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In response to Minesbroken comments, I moved to a decent neighborhood in Long Island to have peace and to avoid situations like this. You are entitled to your opinion, I knew at some point that there would be at least one person on this board that would make this kind of comments. I don't care if you tolerate kids hanging in front of your house but for you to say that I'm making a big deal out of nothing,i'm tempted to think that you don't have manners yourself. So I pay a mortgage and I'm supposed to tolerate teenagers (maybe age 17-20) blocking my sidewalk with chairs to the point where I would have to walk around them to go down the block or enter my own house. Are f#%^ing kidding me? Did you bother to read that I politely asked them to move to the side of my house several times? These are teenagers, they are not going to impose their way and cause me to have grief every time I come back to my house I have to be welcome by a bunch of people that I don't know...WTF! I have an older Mother that tells me she feels intimidated by all these kids in front of the house at night and I'm just suppose to ignore that too??? I'm not going to force myself to accept a situation that is putting stress on my family! The truth is most neighbors see that stuff and they shake their head but no one has the guts to ask them to stop doing that because I guess it's not happening in front of their own home. You say in a couple of years they won't even be there anymore, so I am suppose to tolerate this BS for two more years?? Oh and how do you know they won't be there in two more years? Let me guess you must be related...So you if you tolerate that kind of behavior, good for you! 1Angrytaxpayer, I invite you to be my next door neighbor. The house is for sale :-)
Tomorrow go buy some sensor lights, park in the street, lay down manure (that should surely work), play elevator music and turn on the sprinklers. then stake the area out with your camera and have a good laugh. You could do the sprinklers every evening and the sensor lights are good to have anyway. good luck. I'd be frustrated too.
In response to Minesbroken comments, I moved to a decent neighborhood in Long Island to have peace and to avoid situations like this. You are entitled to your opinion, I knew at some point that there would be at least one person on this board that would make this kind of comments. I don't care if you tolerate kids hanging in front of your house but for you to say that I'm making a big deal out of nothing,i'm tempted to think that you don't have manners yourself. So I pay a mortgage and I'm supposed to tolerate teenagers (maybe age 17-20) blocking my sidewalk with chairs to the point where I would have to walk around them to go down the block or enter my own house. Are f#%^ing kidding me? Did you bother to read that I politely asked them to move to the side of my house several times? These are teenagers, they are not going to impose their way and cause me to have grief every time I come back to my house I have to be welcome by a bunch of people that I don't know...WTF! I have an older Mother that tells me she feels intimidated by all these kids in front of the house at night and I'm just suppose to ignore that too??? I'm not going to force myself to accept a situation that is putting stress on my family! The truth is most neighbors see that stuff and they shake their head but no one has the guts to ask them to stop doing that because I guess it's not happening in front of their own home.You say in a couple of years they won't even be there anymore, so I am suppose to tolerate this BS for two more years?? Oh and how do you know they won't be there in two more years? Let me guess you must be related...So you if you tolerate that kind of behavior, good for you! 1Angrytaxpayer, I invite you to be my next door neighbor. The house is for sale :-)
Honestly I think you are making a big deal out of nothing, and my opinion is my own, for you to say I have no manners is only a display of your own shortcomings in action, Kids will be kids, you cant change them. after 11 o'clock you can call the cops for disturbance of the peace if you like but that really honestly makes you the bad guy and they will make you pay for it, as they are not doing anything illegal this is a battle that you cant win. Have you tried saying "hello" to them, treating them like human beings instead of delinquents? perhaps if they liked you they would have more respect for you. The kids that "hang out" and play in front of my house don't make alot of noise after say 9 or 10 o'clock in the evening, I would never even think of saying something to them during the afternoon, THEY ARE KIDS they do KID things, it's not like they are on your front lawn or something.
when you say that you come back to your house and are welcomed by people you don't know, are they standing in your living room or something? on your front lawn? on your walkway to the front door? are strange people greeting you? are you that anti social that you can't even fake a smile and say hello to some people you dont know?
don't you have any "real" problems?
They are only putting stress on your family because you decided to be mean in the first place, calling the cop's, telling they're mothers, you are as much of a trouble maker as they are. you are intolerant and withdrawn, seriously get a grip man.
