Neighborhoods with shared mailboxes (Kingman: home, deed, delivery)

[observer53]

Originally Posted by bigDwiki

CheyDee, I agree. This is another concern. I get a LOT of mail. One of those small slots will hardly hold half of my mail. Usually 2-3 magazines a day, lots of letters, junk mail...and the occasional box. I really want my mail where I can see it.

The boxes are bigger than they look, they are quite deep. If you do really get more mail in one day than it can hold, the postman will rubber band it up and deal with it like a package, putting it in one of the large boxes.

I like it better than the home box. It's locked, and I'm rarely home watching for the mail, so when I get home, it's there. If I leave it there an extra day, it's still there. No one has to walk more than half a block to mine, it's one house away for me.

If I found a house I loved, whether it had its own mailbox would not be a deal breaker for me. But pbenjamin is right, if it means that much to you, look only in neighborhoods that predate this process.

[CheyDee]

Originally Posted by pbenjamin

Get an older house. Our mail is delivered to our door.

At one time I had my mail delivered to the door - literally - not to a curbside mailbox in front of the house. Each house had a mailbox mounted near the door or a mail slot right in the door. (This wasn't in AZ, but my old neighborhood still has these.) The letter carriers there go house to house on a foot route. You don't even have to be dressed to get your mail - you can just stick your arm out and reach the box.

I don't mind curbside delivery but, as I posted previously, I do mind banked mailboxes. It wouldn't be such a PITA to get mail if the banked boxes were right near my house, but I don't need my dogs notifying me every time a neighbor walked back and forth getting their mail, so it's a lose/lose situation as far as I'm concerned. Mailbox location is indeed a deal-breaker for me. I tried it once, hated it and will never do it again.

I agree with observer53 about what the mailboxes can hold. We too get a lot of mail, including a lot of catalogs, and seldom had issues with everything not fitting inside.

[observer53]

Originally Posted by CheyDee

At one time I had my mail delivered to the door - literally - not to a curbside mailbox in front of the house. Each house had a mailbox mounted near the door or a mail slot right in the door. (This wasn't in AZ, but my old neighborhood still has these.) The letter carriers there go house to house on a foot route. You don't even have to be dressed to get your mail - you can just stick your arm out and reach the box.

I don't mind curbside delivery but, as I posted previously, I do mind banked mailboxes. It wouldn't be such a PITA to get mail if the banked boxes were right near my house, but I don't need my dogs notifying me every time a neighbor walked back and forth getting their mail, so it's a lose/lose situation as far as I'm concerned. Mailbox location is indeed a deal-breaker for me. I tried it once, hated it and will never do it again.

I agree with observer53 about what the mailboxes can hold. We too get a lot of mail, including a lot of catalogs, and seldom had issues with everything not fitting inside.

If your dogs bark every time someone walks by on the sidewalk, whether they are headed to get mail or not, I'd be discouraging my dogs from alerting me to that. It irks me when I am the one walking by (usually now without a dog) and dogs in houses are barking or bumping the windows. My dogs never did that.

People who are at the outer edge of the boundary for my mailbox often stop by on their way home, in the car, to get the mail. That's another option.

Again, this would not be a deal breaker for me on a house. YMMV.

[Bungle]

I welcome the bank of mailboxes. Walking to get the mail is a great time to get to socialize with neighbors and even get some exercise and take the dog for a walk.

[ReadyFreddy]

I just moved from a dual mailbox on the corner of my lot to a house with a bank, two houses away. I have no strong preference. I am surprised how much it holds. They even get packages in my slot.

I had changed the dual box to a locking one because I'm prone to only pick up my mail once a week. I get everything important via email, so it's just a chore to clear out the junk from the box. I'd like to turn it off but you can't. I tried to opt out of direct mail advertising and couldn't.

[jimj]

One upside is the drop in mail theft. With the banks of boxes out in full public view it's a real hard target for mail thieves.

[bigDwiki]

Originally Posted by jimj

One upside is the drop in mail theft. With the banks of boxes out in full public view it's a real hard target for mail thieves.

It does happen. Officials on the lookout for mail thieves - Kingman Daily Miner - Kingman, Arizona

[CheyDee]

Originally Posted by observer53

If your dogs bark every time someone walks by on the sidewalk, whether they are headed to get mail or not, I'd be discouraging my dogs from alerting me to that. It irks me when I am the one walking by (usually now without a dog) and dogs in houses are barking or bumping the windows. My dogs never did that

My dogs don't bean off the windows. I wouldn't allow that either. That would be scary to a passer-by and a potential safety hazard. They do, however, notify me when anyone is around which, IMO, is part of their "job". If they are inside the house but can see you through the front screen door, you are around.

[LBTRS]

The mailbox banks at the end of the street work well for the most part. Plenty of room for parcels in the large locked package boxes and in the rare event they can't fit the mail person stops by my house and leaves it at my door.

Only issue I've ever had with the mail setup is sometimes I get a letter addressed to a neighbor and vice versa.

[pbenjamin]

Originally Posted by CheyDee

At one time I had my mail delivered to the door - literally - not to a curbside mailbox in front of the house. Each house had a mailbox mounted near the door or a mail slot right in the door. (This wasn't in AZ, but my old neighborhood still has these.) The letter carriers there go house to house on a foot route. You don't even have to be dressed to get your mail - you can just stick your arm out and reach the box.

That's what we have, with an antique mail slot.