Rude neighbor telling us to not park in front of their house (Houston: buying, live)

[Zembonez]

So... after reading through this thread... the OP has an empty driveway but feels like it's more convenient to park in front of a neighbor's house... out of laziness... and then comes here expecting us to think HE'S the one in the right?

WOW.

Sure glad he isn't my neighbor.

[Drover]

Originally Posted by houstonlibrarian

Incredibly rude to park your car in front of someone else's house.

Think about it. You are sacrificing that person's rights for your own convenience.

If you simply had too many cars to park in your driveway and garage then that would be one thing. Just to make things convenient for you is very selfish and bush league.

"Rights"?

[wwwang]

Even if it is legal for you to park there, you should still be considerate. My belief is there's an unsaid rule that the street in front of your house is for your use, so I find it odd that you're calling them rude. Is there a reason you can't park in front of your own house? You've only mentioned that you don't like to park on your driveway. By parking in front of their house, you're ensuring that if they have any guests over, they have to park elsewhere.

Like someone else said, you're inconveniencing them by only thinking about your own convenience. So what your neighbors said was right--you're not the only one living and that neighborhood, and you have to think about how your actions affect others. If you want to establish a good relationship, don't park there.

[hopeforgood]

That seems to be really difficult start. Be patient to them as they may be finding it difficult to adjust in the new neighborhood. Maybe your patience, lets them feel that you are good and have no personal grievances. If things doesn't work then lets see.

[NYer75]

People here seem to think they own the space on the street in front of their house. It doesn't matter the reason he parked it there....it's his freaking RIGHT.


You don't like it, sounds personal.

If it bothers you that much... get a neighborhood petition and have the rules changed with the association or local government.

When you purchased your home, it didn't say you owned the street.

[modster]

Unless there is some restriction in the subdivision rules then it is true there may be no legal recourse against it.

That said, If you park in front of someone else's house like that, especially for the reason's stated by the OP, then you are a lower-class person, period.

It may not be illegal, but it is classless and rude to do it. If you don't see anything wrong with it, then guess what, you are low class.

[NYer75]

Originally Posted by modster

Unless there is some restriction in the subdivision rules then it is true there may be no legal recourse against it.

If you park in front of someone else's house like that, especially for the reason's stated by the OP, then you are a lower-class person, period.

It may not be illegal, but it is classless and rude to do it. If you don't see anything wrong with it, then guess what, you are low class.

Oh please. Get over it.

It was a couple of times the OP did it. If people would stop sweating the small stuff in life, life would be easier.

And who are you to call people low class? Nobody I would imagine.

[modster]

It is what it is, and I know low-class behavior when I see it.

[TVC15]

Originally Posted by modster

It is what it is, and I know low-class behavior when I see it.

Is it low class or being unmindful and selfish?

[friendlyguy010]

It's amazing how a situation can be blown out of proportion ten-fold like this is the worst crime in the world. I went from being the "rude" person to the "low class"..seriously? You make it seem like I do this everyday and that I never consider other people. It seems I brought out the worst of people in this forum. This is the Internet afterall...

From reading the overall arguments, this debate boils down to what is defined as "acceptable" and what is "not acceptable" to park in front of someone's house. We have our clear differences there, however, I will say this whether or not you agree with it, I respect other people's "personal" space as well. Keeping in mind the streets ARE public, I will never park in front of your house unless I have a legitimate reason to. It is not acceptable to park in front of people's houses for more than 24 hours, nor is it acceptable to park their frequently (and the frequency is defined differently by everyone). What is acceptable is if it avoids potential risks (such as damage or harm) and special occasions.


Most everyone on this forum is casting boulder-size stones on me towards for my reasoning -- going as far as my reasoning is selfish, greedy, and "low class" decision. So apparently it is not a legitimate reason to NOT park in the garage knowing I had a history of hitting the car's rear mirrors on the corner of the garage from being overtired.

One guy's response to that was he worked 18 hour shifts and he can still park in the garage fine...so because of that I should be able too?

Someone else said I should park on the driveway then -- I actually ran into those situations a couple times, and each and every time I had to back out my car onto the street so she or he can move the car out of the garage. Just to give you an idea of the distance between the 2 cars if they were both on the driveway, the cars would be less than a foot apart. Also since the drivers in the family don't have the best distal awareness, it isn't the best idea to put them in those situations aka costly repairs for easily avoidable problems....I mean this argument can go on and on...you will have a counter argument, and I will have my rebuttal. I guarantee you it will be a never ending argument.

But I find it weird to have to defend my position in the first place (and I honestly think my reasons are at the very least legit). Not to disrespect people's spaces nor taking public property for granted, but this is PUBLIC property we are talking about! Keep in mind, I came from a neighborhood where everyone was "cool" with each other for parking in front of each other's houses as long as it wasn't more than a day or so. Even if it was longer, we still did not go knocking on people's door to move their car out. It came as a huge surprise to me how much smack we got from just parking in front of a neighbor's house (and it wasn't even really in front of their house in the first place since part of the car cut into our driveway).


*A lot of people are saying that I park in front of the neighbor's house frequently: it happened only twice, and it is a mere coincidence they were so close to each other. Obviously I did not intend it that way, nor was "planning to". The first incident was caused by me, the second another family member. Not ignorance by me for the 2nd incident.
*I am selfish because I don't park on the driveway nor in front of my house? Clearly those who wrote that did not read my posts carefully. I wrote down my reasoning and explanations already. Ignorance at its best.