And now I must be related to them? are you mad? just because I see things differently than you I must be related to them? you ARE making a mountain out of a mole hill, but what's done is done, instead of being a good neighbor you decided to be an intolerable, antisocial person
frankly I wouldnt want to be your neighbor...
seems like too much trouble.
I like to be outside...you might actually have to say hello on occasion...you might catch me mowing my lawn, I can see how that might infringe on your peace and quiet at times.
My god man...maybe you should try relaxing alittle.
Honestly I think you are making a big deal out of nothing, and my opinion is my own, for you to say I have no manners is only a display of your own shortcomings in action, Kids will be kids, you cant change them. after 11 o'clock you can call the cops for disturbance of the peace if you like but that really honestly makes you the bad guy and they will make you pay for it, as they are not doing anything illegal this is a battle that you cant win. Have you tried saying "hello" to them, treating them like human beings instead of delinquents? perhaps if they liked you they would have more respect for you. The kids that "hang out" and play in front of my house don't make alot of noise after say 9 or 10 o'clock in the evening, I would never even think of saying something to them during the afternoon, THEY ARE KIDS they do KID things, it's not like they are on your front lawn or something.
when you say that you come back to your house and are welcomed by people you don't know, are they standing in your living room or something? on your front lawn? on your walkway to the front door? are strange people greeting you? are you that anti social that you can't even fake a smile and say hello to some people you dont know?
don't you have any "real" problems?
They are only putting stress on your family because you decided to be mean in the first place, calling the cop's, telling they're mothers, you are as much of a trouble maker as they are. you are intolerant and withdrawn, seriously get a grip man.
And now I must be related to them? are you mad? just because I see things differently than you I must be related to them? you ARE making a mountain out of a mole hill, but what's done is done, instead of being a good neighbor you decided to be an intolerable, antisocial person
frankly I wouldnt want to be your neighbor...
seems like too much trouble.
I like to be outside...you might actually have to say hello on occasion...you might catch me mowing my lawn, I can see how that might infringe on your peace and quiet at times.
My god man...maybe you should try relaxing alittle.
From what OP described these aren't kids, they're young adults who haven't been taught respect for others. Noise pollution is just as invasive and annoying as any other type of pollution.
OP, you already screwed up by allowing other neighbors to know you're not happy with the situation. I'm not spanking you, it's just that in these sensitive situations it's better to hold your cards close to your breast. Being known as the neighbor who calls the cops should be the last rep anyone wants to develop.
Playing music, using a sprinkler and installing lights is not what a neighbor wishing to remain on the high road does.
Personally, I would have kept my mouth shut and laid down some of the most foul and nasty smelling fertilizer I could find from the outset of the problem. No one can fault a neighbor who wants to maintain a nice looking front lawn.
Good luck solving your problem. I know if I was in your situation I would be just as upset and pissed....but I wouldn't have told anyone I'm annoyed.
To the poster who suggested planting paraphernalia or contraband. You're an idiot!!!! Low ball people like you scare the crap out of me.
stop being so obsessive, you don't own the street and you need to stop trying to do something, I have kids hanging out in front of my house all the time, What difference does it really make? go on about your business and forget about them, in a couple of years they probably wont live there anymore anyway.
Sure - in a few years these over-achievers will be on there way - to what? College? Med School? Law School? - more like MAYBE a new job at McDonalds, Starbucks, or Walmart. They'll probably be living in their parents basement well into their 40's - I wouldn't count on them going anywhere too soon.
Thank for the suggestions so far...I am not going to move because some teenagers are acting up. I couldn't even afford another house if I wanted to, not really an option. Anyone has suggestions for affordable security camera systems? Let's say under $300? Thanks.
You know, if you want motion activated security cameras, you can pay $10k for a system like my neighbors did, or you can go on amazon and buy a few hunting cameras for $150 a pop (those are the nicer ones - they come even cheaper than that)...
The hunting cameras are motion activated, take still and videos, have a pretty decent battery life, and download to a SD card with time and date stamp.
From what OP described these aren't kids, they're young adults who haven't been taught respect for others. Noise pollution is just as invasive and annoying as any other type of pollution.
OP, you already screwed up by allowing other neighbors to know you're not happy with the situation. I'm not spanking you, it's just that in these sensitive situations it's better to hold your cards close to your breast. Being known as the neighbor who calls the cops should be the last rep anyone wants to develop.
Playing music, using a sprinkler and installing lights is not what a neighbor wishing to remain on the high road does.
