Driveway Etiquette???!?!?!? Hmmmmmm...

[CPanther95]

. (I do find it funny that I constantly hear people complain about how many cars are parked on the street, yet no one would dream of being "rude" by parking in the empty driveways instead.)

I don't get the logic either. To avoid being potentially rude to the one person from whom you were invited, you'll be rude to countless neighbors that have to be inconvenienced trying to navigate around your car parked in the street. (Assuming there aren't marked parking spaces on the street). They have to stop to let oncoming cars pass before going around your car, it blocks the view of children that may be playing near the street, etc.....

 

[mjkacmom]

I acknowledge that it is considered rude in some places, I just don't really get the logic behind the sentiment.

I don't argue with anyone who feels that way. I just go along with it as a local custom. The first time I went to someone's house for a meeting and noticed the two other people had parked on the street instead of in the empty driveway, I followed suit. (I do find it funny that I constantly hear people complain about how many cars are parked on the street, yet no one would dream of being "rude" by parking in the empty driveways instead.)

I also accept that people here wear shoes inside so I have no issue with my guests doing so, but that was unheard of (and would have been considered extremely rude) where I lived before.

The logic is that people who live in the home might not be able to get a car in or out of the driveway/garage. When my dad would park in our small driveway, if one if us came home, we would have to park out front, on the street. Not a big deal, except we'd forget to put it in the driveway at night, and end up with a parking ticket (no overnight parking). I also wouldn't want to block someone in, or prevent a resident from parking in the driveway.

 

[aprilgail]

It's considered rude here. Parking in someone's driveway without permission would be using the master bathroom, instead of the guest bathroom. In both cases, sometimes it's necessary, so you ask. On occasion, if I'm just dropping something off, or picking up a child, and there is limited street parking, I'll pull into the driveway, and apologize.
).

I can't imagine a guest coming to my house and pulling into my driveway, that would just be so odd! Would certainly be a "what the heck are they thinking" moment LOL.

 

[RangerPooh]

I think it depends on if you know the person and time of day. If it's early evening hen people may be returning home form work then I will avoid parking in the driveway (if only one spot remains) as I wouldn't want to inconvenience them. In that case I would park in the street, unless it's a long driveway with room for me to park and room for the homeowner to still access their spot. If the driveway is small I'll park on the street if parking is available. When we have people over we would prefer that they park in our driveway rather than block a neighbors driveway or park in front of their house. Just a courtesy at that point.

 

[tzolkin]

The logic is that people who live in the home might not be able to get a car in or out of the driveway/garage. When my dad would park in our small driveway, if one if us came home, we would have to park out front, on the street. Not a big deal, except we'd forget to put it in the driveway at night, and end up with a parking ticket (no overnight parking). I also wouldn't want to block someone in, or prevent a resident from parking in the driveway.

I guess I could see that in certain instances. (Where we lived before and you could not park on the street, you would just move your car if need be.)

I'm thinking more of things like inviting guests over for dinner, having a meeting at your home during the day, etc. I have been here a year and a half and go to other people's homes and have guests at mine a few times a week. Never once have the homeowners needed to access their driveway. Since, in my experience, it's rare for parking in the driveway to be an inconvenience to the homeowner, it would make more sense than annoying the neighbors with cars all over the street unnecessarily.

I don't get the logic either. To avoid being potentially rude to the one person from whom you were invited, you'll be rude to countless neighbors that have to be inconvenienced trying to navigate around your car parked in the street. (Assuming there aren't marked parking spaces on the street). They have to stop to let oncoming cars pass before going around your car, it blocks the view of children that may be playing near the street, etc.....

This is what everyone complains about. If multiple people have company, they block both sides of the road (no actual defined parking).

What I especially don't understand is when elderly people park like a block away and carry food or something rather than just use the empty driveway. I will explicitly tell people they are welcome to park in the driveway if I am inviting a large group, but they still don't. I also have a neighbor with video cameras who will come out and yell at my guests for parking in front of her house, so that adds a bit of stress to my comfort with on-street parking.

