What's up with the garages in the back? (Garland, Rowlett: 2013, home)

[Jasmine0]

If you don't like front garage then there are J swings, which I personally prefer for the ease of getting out.

[Johnhw2]

Alleys add cost to a development. The alley consumes usable space and means the developer has to built a road in front and a secondary road in back in the form of an alley. Its not a Texas thing, Houston has very very few areas with Alley's. Its more a Dallas thing by my experience.

[ex_[oh]_leslie]

Originally Posted by ETex2

There was a trend that started in the late '60s, where the prevalent attitude was for neighborhoods to more or less clean up their appearance by not having cars parked in front of homes, relegating cars to back alleys and in rear driveways. Safer for the kiddos too since parents preferred that they ride their bikes in front on sidewalks and in streets, with less traffic and obstacles to see them, etc.. Paved alleys meant easier access for trash trucks, and no dumpsters or trash cans at the street.

So your not using the ally for your kids to play in? A lot of comments were people doing that or "having a beer in the ally" or whatever. i just dont think thats a safe place to be hanging out. especially children.

Originally Posted by Jasmine0

Allyes are nice, clean and safe here in DFW but front entrance makes more sense to me. I don't see that its about price range as I have seen expensive neighborhoods with alleys and inexpensive with front and vice versa. It's just an unstylish planning style. Personally , i would feel unasafe pulling into an alley at night and would always worry about a drunk guy swinging his car into my yard by mistake. Only day bad for front garages is trash day. Parking on the street is only an issue in smaller houses as most bigger homes have three garages and driveways. I see more cars parked on streets in alley neighborhoods. I guess its not a big deal for most buyers.

I agree. However, every lower income house with an ally I have been to in the DFW are by NO MEANS safe. There are a lot of expensive neighborhoods with alleys that I also have been to in the DFW that seem perfectly fine.

Originally Posted by TheOverdog

Garages are ugly. No way I'm buying a house for more than $150k that has a huge garage in the front. I love back alley. The only thing is I wish my house was pushed closer to the street than 40 feet back and nobody in TX uses their front yard for anything. Then my backyard would be huge.

You can buy a $150k house with a garage in the back thats hidden or detached. That doesn't necessarily mean it has to have an ally. I do think they're perfectly fine in a safe neighborhood. I personally wouldn't want to drive down an ally if I dont HAVE to.
Did you live somewhere outside of Texas that garages bothered you? I guess I am just trying to understand if I am simply accustomed to seeing garages from growing up here in DFW or if it is just a matter of the opinion of appearance.

[CREW747]

We ruled out houses with alley way garages when we were looking....We had never seen back alley way garages until we moved to DFW.We disliked everything about them.We realized that Prosper,Fairview,Southlake,Colleyville,Heath and Keller had very few alley way garage houses,some none at all.I can understand how some people do not mind them,but it was an absolute no for us.

[Jasmine0]

Alley houses and turrets are hard to digest. I'm not ruling out either as we don't want to go too far from the city and high performing schools so our choices are limited.

[ETex2]

Originally Posted by ex_[oh]_leslie

So your not using the ally for your kids to play in? A lot of comments were people doing that or "having a beer in the ally" or whatever. i just dont think thats a safe place to be hanging out. especially children.


...

No, what I meant was that the front is safer for the kids to play in, esp. in rear entry neighborhoods, since there are no cars in driveways, pulling into the street, potentially injuring a child playing or riding on the sidewalk.

[MckinneyOwnr]

We have a family in our neighborhood that lets their kids (ranging in age from 2-10, four of them) play in the alley all the time. One of these days one of the kids is going to get hit by a car backing out.

I generally prefer alleyways though, cleans up the front of the street by not seeing garages, and people that use their garages for storage instead of parking their cars in there then park in the driveway in the back, rather than cluttering up the street.

[Jasmine0]

In nicer neighborhoods front garages work but can be an issue in lower price range neighborhoods but then so can allies.

[L.A.2Orlando2Dallas]

In our previous home in Florida we had a front garage but the door wasn't facing the street which I liked because I feel less garage door= more curb appeal.

In our new home we have a rear garage which we like, I think it's better for trash pick-up and most of our neighbors park in the back so the street looks very nice with very few cars and no open garage doors

I will say I like the stone houses with front facing garage and Cedar doors other than that no thanks.

[Pama]

My experience is that if its a nicer subdivision then it doesn't matter if you have rear, front or side garage. If not then no matter what kind of garages there are, some neighbors will make it look ugly by parking on street, not caring for yards, leving junk outside, not racking leaves, speeding in alley, making mess in alley, not fixing fences etc etc.

I like swing garages with driveways.