# Would you mind if someone parked in front of your house? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 5, 2026, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-mind-if-someone-parked-in-front-of-your-house/1031446 "2026-07-05T23:42:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Bayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bayaker/32/3454_2.png) [@Bayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bayaker)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2026, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-mind-if-someone-parked-in-front-of-your-house/1031446/41 "2026-07-06T14:23:56Z")
I voted “It depends” because occasionally a neighbor will have a party or a garage sale, or whatever, so there is occasionally a need for some people to park in front of my house for a while. I don’t even think about it. But on an everyday basis people don’t park in front of others’ houses. Mostly they don’t park on the road even in front of their own houses. A quick check of Google maps tells me that every property in my neighborhood has at least 125’ of road frontage, and the shortest driveway is about 75’(most are longer) It would be odd for a visitor to park in front of my house, and I would wonder _why_ they are there. I think if someone parked there overnight I would be at least mildly concerned. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2026, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-mind-if-someone-parked-in-front-of-your-house/1031446/42 "2026-07-06T15:03:48Z")
As long as you don’t block a driveway I don’t care. It’s a public street. Houses where I grew up all had garages. Our family never parked in the street unless we went to someone else’s house. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2026, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-mind-if-someone-parked-in-front-of-your-house/1031446/43 "2026-07-06T15:03:56Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > Since 2020, when we inherited a car from my late father-in-law, we’ve had 3 vehicles, but only a 2-car garage, so one of our vehicles – my wife’s Mazda SUV – gets parked on the street in front of our house. > > I don’t really care if someone I don’t know parks in front of my house, but my wife, who suffers from a bit of Gladys Kravitz-itis, does. “Whose car is that? Why are they out there?” She understands that we don’t own that space, but it still irks her. It should be noted that my wife has bad legs, and can’t easily walk very far; Why doesn’t her car get one of your garage spaces? Do the other drivers in your house also have trouble walking? > [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > We’re on a dirt road in a rural area. It would be weird, and therefore concerning. I live in the last house on a dead end road. The nearest neighbor’s drive is about 800 feet down the road. If you park in front of my house, you’re parking at my house. If you go off and leave your car there, if you leave it in the wrong spot you may be blocking some large piece of farm equipment which needs to get through. If you’re just sitting there in the car, I’m likely to show up and ask you, politely, what you’re doing there; probably just by walking up and saying hi, and standing there clearly expecting a reply. (Most likely you’re lost, and possibly afraid of the big black dog bouncing wildly around the car. I’ll give you directions — GPS sometimes has them wrong — and try to corral the dog. But you might be looking for me, or for a neighbor, or be taking pictures. I once let somebody come in who was hunting for a public bathroom, the nearest one being some miles off and her shoes not being suited for hiking out of sight into the woods.) It actually isn’t legal to park on the street here, except in the village; but people often don’t realize that the turnaround is part of the street, plus which there’s very little traffic so if you stay more or less with the car you can stay there a while. i used to live in a village. I never cared who parked on the street, as long as they didn’t block my driveway; which was usually only a problem during festival weekend, as I lived walking distance from the main festival location. The simplest thing to do about that was to plan not to go anywhere, except on foot; or to park my own car on the street before the whole thing started. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2026, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-mind-if-someone-parked-in-front-of-your-house/1031446/44 "2026-07-06T15:06:31Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > Why doesn’t her car get one of your garage spaces? Do the other drivers in your house also have trouble walking? Mostly because, by mutual assent, the two cars in the garage are the newer, nicer cars (the Corvette which we inherited, and my Mustang). And, because the garage is a detached garage in the back yard, facing the alley, the distance from the house to the garage is nearly identical to the distance from the house to the parking spot on the street where the Mazda lives. Putting the Mazda in the garage wouldn’t save her any steps. ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2026, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-mind-if-someone-parked-in-front-of-your-house/1031446/45 "2026-07-06T15:24:32Z")
I chose “depends” because - we live in a very quiet suburban neighborhood. Because of where our house is situated, there is a lot of frontage (creek to the left \> our house \< open utility easement lot). The only ones who normally park in front are our housekeeper, the gardener, our kids when they visit. Consequently, while I would have no objections, in the abstract, to anyone parking in front of our house. In the concrete, if someone did park there I would be curious or suspicious. If they are visiting a neighbor, then they are parking far away from them. ---