 

[CPanther95]

I'm thinking more of things like inviting guests over for dinner, having a meeting at your home during the day, etc. I have been here a year and a half and go to other people's homes and have guests at mine a few times a week. Never once have the homeowners needed to access their driveway. Since, in my experience, it's rare for parking in the driveway to be an inconvenience to the homeowner, it would make more sense than annoying the neighbors with cars all over the street unnecessarily.

Agreed.

If I'm at somebody's house and someone needs to get past my car in the driveway, it's very easy for me to go move it and let them in. Of course that's a slight inconvenience for me only - but better than inconveniencing everyone else.

 

[mjkacmom]

This is what everyone complains about. If multiple people have company, they block both sides of the road (no actual defined parking).

What I especially don't understand is when elderly people park like a block away and carry food or something rather than just use the empty driveway. I will explicitly tell people they are welcome to park in the driveway if I am inviting a large group, but they still don't. I also have a neighbor with video cameras who will come out and yell at my guests for parking in front of her house, so that adds a bit of stress to my comfort with on-street parking.

I can't imagine neighbors complaining that party guests parked on the street - that's where people park who don't live in the house. I've never seen people in my neighborhood, or at friends' homes, have guests park in their driveway. If I saw a vehicle that I didn't recognize in someone's driveway, I would assume they got a new vehicle. Street parking is fair game for all.

 

[CPanther95]

Street parking is fair game for all.

That's the first sign of the apocalypse.

At a minimum, it's a sign of a neighborhood I'd never want to buy a house in. I view street parking on par with leaving Christmas lights up year round or using a toilet in the front yard as a planter.

 

[lovin'fl]

My driveway is blacktop so I don't care if anyone parks in it. When I go to pick up my kids somewhere (or a quick stop at someone's house) I will park in their driveway if it has a spot. Never thought it was rude. Now if I go to a party/event, then I park on street for easy quick exit (don't want to get blocked in by that person who stays to the bitter end...then I'm stuck to the bitter end).

 

[Praying Colonel]

I can't imagine a guest coming to my house and pulling into my driveway, that would just be so odd! Would certainly be a "what the heck are they thinking" moment LOL.

See, I feel the opposite--if I had a guest come to my house and park on the street instead of pulling into my driveway, I'd wonder why they didn't park as closely as possible. It would be odd to me.

But we live in the suburbs and many HOAs around us have "no parking in the street" rules. They'll drive around and send nastygrams if they see vehicles in the street around your house habitually. Doesn't even matter if it's yours, which is annoying.

So I think a lot of it is driven (no pun intended) by your location.

 

[mjkacmom]

That's the first sign of the apocalypse.

At a minimum, it's a sign of a neighborhood I'd never want to buy a house in. I view street parking on par with leaving Christmas lights up year round or using a toilet in the front yard as a planter.

This sounds so strange to me. There is plenty of street parking for all, and since you can't park on the street overnight, it's not like cars are being left for long. My street is three blocks long, and if I had to guess, there are probably four cars total parked on the street now. It's a suburban neighborhood, not a city, with beautiful old homes and well maintained, landscaped yards, sidewalks everywhere. And there is no way a toilet planter would remain - someone would take care of that.

 

[CPanther95]

This sounds so strange to me. There is plenty of street parking for all, and since you can't park on the street overnight, it's not like cars are being left for long. My street is three blocks long, and if I had to guess, there are probably four cars total parked on the street now. It's a suburban neighborhood, not a city, with beautiful old homes and well maintained, landscaped yards, sidewalks everywhere. And there is no way a toilet planter would remain - someone would take care of that.

I should qualify my statement. I'm talking about street parking that doesn't allow 2 lanes of traffic to continue unencumbered. Only if you are disrupting the traffic flow. If there are 4 lanes worth of width, it's a non-issue.

 

[Pooh2]

We and our guests park in the driveway, regardless of oil leaks! We lived through the teenage years with many of our kids friends driving old beater cars and working on them in our driveway.
When we have a full driveway, people park in the road where there is really not much room on the sides of the street. If it's summer, I would prefer overflow cars to park on the lawn rather than in the road.

