Neighbors who insist on parking in front of your house???

cyberdiesel

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Joined
Feb 26, 2008
Location
The Woodlands, Texas
TDI
2013 Toyota Avalon Hybrid Limited
GoFaster said:
Vandalism (or flat tires) will not solve anything. Stuff like that tends to evolve into an escalating battle.

If what they are doing is legal, and creates only a minor nuisance for you, then honestly the best thing is to put up with it. This is what you get for being in a neighborhood with constrained parking.

Otherwise ... As others have noted, a face-to-face conversation is the best, IF it is a possible choice ... but unfortunately, there are lots of people who are inconsiderate of others and won't respond to this. The next choice is to repeatedly call the police to make sure that they are following the city by-laws. This in no way implies that they are obligated to make life convenient for you.

I had problems in the townhouse where I lived previously, which had a shared driveway with the neighbors. With 2 cars in a single driveway, one of them had to fit between the sidewalk and the curb, and it did, well enough to not get ticketed. As long as everyone parked as far to the outside of the driveway as possible, there was enough room to get a car parked close to the house out between the others without having to move them first, and with the neighbors (rental) that were there when I moved in, this was fine. But a couple renters later, they would intentionally park as close to the property line as possible, JUST to make a nuisance of themselves. I can think of no reason why they would do this. BUT ... Since they remained on their side of the property line, not once did I complain. Not to their faces, not to the city.

I solved the problem a different way ... I moved to another house that has its own driveway.
Ding ... Ding .. this is the winner! As stated in a previous post, an HOA goes a long way in controlling the rif-raf. In the absence of one, your options are as previously stated with a preference toward a face to face chitchat. If it were me, I would change zip codes with more square footage and wiggle room, or parking room as it were. It sounds like you needed that anyway, even prior to their moving in. A two or three car garage is a wonderful thing!

:)
 

MarsBar

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Moving isn't always a viable solution. Since they avoid any contact, send a certified letter (with a cc: file) with return receipt requested asking them to please find some other parking arrangement as a neighborly courtesy (and suggest one or two practical ideas). If it doesn't work, take the file copy to the HOA and ask them to put in additional parking for their members. There could be circumstances you don't know about, so do not jump to the conclusion that they're jealous of your self-perceived success. They may be down on their luck and horribly embarrassed about it so they don't associate with anyone. They may still be jerks anyway, but ya never know.
 

greenskeeper

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Mar 10, 2003
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USA
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2 pages of this? It's a public street so just deal with it. If they are blocking your mailbox then that is a different story.

If I was the other guy and you behaved like this about public parking, I'd park all my vehicles legally directly in front of your house 24/7.

At my house I have off street parking via the alley behind my house. The PUBLIC street out front is for whoever wants to use it. Believe it or not I don't get worked up if there is a car in front of my house and it's not mine.

Grow up or move.
 

robnitro

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Jan 19, 2004
Location
NYC area, NY
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2001 Jetta TDI GLS silver
I had a neighbor here that would put trash cans in the spot in front of her house to deter anyone else from parking in front of her house. When there is no parking available, I'd move these garbage cans and park. She is no more entitled to that spot than anyone else. Plus, she has a driveway, why not park her car in there? Of course if someone blocked her driveway, I would totally agree that is not right, but this is not the case.

My pet peeve is when someone parks and takes up 2 usable spaces. A lot of the jerks with new cars do this, thinking this is going to prevent scratches. I think they are asking for it, when parking is scarce as it is in my neighborhood! I put notes on the window saying that this area is for parking 2 cars, not ONE!
 
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MayorDJQ

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Dec 4, 2001
Location
Williamstown, Mass
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NarfBLAST said:
Appearantly my mother-in-law couldn't get anywhere near our house
And this was a problem? :) I've been thinking about digging a moat around my apartment and filling it with piranhas or gators.

There are some sacrifices to living in the suburbs...on street parking, neighbors, barking dogs, etc. I had a neighbor at my last apartment that complained that my Westy blocked her view when pulling out of her driveway. She was a old hag, psycho, busy-body, PITA, but I would try to park a little farther from her driveway so she could see better.

NoBlueScreen, have you tried going to a city council meeting to get no parking signs put on the street? If their vehicle(s) cause a hazard to you in getting out of your driveway, maybe the city will step in. Maybe a petition from the other private home owners in the neighborhood would help.
 

GoFaster

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Jun 16, 1999
Location
Brampton, Ontario, Canada
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2006 Jetta TDI
greenskeeper said:
2 pages of this? It's a public street so just deal with it. If they are blocking your mailbox then that is a different story.

If I was the other guy and you behaved like this about public parking, I'd park all my vehicles legally directly in front of your house 24/7.
Yep, so would a lot of people. A lot of people complain before thinking ... you really need to think before complaining. There are ways of getting back at a complainer.

If what they're doing is legal, you have no grounds to complain, no matter the nuisance or inconvenience it causes.
 
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