**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:** [July 6, 2026, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-mind-if-someone-parked-in-front-of-your-house/1031446/46 "2026-07-06T15:27:32Z")
There is a fire hydrant in front of my house so it’s not an issue (No, I don’t get lower insurance rates). There is plenty of parking in my neighborhood so even without that it wouldn’t be an issue. If none of that was the case, I wouldn’t mind unless a car was abandoned there or if a single neighbor always parked in front of my house and left the space in front of their house open which is a dick move. My house is on the corner of an L-curve. I don’t care how many cars are parked on the side of my house. The space on the other side of my driveway from the hydrant is mostly in front of my neighbor’s house and that’s where I parked when I had a spouse who parked in the garage (where I park now). People generally respected that as “my” space but I didn’t mind a bit if I had to go around the corner. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2026, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-mind-if-someone-parked-in-front-of-your-house/1031446/47 "2026-07-06T16:43:12Z")
Yes, because there is no legal parking on my side of the street, & it being a narrow street, I can’t get in/out of the driveway if a car is parked there. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2026, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-mind-if-someone-parked-in-front-of-your-house/1031446/48 "2026-07-06T16:56:04Z")
We’ve had these thread before, and people who post must realize that the entire world is not your house. If you live in SF, or and LA beach community, or NYC, people are going to park in front of your house. Suck it up. In my neighborhood, we have wide streets with room to park on both sides. And almost no one parks in the street. If people have visitors, they’ll park in front of the house they are visiting. So if someone decided to park right in front of my house, it is an “affront”, because…why? Why are they making this choice to park there? The whole street is empty. If it is a neighbor who doesn’t park in front of his own house because it looks cluttered, well, I think it makes my house look cluttered, too. If someone parked in front of the driveway on our farm, then they are Up To Something. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2026, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-mind-if-someone-parked-in-front-of-your-house/1031446/49 "2026-07-06T16:57:38Z")
As long as they don’t block the mailbox or the sidewalk from the curb to the front door (which is right next to the mailbox), no problem. Maybe stay out of the two carslengths centered on the mailbox? Someplace for Amazon and the postal delivery van to pull into. I have a fairly long front curb, so there’s plenty of street to park on that doesn’t interfere with anything else. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2026, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-mind-if-someone-parked-in-front-of-your-house/1031446/50 "2026-07-06T17:03:39Z")
I said it depends. I also live across the street from an elementary school. It has plenty of parking for teachers and staff so that’s not a problem. There is parking across the street, so sometimes there is a car there all day, but not in front of our house. The problem comes when the parents swoop in. Just parking in front is fine, since they are not there long, but some park in front of our driveway. I usually go out to tell them to move, it is always “but it will only be for a minute.” Still illegal. We have been blocked from getting in by them. Another problem is that lots of them make u-turns in the driveway, which is nuts when the road is so crowded and going around the block would take only a minute. My neighbor sometimes blocks the end of his driveway to prevent this, and I don’t blame him. We put our trash out the night before, and we make sure to put one of the cans close enough to the driveway to prevent anyone from thinking they can get between it and the driveway, so that hasn’t been a problem for us. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2026, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-mind-if-someone-parked-in-front-of-your-house/1031446/51 "2026-07-06T18:42:51Z")
> [@purplehorseshoe](#): > > I voted “other” because while I normally don’t give a flying donut, tonight I came home after work to find someone parked in front of my house RIGHT where my trash bin is supposed to go. > > They pick up tomorrow/today (it’s 1:30 a.m. so … ) around 7:30 or 8 a.m. so if this 👿 hasn’t moved their car or blocks my trash pickup, imma have angry thoughts and ~~prayers~~ feelings. Yep, my very same issue. Do NOT block where the bins are supposed to go! ---
**Author:** ![Eureka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/74df32/32.png) [@Eureka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eureka)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2026, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-mind-if-someone-parked-in-front-of-your-house/1031446/52 "2026-07-06T21:58:48Z")
It’s unusual enough for someone to park in front of my house that it kind of does bug me, even though our household vehicles have off-street parking (two car garage used for cars plus one car in driveway). Last week, there was a mystery red pickup in front at the start of our three hour window for furniture delivery, and I was irked. But it moved before our delivery truck showed up, and I don’t think our delivery guys would have been bugged by parking across the street or down a car length. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2026, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-mind-if-someone-parked-in-front-of-your-house/1031446/53 "2026-07-06T22:18:01Z")
