S/O weird neighbors

[MadamePresident]

bearbaby post about neighbors with a snow making machine setup got me thinking.

We have new neighbors across the street and they constantly park in the street in front of their driveway. Also for the first time today they actually parked a car in the driveway, which is being blocked by the car in front of it on the street. Also think they made some kind of weird color choices for the outside of their house.

The people seem nice enough. I've run into them a few times as they were building the house. I brought them muffins on Saturday as that were moving stuff in. It will be interesting though as they live here longer to see what kind of people they are.

What kind of weird things do your neighbors do?

[Deleted]

We live next door to Winter Wonderland. Like, their whole front lawn is COVERED in light up Christmas shit.

No inflatables. That, apparently, is tacky.

DS loves it, though, and it's not my electric bill. I'm just not sure why you'd want to go that far.

[VillainV]

We have a neighbor who spends a lot of time sitting in his garage in a patio chair reading. Even when it's cold out, he has the garage door open and sits there reading (books, magazine, newspaper, whatever). Several hours a day. I have no idea WHY he goes out to the garage to read. They are an older couple, and go for lots of walks together in the neighborhood so I doubt it's to escape his wife.

[bearbaby]

Our street is mostly single width driveways and one-car garages, so street parking is not uncommon (though most people do the strategic alignment of cars in driveway so they don't have to be on the street).

But I am irrationally irritated that our neighbors always park one of their cars on the street, but smack dab in front of OUR house, and walk across our lawn to/from their house rather than, you know, parking in front of their own house?

It's a silly thing to be annoyed with, but it irks me more and more everyday they do it. I don't wanna stare at your car and family right outside my living room picture windows! It's weirding me out, man!

[Brie]

Our next door neighbor mailed us a certified letter via U.S. Mail asking us to stop "allowing" our dog to pee and poop on their lawn. It was a full page, single spaced, citing the cost of repairing his lawn after a hot summer and all sorts of other ridiculous shit.

(Our dog doesn't do anything anywhere near their effing yard, FTR, and there are all sorts of strays and wildlife in our neighborhood that are probably the cause.)

H walked next door with the letter and was like, "really, dude? You couldn't just tell us in person?"

[sunshine608]

Nov 24, 2014 11:13:17 GMT -5 @this said:

This is totally a suburbia complaint, but I HAAAAAAATE when people park on the street on a regular basis.

For a party or having a bunch of people over, I totally get it and have no problem with it of course. But the vehicles that "live" there should be parked in the garage or driveway ALWAYS.

This is my pet peeve too. When we were looking at houses, it was a turnoff if too many cars were parked in the street ( and it was clear that it wasn't a party or event).

My neighbors have started parking a school bus in the driveway. This is against the HOA and I think something was said to them, so the solution is to now park it so you can't see it- behind their house.  Everyone also has fenced in backyards, but they removed their fence and then put up 7 outdoor gazebos in their backyard. 7! Some have covers, some don't- some are ripped. Weird to me.

[Brie]

Our old neighbor was a total cougar divorcee. When we first moved in she invited us to the HOA Christmas party at her place, so we went. She was wearing a black bra under a lace shirt and kept trying to give my H backrubs and get him drunk. It was so, so strange.

[aspentosh]

I agree @this. So much so that we have three cars and all fit in the driveway (well two in the garage and one in the driveway). There is a house on the corner that is HUGE (4000 sq ft with all the additions) and they have like 3 generations living in there. Pretty sure it's like 15 people. Needless to say, there are like 5 cars on the street in front of their house. Hate it.

My biggest complaint is the people that let their dogs bark. And bark and bark. And bark. It happens all the damn time and it's so annoying.

[Deleted]

My next door neighbors have 3 boys. They NEVER park in the garage, ALWAYS park in the driveway ( which is fine) except they wash and vacuum there cars EVERY SINGLE DAY from May-October. Like always.

I get that their garage is full of sports stuff, but if they are that picky about their cars, they might stay cleaner IN THE GARAGE.

They are really really nice people though... this just struck me as odd.

Also their youngest often escapes the house naked and streaks the cul de sac. It's hysterical.

[mpc]

There's a guy down the street that removes every single leaf from his yard, one by one, every single day. He also mows the grass barefoot.

my dad is the weird guy who sits in the garage/driveway for hours every day.

[mannah]

Before we moved into our house, the side garden was really overgrown. We got some mail for the previous owner that I set aside and then came across a few months later and decided to open it to determine if it was junk or not. (Flammable?) It was a letter from the city with a picture of the overgrown garden and a citation! I called the city and apparently in order for them to issue a ticket like that they have to receive a complaint from a neighbor. So someone complained about the overgrowth before we moved in and then we had to pay $25 ticket. Seriously?! We were just moving in! And it's not like it was THAT bad, especially compared to some other lawns.

Although I guess I'd rather have neighbors who care about the way it looks than not but still.

