The idiot who parking his big truck in front of our house.

[ellies mom]

OK, the street we live on has "alley homes" on one side and regular homes (garages in front) on the other. There is no street parking on the side of the street with the garages in front. We live in one of the alley homes. We have a garage in back but no driveway. We just moved in so we can't park in the garage just yet.

So on Thursday somebody parked this big truck right in front of our house. He didn't park it off to the side of our house. No, he parked it dead center. This thing is huge. It takes up a huge amount of the parking in front of our house. Half the time we've been having to park in front of our neighbor's house. Thankfully, they only have one car which they can actually fit in their garage. Now it is Monday afternoon and the truck is still there. I don't know if it is a neighbor or a guest but it is driving me nuts. Now I'm not unreasonable, I realize it is perfectly legal for them to park the truck there and I don't mind people parking in front of my house for a short period of time. But to park dead in front of someone else's house for 5 days without moving it is just plain rude. Why do they think that is OK?

[new_mommy25]

If it stays there much longer you can call it in as an abandoned vehicle. Where I live any car parked longer than 24 hours can be deemed abadonded. The cops will come and mark the tires with chalk and leave a notice on the windshield. If the car still hasn't been moved after 24 hours they will tow it.

You might not want to do that and get off to a bad start with your new neighbors but just thought I would throw that out there.

[DDowning]

In our state its 72 hours, so its a good idea to contact your local authorities to see what the regs are in your area.

[katiesmommy]

I'm sorry you have to deal with this. In our neighborhood the streets are narrow, so you have to park on one side of the street, of course my house is on the side you have to park on. The people across the street have the same huge truck, that always sits right in front of our house. To make it worse, housing has told us that we can't put our trashcans on the sidewalk behind a vehicle. Well what the heck am I suppossed to do. So instead every thursday morning, I have to go take the trash out after my huband leaves because I have to put it in the middle of the driveway. Sorry to take over your rant, I just wanted to say I know how you feel.

[dms619]

Does it have commercial plates? A lot of areas do not allow for overnight parking of commercial vehicles. Call the police (its confidential) and report it. With any luck, it will at least get a ticket, if not towed.

Debbie

[ellies mom]

No, no commercial plates. Our guess is that it is a neighbor that parked it and then went on vacation or something. It's been over a week and I finally decided to just get over it because it was eating up too much of my energy. OK, there was the one moment yesterday, where I really felt the urge to kick in the door (I surpressed it), and I may or may not have asked for a big rock to fall from the sky and land on the roof (none did) but really, I'm over it.

I am thinking about leaving a nice note though. We'll see. What kills me though is our next door neighbor doesn't park in front of their house. All they had to do was park there and no one would care.

[elliput]

It is possible the vehicle was stolen for a joy ride and abandoned in front of your house. Call the police to report it, they may have a stolen vehicle report and haul it off right away.

[dules]

That's a fabulous way to rat out the "neighbor" who did it, too, without seeming to do so. If it ever comes back on you that their car was towed while on vacation (or whaever), you can innocently say you thought it must have been a stolen/abandoned vehicle. ;)

Best,
Mary

[ellies mom]

He moved it this afternoon. Which made us happy. Then when I came home about 9:30pm and had to park next to my neighbors again because someone was having a party (thankfully, I'm a decent parallel parker) and there were a ton of cars parked on our street, the guy drove by as I was getting ready too park. I'm sure he was bummed because other people beat him to his "spot". Anyhow, I think I'll write a letter to the neighborhood association asking them to remind people about common curtesey. I figure I should get something for my dues. Right?

[jesseandgrace]

Just out of curiosity, why does it matter if someone is parked on the street in front of your house? Is that really showing a lack of common courtesy? I guess being from the city this is just so normal to me that maybe he doesn't get it either - I just want to understand myself, I am definitely not trying to be snarky, just curious since i don't really get it. Is it an unspoken suburban law that you don't park in front of the neighbors house? We now live in CA and I'm in the suburbs sort of for the first time, but we don't have sidewalks so I guess I have been following this rule since I wouldn't park in front of someone elses house/mailbox, but in a regular subdivision place I probably wouldn't think about it that much - until now! So what is the scoop?

[ellies mom]

I don't in theory mind people parking in front of my house. I lived in the city for years also and it didn't really bother me then. In most subdivisions where everyone has a driveway, I really don't think it is a big deal if you park in front of someone's house. It is just I don't have a driveway. The houses on one side of the street have driveways but not our side. We have a garage (in the alley) but it would be impossible to fit two cars in there and still get the stroller and bikes in and out. And it wasn't so much that he was parking in front of our house, it was more that he parked in such a way that we couldn't easily park in front of our house and then left it there for over a week. I really don't expect people to park in their garages because I know we've never been able to get more than one car in at a time, but if someone has a driveway, then it would be nice if they used it, so that I can park near my house too. And I think it was the leaving it for over a week that really got to me, because it wasn't just an occasional "Shoot, I can't park" but all day, every day for several days. Does that make sense?

[dms619]

>Just out of curiosity, why does it matter if someone is
>parked on the street in front of your house? Is that really
>showing a lack of common courtesy?

Well, yes it does.

>I guess being from the city this is just so normal to me that maybe >he doesn't get it either - I just want to understand myself, I am >definitely not trying to be snarky, just curious since i don't >really get it.

I'm from NY and when I lived in the city (Manhattan), anyplace is okay. When I lived in Queens (still part of the city), in an aparment type of building, you park anywhere where there is space - in a residential neighborhood, you park in front of your own house - its just the way it is.

Also, in the suburbs, alot of people have "illegal" apartments in their homes, creating more cars on a block. My MIL's neighborhood is like this (a suburb on Long Island) and they put their garbage cans in front to "block off their space". Other towns have no overnight parking on the street from 2AM - 6AM, to prevent these types of situations.

So, in most places I have lived, it is considered rude to park in front of someone elses house (except if you're having a party with a tons of cars! :) ).

Debbie
Mommy to sweet baby Katie

[jesseandgrace]

Thanks for shedding some light!