After years of going on calls about people parked in front of someone’s house I have become immune to being bothered by it in my own life. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2026, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-mind-if-someone-parked-in-front-of-your-house/1031446/54 "2026-07-06T22:27:47Z")
I live in a house, and I don’t own the street in front of my house. I _do_ own my driveway and I care who parks there because it’s my property (it is behind my house, not in front), but **generally** I don’t care who parks in front of my house, and don’t feel entitled to it. (I say “generally” because there were a number of years where I drove a minivan which was issued to me by my work, and had to park it in front of my house because I had no room in the garage between my personal vehicle and my wife’s. And it did irritate me when I couldn’t park it anywhere in front of my house where I could keep an eye on it, even though I parked it in the same spot every day for years. And I sometimes get annoyed if someone comes to visit me and they can’t park in front of my house because others parked there. But it’s nothing more than mild annoyance.) ---
**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:** [July 6, 2026, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-mind-if-someone-parked-in-front-of-your-house/1031446/55 "2026-07-06T22:31:45Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > After years of going on calls about people parked in front of someone’s house I have become immune to being bothered by it in my own life. There must be some good stories ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2026, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-mind-if-someone-parked-in-front-of-your-house/1031446/56 "2026-07-06T22:36:11Z")
Based on my experience with [Nextdoor.com](http://Nextdoor.com), some people seem to assume that any unknown vehicle parked in their neighborhood is “suspicious” and the driver is probably casing their house. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2026, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-mind-if-someone-parked-in-front-of-your-house/1031446/57 "2026-07-06T23:42:57Z")
Try calling the cops. After enough BnB customers get towed so you can leave, something will change for the better. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2026, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-mind-if-someone-parked-in-front-of-your-house/1031446/58 "2026-07-06T23:49:13Z")
On the matter of being blocked in your driveway, I know that experience. In my little neighborhood, many of the houses have driveways in the back. (Most of the houses.) We have narrow (but navigable) alleys behind our houses to get in and out of our houses. It works fine most of the time. Except that one of my rear neighbors, or someone associated with them, drove a huge box truck and would park it back there for long periods of time. Sometimes well over an hour. And they have at times completely blocked my driveway as a result. Note that this is an alley just wide enough for two cars, so if you park in it, you are blocking half of it. And if you park in front of someone’s driveway, you trap their vehicles. A couple of times I had to ask him to leave, and fortunately (for him) he did. I did tell him that if he ever leaves it there and I don’t see him around and can’t find him, I **will** call the cops. He didn’t even seem upset, just said that won’t ever happen. I’m pretty sure those people ended up moving away, and the problem left with them. But damn, that was infuriating. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2026, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-mind-if-someone-parked-in-front-of-your-house/1031446/59 "2026-07-06T23:49:45Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > Based on my experience with [Nextdoor.com](http://Nextdoor.com), some people seem to assume that any unknown vehicle parked in their neighborhood is “suspicious” and the driver is probably casing their house On local FB groups, it is people driving slowly thru a neighborhood. 🙄 ---
**Author:** ![echoreply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/echoreply/32/3641_2.png) [@echoreply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/echoreply)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2026, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-mind-if-someone-parked-in-front-of-your-house/1031446/60 "2026-07-07T00:05:38Z")
A slight twist, in my neighborhood we have a few places were I’m pretty sure people park who are living in their cars. These are all in places where there is no house facing the street, so along fenced side yards, or in front of telecom easements. Places where there is nobody to be easily annoyed. If people are actually living in the cars parked there, they are being good about keeping it clean. No piss bottles or other trash, and very quiet. I appreciate them being stealthy, and as long as they aren’t causing a problem for other people, it doesn’t bother me. Someone did try to do similar in front of my next door neighbor’s property, but not directly in front of his house. After a few days my neighbor (who _might_ be a retired cop, I’m not sure) did a tap on the window with a big flaslight and tell him to move it along routine, and the car found someplace else to park. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-mind-if-someone-parked-in-front-of-your-house/1031446.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-mind-if-someone-parked-in-front-of-your-house/1031446.md?page=4)