[egishere]

We live in a nice neighborhood and the house next to us is a complete dump. They have never put in a yard (new construction but this house is 8-9 yrs old) so the grass is non existent-mostly weeds. The landscaping in the front is completely overgrown. It is a Dad and college age son that live there but only the son lives there now-huge house. We never see them.

The best is that they most likely have a pot growing operation going on inside their house. My neighbor across the street suspected it after seeing some weird things (like multiple propane tanks in the garage and garden stakes) so she called the narcotics unit for the city police. They supposedly investigated them and yes they were growing is what the officer told other neighbor. So they dissembled everything in the middle of the night. Also they are being foreclosed on is what they told the narcotics officer and had to be out of the house by Nov 6. Two weeks ago we saw them move a bunch of stuff out of the house but they are still there. I wish they would move already! It makes me nervous that they are growing and I worry it could be something more dangerous like meth.

[lishie]

Nov 24, 2014 11:17:45 GMT -5 bearbaby said:

Our street is mostly single width driveways and one-car garages, so street parking is not uncommon (though most people do the strategic alignment of cars in driveway so they don't have to be on the street).

But I am irrationally irritated that our neighbors always park one of their cars on the street, but smack dab in front of OUR house, and walk across our lawn to/from their house rather than, you know, parking in front of their own house?

It's a silly thing to be annoyed with, but it irks me more and more everyday they do it. I don't wanna stare at your car and family right outside my living room picture windows! It's weirding me out, man!

I live in the city, land of street parking, and whether you park in front of your house (or as close to it as you get) or across the street from your house depends upon which direction you're driving, as you must park with traffic. No one is driving out of their way to turn their car around to attempt to get a spot on the same side of the street as their home. I'm assuming this is not an issue in your neighborhood.

 

[simpsongal]

Our neighbors are pretty normal. I hope we're not the annoying ones since most of them have professional landscapers and our lawn isn't exactly show-worthy.

A few adults walk dogs across our large front lawn - on the inside of the maple trees that wrap around our property (corner lot). On what planet is it socially acceptable to cut across a person's lawn like that?

[bearbaby]

lishie - nope, we're next to them - they'd park in the same direction/side of street regardless - instead they walk cutting across our front lawn directly onto their front lawn (small-ish lot sizes) and I then stare at their car out of my front window.

Not, obviously, a big deal - just irritates me because I'm irritable like that

[bowies]

We have a ton of weirdos. It's charming in a way. There's a house near the park that has a few broken/faded nursery rockers on the front porch. I've never seen anyone use them. It looks like the world's saddest daycare.

Oh, and there's a house at the beginning of the neighborhood that planted these tall, exotic flowering plants all over their front lawn. Literally, no grass there, just 7-8 foot tall stalks that block the view of the first floor windows.

There are a ton more examples of houses that are total dumps or have some interesting features added on to them. This is what not having a HOA nets you. The people themselves seem to be rather unassuming though.

[stacyb1983]

Our elderly neighbor feeds the feral cats. I am the asshole neighbor who called CAP. After seeing litter after litter of kittens, I had to do something. CAP performed Trap-Neuter-Return on the adults and ASPCA took the kittens to put up for adoptions. Since then, no more kittens. She is still very upset about there being no more kittens.

[matildasun]

I don't get the street parking hate, but then again that is all we have here.

When I visit my parent we park all the Cars in the driveway in a way that they can all get out. We don't park on the street, because the woman who works across the street us terrible at backing out.

[Deleted]

Nov 24, 2014 11:17:34 GMT -5 VillainV said:

We have a neighbor who spends a lot of time sitting in his garage in a patio chair reading. Even when it's cold out, he has the garage door open and sits there reading (books, magazine, newspaper, whatever). Several hours a day. I have no idea WHY he goes out to the garage to read. They are an older couple, and go for lots of walks together in the neighborhood so I doubt it's to escape his wife.

Not a smoker is he?

[Deleted]

The only really weird neighbors have moved, or unfortunately have passed away.
The neighbor directly across the street, used to walk heel to toe across the lawn every which way (measuring it?) every weekend for the first month or so they were in their house. They got a dog, then got rid of it when the wife had a baby, b/c the baby was allergic. Sad.
The neighbor across the street and 2 houses down had 2 dogs that our dog used to play with, DH would walk our dog with him and his dogs, etc., passed away in February. I posted the story here or MM, I forget which. I still miss him, even though he was weird - sat in his front window every day watching people, would comment the next time I saw him if I happened to come home from work especially late, etc.

[Redpoppy]

We are in a condo. The people next door set up a kiddie pool the length of an adult and then float/sunbathe in it. Odd, but behind their fence. The lady next to them pulls a beach chair into her parking spot to sunbathe, then scowls at the kids playing outside and making any noise. It's against our condo rules to sunbathe in the parking lot too, but no one follows rules.

[MadamePresident]

This just happened today. I'm in a new construction neighborhood and the lot next to us has had a sold sign on it for a while. They went out and did a survey today. Apparently the house next door is a ranch, but there is really not enough room on the lot for it.