Personally, I would have kept my mouth shut and laid down some of the most foul and nasty smelling fertilizer I could find from the outset of the problem. No one can fault a neighbor who wants to maintain a nice looking front lawn.
Good luck solving your problem. I know if I was in your situation I would be just as upset and pissed....but I wouldn't have told anyone I'm annoyed.
To the poster who suggested planting paraphernalia or contraband. You're an idiot!!!! Low ball people like you scare the crap out of me.
I agree, Paul, with the exception that I would have tried to have a nice conversation (ONCE) with the neighbors about it first. I think we all jump to retaliation without communication too often these days. Sometimes people don't even know they are upsetting you...and they will be happy to oblige if they only know what they are doing that is upsetting.
Of course, in this case, it didn't work out. But I'd always give it a chance first.
Boobytrapping the lawn is also what I would do...some fresh manure ought to do the trick. And it's not destructive to the lawn (rather the opposite).
I agree, Paul, with the exception that I would have tried to have a nice conversation (ONCE) with the neighbors about it first. I think we all jump to retaliation without communication too often these days. Sometimes people don't even know they are upsetting you...and they will be happy to oblige if they only know what they are doing that is upsetting.
Of course, in this case, it didn't work out. But I'd always give it a chance first.
Boobytrapping the lawn is also what I would do...some fresh manure ought to do the trick. And it's not destructive to the lawn (rather the opposite).
I think with Teenagers you are either the good neighbor or the bad neighbor, if you say something, anything at all then you become the bad neighbor ( unless they already like you and you ask nicely)
That's when you house starts to get Toilet papered, shaving creamed and egged on halloween... Teenagers are stupid and full of rebellion and horomones run amuck.
best bet was to stay quiet and wait it out, eventually it would have taken care of itself as they got bored of doing the same thing.
Now they will make it a point to make him miserable because for them it is fun to challenge him, the cops and they're parents.
They arent actually breaking any laws...so
goodluck with that.
It helps if you remember how teenagers think, even at almost 40 I can remember what it was like to be a delinquent.
I wouldn't put up with this either, and I wish you the best of luck in getting the situation resolved. My first suggestion would be to get on to Amazon and have a look at the Scarecrow. It's a motion activated sprinkler. Take a time to look at the customer reviews and you'll see it's pretty good at its job. Amazon.com: Contech Electronics CRO101 Scarecrow Motion-Activated Sprinkler: Patio, Lawn & Garden
I really do feel for you. The only thing I would have done differently would have been to talk to the kids myself or to their parents before I got the police involved. I recently had to move back to LI due to my parent's health. I didn't realize that the cute little boy who grew up next door had turned into a 20 year-old potty mouth until this Spring when it turns out that his parent's side yard patio is THE place to hang out for him and his pals. At precisely 10 pm, however, I pulled my blinds up quickly and called out to him specifically saying "Hey X, sorry to be a harda$$, but it's 10 pm now and I'd ask that you guys either keep it WAY down or move inside your house if you're all gonna hang out". Worked a charm. They apologized and the party broke up. There has not been another one since.
Mind you, we've been neighbors for well over 30 years and we've never had problems. We're both "live and let live" types of people. But I could see that this was only going to grow into an issue if I didn't nip it in the bud immediately.
As for Minesbroken - you need to get a clue. No one is saying that an occassional night of people hanging out in front of their house with some cocktails and music at a respectable level is wrong. But having teens/early 20 year-olds hanging out every night, directly in front of your property, being disrespectful when approached, and having the balls to place their portable chairs in front of MY property and you expect someone to take a lighter tone?! Get outta here. It's not the OP's fault that these kids were poorly raised with no respect for the rights of others. Nor is it the OP's fault that you have another case of a disinterested parent. If the parent's don't want to enforce the rules with their children - and the children want to take no responsibility for their personal behavior - then it's time someone taught them ALL a lesson in Civics 101.
After 10 pm at night, it's quiet time. If you don't want to observe that when I request it, then I will have NO problem placing a call to the police and letting them handle it. And I would request that the cop check the ID's of all present.
Good luck to you OP. Sorry you have to go through this.
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- more like MAYBE a new job at McDonalds, Starbucks, or Walmart. They'll probably be living in their parents basement well into their 40's - I wouldn't count on them going anywhere too soon.
