Mailboxes in newer subdivisions? (Alvin, Post: felony, high school, live)

[EasilyAmused]

Originally Posted by AK123

I don't think that's why it was done at all. I think it's 100% for practicality and to keep other people from getting into your mail or vandalizing outgoing mail (which is why the community mailboxes have keys), vandalizing individual mailboxes based on personal grudges, etc.

Hmmm, well my mail goes directly into my house. If they want it that bad they'll have to break in the house. As to the personal grudges and mailbox/mail distruction...wtf? What kind of neighborhood engages in that?

[lane_change]

I miss walking down the driveway to check the mail....hell, I miss having mail. Everything is online now anyways. Email, billpay, Hallmark, even Netflix went online....so what exactly do you check the mail for? UPS/FEDEX still drops stuff at your door, send your packages that way, and basically the mailbox is simply a container for junk mail. I receive almost nothing of importance in the mail, and I think the little that I do receive, will eventually come another way. Computers and the digital empire of today is only going to become more dominant and the USPS will simply disappear. That or the little mail we get will be shot into a mail slot in your house via a tube system like they use at banks. Anyone seen The fifth element.

[Supermac34]

I actually like the community mailbox. I think it cleans up the look of the street. It's also locked, so I feel more secure about someone getting into my mail.

[RVD26]

Originally Posted by AK123

I don't think that's why it was done at all. I think it's 100% for practicality and to keep other people from getting into your mail or vandalizing outgoing mail (which is why the community mailboxes have keys), vandalizing individual mailboxes based on personal grudges, etc.

I've never had any of my mail stolen or had a mailbox vandalized before.
That's why I was wondering if this was a Houston thing or what.
I never see these community mailboxes in North Carolina, where I grew up.
Is there a high rate of stolen mail/ID theft down here?

[tstone]

Originally Posted by EasilyAmused

Hmmm, well my mail goes directly into my house. If they want it that bad they'll have to break in the house. As to the personal grudges and mailbox/mail distruction...wtf? What kind of neighborhood engages in that?

Our two incidents I remember from the first 18 yrs of my life were totally random. Sometimes they were directed at teachers/school workers, though. Chlorine tabs + rubbing alcohol in 2L bottles. Homemade thermite with Etch-A-Sketchs and Brillo pads. Middle class, suburban kids have been busted around the country videotaping their mailbox shenanigans. What kind of neighborhood did you grow up in??

[Sampaguita]

The majority of the houses in our particular neighborhood were built in the late 70s/early 80s and we all have community mailboxes. I don't really like that at all. I really like the convenience of having our own mailbox either directly in front of the house or at the door.

Our biggest complaint about the community mailboxes is that DH can't access them at all - completely unwheelchair friendly - as it is on a raised piece gazebo-like platform. USPS says that if we write a letter, they can allow for delivery to the door if DH happens to be at home for a week or more without someone to get the mail.

Oh - and it's not a Houston/Texas thing. Friends of ours live in a newer subdivision in San Diego County where they also have the community mailboxes and in the Santa Ynez Valley (mostly ranch land), all the mail is delivered to community boxes. Understandable there considering how far & sometimes hard to access some of these properties are.

[tstone]

Originally Posted by RVD26

I've never had any of my mail stolen or had a mailbox vandalized before.
That's why I was wondering if this was a Houston thing or what.
I never see these community mailboxes in North Carolina, where I grew up.
Is there a high rate of stolen mail/ID theft down here?

I don't think it's a ''Houston thing'':

Mailbox vandalism plagues area residents

Mailbox vandalism under investigation - News | nvdaily.com (http://www.nvdaily.com/news/2009/02/mailbox-vandalism-under-investigation.html - broken link)

Mailbox Vandalism - Bowling Green / Warren County Crime Stoppers - Call 781-CLUE (http://www.bgky.org/crimestoppers/cotwdetail.php?id=162 - broken link)

And you can buy this junk to prevent it:
MailBoxer - fighting back against mail box vandalism

[EasilyAmused]

Originally Posted by tstone

Our two incidents I remember from the first 18 yrs of my life were totally random. Sometimes they were directed at teachers/school workers, though. Chlorine tabs + rubbing alcohol in 2L bottles. Homemade thermite with Etch-A-Sketchs and Brillo pads. Middle class, suburban kids have been busted around the country videotaping their mailbox shenanigans. What kind of neighborhood did you grow up in??

I guess ones where the kids didn't screw with mailboxes. <shrug>

[RVD26]

Originally Posted by Sampaguita

The majority of the houses in our particular neighborhood were built in the late 70s/early 80s and we all have community mailboxes. I don't really like that at all. I really like the convenience of having our own mailbox either directly in front of the house or at the door.

Have those community mailboxes always been there or were they just recently put up?
These community mailboxes seem to be a newer thing in subdivisions, right?

[RVD26]

Originally Posted by EasilyAmused

I guess ones where the kids didn't screw with mailboxes. <shrug>

We never had any of that tom foolery in our neighborhood as well.

Every time I hear about teenagers vandalizing mailboxes, I think of that scene from "Dazed and Confused" where they are in the car swinging at mailboxes with a baseball bat.