Ugh! Neighborhood vent!

[Poohnatic]

Just venting, since I can't hash it out with DH right now.

I live in a small neighborhood of 53 houses on a loop. We're a new neighborhood, my house was the last finished (in April). Our house is one of the houses on the inside of the loop, so there are houses all around me.

The kids in the neighborhood like to play outside, which is fine. My problem is that they like to use any yards not fenced in as a cut through. Now, several kids seem to think because they live next door that they can annex my yard. The thing that cheeses me off is that 20 minutes ago, I saw 3 girls riding their bikes through my back yard!

I was thinking of sending a note to all the neighbors to say that I'm glad that the kids like to play, but to please remind your kids to have respect for other's property. Instruct them that they shouldn't use yards as a cut through or playground!

The neighbor on the other side and I were chatting after I explained to the young ladies that there are perfectly good sidewalks that are more suited to bike riding than my lawn! I told him he was the smart one, putting the fence up the week after they moved in! Yep, I think the fence has moved up the priority list with the tax refund!

ETA: These are not small kids. Most are middle schoolers who should know better.

Vent over!

Suzanne

 

[KathyTX]

Familiar with the old proverb, "Good fences make good neighbors"?

There's a lot of truth in it.

 

[clh2]

If a fence is "not your thing" what about "prickly" landscaping? There are some nice rose bushes that would make a nice hedge, and other bush types that are prickly.

 

[Poohnatic]

clh, I like that idea, my DH doesn't. He was a landscaper through college and had far too many run in with stickerbushes to even put any in our yard!

Kathy, very familiar with that one! My farmhouse had my neighbor's fence on my property. We joked that when they got the horses, I got to ride them if they strayed on my side, lol!

Yep, I am on those fence quote sites right now! I priced out a DIY at home depot a few months back, figure I'll double that amount for having the pros do it! It'll be one less thing to do when we get around to building the pool.

Suzanne

 

[cardaway]

You're far from alone. Many people in our neighborhood complained about the same thing and they all now have fences.

 

[AFMom]

You just have to wonder where the parents are in all of this.... I know the kids are older so that they don't have to be watched as closely - but still! Pay attention to what your kids are doing and tell them what's not appropriate!!!!

 

[Marseeya]

You just have to wonder where the parents are in all of this.... I know the kids are older so that they don't have to be watched as closely - but still! Pay attention to what your kids are doing and tell them what's not appropriate!!!!

Kids don't seem to have natural boundaries, so it's up to us parents to provide them.

 

[Skatermom23]

Familiar with the old proverb, "Good fences make good neighbors"?

There's a lot of truth in it.

 

[mickeyfan2]

I would do either a fence or landscape to "close off" your yard. I think that the note could cause you other problems, so I recommend against it at this time.

 

[Alaska Catdog]

For us the snowmobiles and 4 wheelers. Kids have turned a corner of our front yard into a path that they use to jump off a small mound. I am terrified that some kid will flip his machine and pin himself on my property, and then I will get sued. I don't mind if they walk on the path but I hate when kids ride their snowmobiles and 4 wheelers on my land. The potential for self injury is too great. I'd never buy a kid one of those things but every kid in the neighborhood seems to have both. I gotta think about moving.

 

[wdwmom2]

If a fence is "not your thing" what about "prickly" landscaping? There are some nice rose bushes that would make a nice hedge, and other bush types that are prickly.

Yep. I just got my new Jackson & Perkins catalog in the mail yesterday....wanna borrow it !?!?!?

 

[NCDisneyMom]

We have a similar problem here...also with the middle-schoolers. They run through our backyard to get to/from a couple of houses. My biggest problem is that we've got a wooded area behind our homes...on our properties. One afternoon, I saw them back there swinging from branches, and trying to climb trees on our property. With this lawsuit-happy world we live in, I'm afraid one of them will fall and get hurt, and their parents will sue us. The fence is definitely going up this Spring.