 

[indimom]

Huh, another one I never would have thought about if it hadn't been brought up here.

I grew up in farm country so there was no such thing as street parking and many driveways were a minimum of a 1/4 mile long. You parked in the drive. Always. Because most were farms, there was always plenty of room for parking since there were multiple barns and outbuildings; and, driveways had to be wide enough for farm equipment to maneuver/turn-around in.

When we had large family parties, it was possible to get blocked in by other guests, but we just moved vehicles as needed to allow guests to leave. If you tried to pull to the side of our country roads and park, you risked getting stuck or becoming a road hazard.

I now live in a small rural town. We have a driveway that is 3 cars wide, and we have a corner lot so plenty of parking on two sides. People who are just dropping off or picking up tend to use the street simply because it's easier than pulling in and backing out again. Those who are staying awhile typically use the driveway (although most choose the 3rd parking spot so they don't block the garage).

I never would have considered parking in the drive OR parking on the street to be rude. Both are up for grabs, in my opinion.

 

[DiannaVM]

Where I live most people don't have driveways (long enough for more than two cars to park anyway), and most of those who do had gates so you can't access their driveways. However, with friends if they have an open driveway I usually park there, especially if I am not staying long.

I wouldn't consider it rude for someone to park in my open driveway.

 

[aprilgail]

That's the first sign of the apocalypse.

At a minimum, it's a sign of a neighborhood I'd never want to buy a house in. I view street parking on par with leaving Christmas lights up year round or using a toilet in the front yard as a planter.

LOL- total opposite here- if I saw no cars on the streets and everyone jammed up into driveways I would think it was like a stepford wife community and not someplace I would want to live.

 

[CPanther95]

Stepford has always gotten a bad rap.

 

[morgan98]

As with most things on the DIS, I think this is a region specific thing. I really never street park when visiting someone unless there is no driveway. Everyone that has visited me also parks in my driveway. Street parking would be for when so many people are over and the driveway is full.

Maybe this is because we are generally talking about instances where people have very long driveways and/or an HOA. In my current house, my driveway is very long and fairly wide. A couple of cars in the driveway in no way blocks the driveway.

Also, in general if I am hosting a get together, my husband and I are not leaving anyway, so there is no worry about blocking our cars in the garage.

No right or wrong, but then it is interesting when you read other threads about cars blocking driveways when parked on the street. I guess neither is acceptable?

 

[CPanther95]

No right or wrong, but then it is interesting when you read other threads about cars blocking driveways when parked on the street. I guess neither is acceptable?

There's no right or wrong legally, the only thing that makes one way preferred over the other is when you factor in being considerate of others as opposed to just yourself.

People are much quicker to be rude to dozens of people that they don't have to face or interact with than a single person they know or have to face. When I decide to bring a car to a friend's house, that's my problem to deal with - and his as my host. If I have to juggle the car to accommodate someone else coming, so be it. The only people affected and inconvenienced are those involved. When I force every single driver passing my car to contend with my car being in the flow of traffic, I consider that rude to all those people. Something I expect from the "ME" generation.

 

[Tinkerbell53]

Even though this is an old thread it has been a very interesting read. I'm in a small NH town and people here don't park on the street really with the exception of having a party and no more cars can fit in the driveway (not on my street though because there is absolutely nowhere to park on the street). If I did live on a side street and it was technically possible to park on the street I would find it super odd if someone did that instead of parking in my driveway when visiting.

Also not sure if I'm reading it correctly but it seems like some people have mentioned parking in their neighbor's driveway? That would be considered extremely rude here to park in a neighbor's driveway without asking first. If some random stranger was parked in my driveway I would think it was weird and would probably ask what they were doing or if they needed something. We have squeezed 10 cars into our driveway/lawn for holidays etc. but if we cant fit all the cars this year we will be shuttling people back and forth to the public park behind our house so they can park there but would never dream of saying "just park in my neighbor's driveway." There definitely seem to be regional differences and I find it fascinating!