The green grass is the edge of my yard and the stake is the back corner of their house.

[felicity]

Nov 24, 2014 11:13:17 GMT -5 @this said:

This is totally a suburbia complaint, but I HAAAAAAATE when people park on the street on a regular basis.

For a party or having a bunch of people over, I totally get it and have no problem with it of course. But the vehicles that "live" there should be parked in the garage or driveway ALWAYS.

You would hate my street. Nearly everybody has a car parked on the street, but mostly just one car, and it's all single family homes so the street isn't lined with cars or anything. It never occurred to me it was a thing to be bothered by. We have a one car garage and driveway, and no way are we playing car switcharoo on a daily basis. H leaves before me and gets home after me, and he drives the new car that gets the garage. Even most of the two car garage houses seem to have a car on the street because most have teenagers or grown kids living at home, so three cars for the house. The kids park on the street. 

My next door neighbor does park facing the wrong direction on the street, and he goes out of his way to do it which I think is weird. Like, he'll be driving up to his house in the right direction, go down the street and turn around, then face the wrong way. Our street is very quiet and has easy access out of the neighborhood from both directions so it's not like he needs to set up to make his exit easier or anything. We have a police officer who lives on our street too, so it seems a little brazen, not that he'd ever give a ticket to him for this...he's pretty chill, but still. 

[drloretta]

Our neighbors to one side have adults kids living at home, each with a car. For the first year we lived there, they parked their cars on the sidewalk in front of our house. Thankfully that has stopped.

The people on the other side are very old with 10293847 kids, grandkids, and great grandkids. The wife asked us into her home our first day there, after meeting us 5 minutes before. I politely declined.

The neighbors next to them have a pool that hasn't been in use for years. They have just kept it as a gaping hole in their backyard. They babysit kids, I always get nervous when I hear them running around.

[Deleted]

Nov 24, 2014 11:13:17 GMT -5 @this said:

This is totally a suburbia complaint, but I HAAAAAAATE when people park on the street on a regular basis.

For a party or having a bunch of people over, I totally get it and have no problem with it of course. But the vehicles that "live" there should be parked in the garage or driveway ALWAYS.

I understand this view but it is so foreign to me. I would say 90% of the homes here do not have a garage and many don't have driveways big enough to hold more than one car. Street parking is just the norm.

Eta: and I live in the suburbs.

[hilwithonelary]

We seem to have fairly normal neighbors right now.

Two houses ago, we had neighbors across the street that had about 6 cars parked everywhere but their junk filled garage. One of the adult sons had a gigantic truck with oversized tires. It was always parked in front of our house. It made me crazy. It also killed a patch of grass because it never got sun between a tree in our yard and the giant truck.

Our next door neighbors at that house painted their house and trim a bunch of pastel pinks and greens. It was so ugly.

[hermione]

I had a neighbor complain about my dog barking. Let's be clear, he barked three times in rapid succession in the middle of the afternoon on a Saturday. Bark, bark, bark - the end. He was saying hello to the other neighbor who always has a Milk Bone in her pocket for him.

After complaining to me about that, we caught him trying to feed my dog hamburger through the fence. This neighbor was just weird enough that I thought he may be trying to poison the animal. DH had it out with him. It was all just odd. He was thrown out not long after, I think he lasted less than 6 months.

[rootbeerfloat]

My neighbor parks his car in front of our house. IT DRIVES ME NUTS. You can only park on one side of the street (our side), and instead of parking both of their cars in their garage/driveway, they claim the spot directly in front of us. We don't even need it on a regular basis. It's just the principle.

[sjh722]

Our current neighbors are all pretty normal.

We had one neighbor who would constantly sit outside and comment on everything you were doing by yelling across the street. "Wow, your hair looks so good curly! You should wear it that way more often!" and "Blue is a good color on you!" (which are, I suppose, nice things to say, but she was weird.) She also cornered me walking the dog one morning and told me about how she only works for cash on the side so that her daughter could get free lunch.

At our first house we lived next to animal hoarders who had a garage full of trash and 5 or 6 kids in about 1200 square feet.

[Odonata]

Nov 24, 2014 11:17:34 GMT -5 VillainV said:

We have a neighbor who spends a lot of time sitting in his garage in a patio chair reading. Even when it's cold out, he has the garage door open and sits there reading (books, magazine, newspaper, whatever). Several hours a day. I have no idea WHY he goes out to the garage to read. They are an older couple, and go for lots of walks together in the neighborhood so I doubt it's to escape his wife.

OK I was just about to talk about this old guy down the street that sits in his garage and watches tv in a lawn chair.  It'll be a billion below zero and snowing and he will be there, in his parka, sitting in an old lawn chair watching football on his HUGE flatscreen hanging in the garage with the door open.  

I don't know if he has a wife or what...I've never seen her, but he's really nice and will always say "hi" if you walk past.  

H and I assumed it was to escape his wife, if he has one.