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Whatever else has been said on this thread aside, the OP said there is a fence and some trees in between the properties and that the neighbor has no blinds or curtains. And it's one, low-wattage outdoor soft light.
A low fence that does nothing to block the light. It doesn't sound like the trees are doing anything to block the light either. I didn't see where the OP said it was a low wattage light, just that it isn't a flood light. A light shinning directly into someone's window does not need to be a flood light to be obnoxious.
Whatever else has been said on this thread aside, the OP said there is a fence and some trees in between the properties and that the neighbor has no blinds or curtains. And it's one, low-wattage outdoor soft light. Absolutely nothing to suggest it's an unreasonable setup for an average suburban neighborhood. IMHO the cranky neighbor is being the unreasonable one...though admittedly the OP isn't really presenting himself in a sterling manner.
I thought similar- describing me as "wanting to do whatever I want" in reference to a soft light in my yard behind trees, not really a very truthful way to describe it that way makes it sound as if I'm playing a trumpet at midnight or having loud all night parties.
Living in the suburbs means people make reasonable accommodations for life IN the SUBURBS- not to be confused with a lone country property under a inky black sky with no lights anywhere.
There's a tall street lamp in front of all the houses, and ad nauseum other homes also have outdoor lighting, some soft like us and others have flood lights. The vast vast majority like probably 99 % of houses DO though have something known as window dressings of one sort or another. It's kind of odd that living alone in her later years there she wouldn't naturally want some type of shades- I guess most people and families also automatically feel the need to have some privacy. Since she doesn't she is choosing that
A low fence that does nothing to block the light. It doesn't sound like the trees are doing anything to block the light either. I didn't see where the OP said it was a low wattage light, just that it isn't a flood light. A light shinning directly into someone's window does not need to be a flood light to be obnoxious.
I didn't see reference to a low fence, FWIW, either.
I live in a great suburban neighborhood. If I wanted to, however, i could find a dozen things that I'd consider obnoxious by your definition. But if I think about it, none of them truly are especially in the context of living in relatively close proximity to a diverse set of people. I'll save the obnoxious definition for things like 24/7 dog barking, pre-6am power tools, or pervasive littering.
We did have one obnoxious lighting situation with a new neighbor that was resolved amicably. One day he installed a high-mounted, commercial, sodium-vapor flood that was poorly aimed and blasted 5600K light through our shaded master BR windows. A friendly conversation and 10 minutes later I helped him re-aim the light and both of us were pleased.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mondayafternoons
I thought similar- describing me as "wanting to do whatever I want" in reference to a soft light in my yard behind trees, not really a very truthful way to describe it that way makes it sound as if I'm playing a trumpet at midnight or having loud all night parties.
Living in the suburbs means people make reasonable accommodations for life IN the SUBURBS- not to be confused with a lone country property under a inky black sky with no lights anywhere.
There's a tall street lamp in front of all the houses, and ad nauseum other homes also have outdoor lighting, some soft like us and others have flood lights. The vast vast majority like probably 99 % of houses DO though have something known as window dressings of one sort or another. It's kind of odd that living alone in her later years there she wouldn't naturally want some type of shades- I guess most people and families also automatically feel the need to have some privacy. Since she doesn't she is choosing that
But she isn't complaining about the other lights is she? There must be something about your light that is different, like maybe it's just at the right height and shines at just the right angle to be bothersome.
Instead of all the justification as to why you couldn't possibly be creating a problem and blaming it all on her being persnickety, why don't you at least talk to her, maybe try to see if it really is bothersome from where she is, and try compromise?
It's the obstinate refusal to admit there might be some truth to what she says that is so confounding. Just because she's a PITA doesn't mean she can't have a legitimate gripe every once in a while.
Tell her the lights are on because there are violent gangs of rapists lurking in the darkness
Lights don't keep criminals away. Studies have been done that actually show the opposite (linked a few posts ago). Besides, most crimes happen during the day. A light bulb on the side of a house is not going to stop someone from breaking into a house while the homeowners are away at work or running errands. Or stop your car from being stolen from the driveway as you warm it up in the morning before work.
A low fence that does nothing to block the light. It doesn't sound like the trees are doing anything to block the light either. I didn't see where the OP said it was a low wattage light, just that it isn't a flood light. A light shinning directly into someone's window does not need to be a flood light to be obnoxious.
You are just making some of these things up assuming stuff that the trees don't filter the light out and thatnthebkine shines directly into her window...fwiw I did say more than once it is a low watt light. A soft light the most low key light we could get the local pd would recommend to be effective for safety
Lights don't keep criminals away. Studies have been done that actually show the opposite (linked a few posts ago). Besides, most crimes happen during the day. A light bulb on the side of a house is not going to stop someone from breaking into a house while the homeowners are away at work or running errands. Or stop your car from being stolen from the driveway as you warm it up in the morning before work.
Please phone our local police departments in our area, to inform them you've found out they're information they have in law enforcement is incorrect and then you can help them with their crime prevention strategies... they all say lighting is one of the basic first line of defense security to discourage crime ( why do you suppose businesses have it as well? Your reassurance that probably most crime occurs during the day is not helpful when it does happen at night and it does indeed happen at night. When someone breaks into your home at 1 am telling your family "damm that poster said this happens more during the day, I'm sorry" doesn't really help.
Not everyone chooses to and is their choice but majority of homes in our area use at least some type of outdoor lighting varying from a low light on a side yard like us to high beams positioned at the four corners of their home and others
- I suppose as one poster said we could just get a ferocious German shepherd watchdog and let her know good news, we don't need a light- now instead of that we got a really sharp German shepherd watchdog, we will probably have him be outside most of the night or at least until after midnight to bark his head off if he hears a sound. Well that was a poster above what they suggested to compromise on the light issue. But we won't be able to install a device to mute his barking to a barely audible bark. She won't like that German shepherds can't be turned on mute.
Last edited by mondayafternoons; 01-01-2018 at 02:44 PM..
Yes, I'd also want to know how this light is affecting her.
If anything, I'd act quite sympathetic & tell her that you'll 'make a shade' so that the light bulb itself is not in her line of sight.
Then you might find out what her real problem is. (A simple one-sided shade can easily be fashioned out of a drink can or a piece of plastic cut from an ice-cream container)
Yeah-that should class up the joint for sure....................
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