Strange Question: Why do some people park outside their garage? (Austin: low income, HOA)

[FueledByBlueBell]

So while I was walking today I noticed something interesting. In the area of my neighborhood with the lowest priced homes most people park their cars in their driveway even though they have a 2-car garage. In the mid-priced area there are more cars in the garage, in the higher priced there are few cars in the driveway and in the highest priced section there aren't any cars parked in the street or the driveway (despite the same HOA regulations across the neighborhood). Anyone ever noticed this? I know it is a weird question but I'm just wondering why. For the record we sometimes park in the driveway when we have stuff in the garage but usually we make the effort to keep it clean so we can park inside.

[killer2021]

I've noticed this across the board. Just browse google street views. Lower income areas have more cars and higher income areas have less. I think the main difference is that the lower income areas usually have more people living in the homes compared to the upper middle class areas. I would personally go to an area where the HOA doesn't allow cars to be parked on the street after a certain hour (ie. 12 to 5am). I think it gets rid of a lot of shady people personally.

[kiacook]

1) We don't have garage door openers which makes it a pain to open and close the garage
2) We can't afford larger homes so need the garage for storage

[FueledByBlueBell]

All houses in the neighborhood come with a garage opener.

[iceshots]

Our cars are outside because the garage is mainly storage at the moment. In the fall, and after the high school garage sale, hopefully they will go back inside.


Personally, I would not want to live in an HOA that mandated where I could park my car on my own property.

Another reason the lower prices homes may have more cars outside could be, lower priced homes are usually younger families with younger children. Lots of bikes, wagons and other kid stuff to store in the garage. Especially if the HOA does not allow sheds. In all my years owning a house, my car rarely parked inside.

[woodinvilleguy]

I have a bigger house and I park in the driveway. My garage is my woodworkshop and houses all my bicycles. :-)

[TexasHorseLady]

I find it odd that anyone would care whether someone parked their car in the garage or in the driveway on their own property (with the obvious exception of someone parking a nonrunning vehicle permanently in the driveway and never washing it. If it's washed and looks like it was driven, big whoop.

So, for me, the real question is, for those for whom this is an issue, why do you care?

[mark311]

I have multiple bicycles, a weight bench, a treadmill, camping gear, and boxes of Holiday decorations in my garage. I don't have room for this stuff in the house. I guess if I had a large storage shed or more room in the house, I wouldn't feel the need to use the garage for this stuff.

I think the main difference is that my cars aren't that nice to where I really care about them being garaged everyday. I don't drive a BMW so I don't care if it gets rained on. I do make room in the garage for our "better" car (still under 20K new) when hail is in the forecast.

[Austin97]

Originally Posted by TexasHorseLady

I find it odd that anyone would care whether someone parked their car in the garage or in the driveway on their own property (with the obvious exception of someone parking a nonrunning vehicle permanently in the driveway and never washing it. If it's washed and looks like it was driven, big whoop.

So, for me, the real question is, for those for whom this is an issue, why do you care?

Aesthetics. Some people might say what difference does it make if the car is running or not or dirty or not? You have a certain level of aesthetic preference that you feel is correct, that others might feel is too stringent. What is so wrong with other people having other aesthetic preferences? I would say that banning all cars from the driveway removes the judgement call of cars being dirty or driveable from the equation and makes it a simple call of all cars need to be in the garage.

[llkltk]

Originally Posted by Austin97

Aesthetics. Some people might say what difference does it make if the car is running or not or dirty or not? You have a certain level of aesthetic preference that you feel is correct, that others might feel is too stringent. What is so wrong with other people having other aesthetic preferences? I would say that banning all cars from the driveway removes the judgement call of cars being dirty or driveable from the equation and makes it a simple call of all cars need to be in the garage.

I agree. As a realtor, THL should understand aesthetics. People sometimes can't fit their big Texas monster trucks in their garages. Mostly it is because people hold on to too much stuff and use their garages for storage. It's a shame really.

It really isn't low income versus high income. Unless you have a three car garage, this is happening in most neighborhoods, homes in the 100s, homes in the 500s. It's widespread.