I was saying to you, **Balthisar** is that I have a problem with people feeling that certain things are “beneath” them or their neighborhood. My parents used to live in a townhouse complex where you weren’t allowed to wash your car on the premises, or work on the car _in your garage with the garage door closed_. I lived in a subdivision where you weren’t allowed to leave a trailer on your property longer than 24 hours. That kind of elitist attitude bugs me no end. I feel that telling someone they can’t bring a beater into the neighborhood is snobbish and shallow. It’s a way of chasing out the lower classes. I used to live in a 3,500 square foot house in a very nice neighborhood, and people visiting us and our neighbors drove all kinds of cars. Sometimes there’d be a Mercedes or Jaguar in front of the house, and sometimes there’d be a trashed out Honda Accord. That’s just life. Some people are beautiful and some are ugly. The same goes for their cars. What’s the big deal? ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2005, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parking-on-residential-st-s/316941/27 "2005-08-16T19:51:08Z")
> [@InvisibleWombat](#): > > What I was saying to you, **Balthisar** is that I have a problem with people feeling that certain things are “beneath” them or their neighborhood. My parents used to live in a townhouse complex where you weren’t allowed to wash your car on the premises, or work on the car _in your garage with the garage door closed_. I lived in a subdivision where you weren’t allowed to leave a trailer on your property longer than 24 hours. That kind of elitist attitude bugs me no end. Yeah, I see what you mean, and I agree with you. When I moved I made sure there was no intrusive HOA. I’m not talking about things going on in general in the neighborhood, but _right in front of my very house_. I’m not talking about the occasional guests. I’m lucky that it wasn’t a ritual ordeal for me. It seriously affects quality of life. When things like that start happening on a regular basis, it’s the same thing as having a neighbor with missing siding. Or overgrown weeds. Or a car up on blocks. It’s a genuine concern. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2005, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parking-on-residential-st-s/316941/28 "2005-08-16T20:23:13Z")
I remember an interview with a community relations officer for the St. Louis Police a few years ago. When they asked him the most common complaint he dealt with, he sighed and said “No, you do not have any legal right to a street parking space in front of your house.” ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2005, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parking-on-residential-st-s/316941/29 "2005-08-16T21:58:57Z")
> [@Balthisar](#): > > Yeah, I see what you mean, and I agree with you. When I moved I made sure there was no intrusive HOA. What’s HOA? Homeowners Association? Man, my parents lived in a place with a really bad one. They were a bunch of control freaks. They had an approved color list for the houses, and an approved mailbox list. There was no parking on the street allowed _at all_. If a visitor’s car didn’t fit in the driveway, they had to park in a lot several blocks away. No dogs over 18" tall at the shoulder. It was crazy. > [@Balthisar](#): > > It seriously affects quality of life. When things like that start happening on a regular basis, it’s the same thing as having a neighbor with missing siding. Or overgrown weeds. Or a car up on blocks. It’s a genuine concern. I’ve had neighbors with missing siding and overgrown weeds. Genuine concern? Nah. It’s just some missing siding and big weeds. Quality of life? How do _their_ weeds affect _your_ quality of life? Okay, I can see it if their tree is hanging over the fence dumping stuff on your lawn. I would definitely complain if their dog tore up your flowers. If their car alarm was going off at two in the morning, I’d have a fit. But who cares what their lawn, car, or driveway looks like? Everybody has different priorities. I mow my lawn about once every three weeks. I have friends that mow theirs twice a week. I don’t tell them how to do theirs and they don’t tell me how to do mine. Life’s a lot more pleasant when you relax and learn to live and let live. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/parking-on-residential-st-s/316941.md?page=1)