 

[LoriKay]

Totally feel your pain! I posted once before about our street where the parents put out little green construction guys and basically expect the street to be used only as a playground and not for vehicle traffic. All of the little kids have some kind of a 4 wheeler thingy and they all ride them through our front yard with the parents standing right there. The funny thing is, if I go outside then one of the parents will make the kids stop riding on our yard but if we aren't outside it's a free for all. We've been spending Sunday afternoons looking at patio/villa type homes.

 

[Poohnatic]

Lori,

I detest those things because of past experience. I lived in a planned community before (a/k/a Stepford), and the only way to get out of my part of the neighborhood was to go halfway through a traffic circle.

New people moved into one of those homes on the circle and would put that out in the street when the kids were playing. Mind you, it was the ONLY way out for about 400 homes! That's one of the many reasons why we wanted a neighborhood of 100 homes or less.

I feel a lot better knowing I'm not the only one who's got this problem. Come Tuesday, I've got three quotes coming from local fence companies. I saw that one of them is hiring! For a laugh, I'll suggest to DH to apply for a p/t job there, lol!

Suzanne

 

[rileyroosmom]

I live in a very similar situation. We've been here a year and I was shocked when kids were cutting through our backyard on foot or bike. I can look out my window and see up to 10 kids on my playset and trampoline, usually none of them are mine!! My neighbors have actually thanked me for putting the playset in so their kids have a place to play!!!

 

[KathyTX]

I live in a very similar situation. We've been here a year and I was shocked when kids were cutting through our backyard on foot or bike. I can look out my window and see up to 10 kids on my playset and trampoline, usually none of them are mine!! My neighbors have actually thanked me for putting the playset in so their kids have a place to play!!!

Rileyroosmom- are you familiar with the concept of "attractive nuisance"? If not, I think you should do a Google search on the term and you'll find a lot of information. Here's one explanation of what this is:

attractive nuisance doctrine

There is normally no particular care required of property owners to safeguard trespassers from harm, but an attractive nuisance is an exception. An attractive nuisance is any inherently hazardous object or condition of property that can be expected to attract children to investigate or play (for example, construction sites and discarded large appliances). The doctrine imposes upon the property owner either the duty to take precautions that are reasonable in light of the normal behavior of young children--a much higher degree of care than required toward adults--or the same care as that owed to "invitees"--a higher standard than required toward uninvited, casual visitors (licensees).

It's a little scary in terms of potential liability in a situation like yours. It basically means that if you have a pool or a trampoline or swingset or something else that kids may be drawn to, you could be legally and financially responsible for any injuries regardless of whether they're trespassing or invited.

 

[Poohnatic]

OMG, I'd never consider someone's play apparatus as community property! I want to get the kids one of those fort, rock wall things, but wouldn't even consider that unless I had a fence.

suzanne

 

[mum4jenn]

Reminds me of a camping trip we went on during Thanksgiving weekend. Our "neighbors" came in and put their tents up (4 or 5 of them at midnight until 2 am and making all kinds of noise....we HAD been asleep for several hours. And then the older teens or more likely the early 20 somethings would cut through our campsite everytime they went anywhere. Of course there are no fences there but it was so rude!!

 

[rileyroosmom]

That is scary. The thing is, I live in a HOA. The only type of fence allowed is, (I know there is a proper name for this but I don't know what it is) the kind like on a farm, picture 3 horizontal slats not higher than 4 feet. Then a meshy type material on it. Can you picture what I'm saying? Even having that type of fence up is silly because a child (certainly not a toddler) could easily climb it. The ages of the kids using my yard is 7-12. I wonder if the fence was up and someone climb it and got hurt would I be responsible? The way our yard is formed, again, hard to explain, it is open to 2 other yards and a culdesac. I know the neighbors would definetly frown upon a fence.

 

[pat fan]

I feel your pain! I live in a pretty rural area but I guess people are the same no matter where you are. Our problem is the noise.There is a field between our house and the neighbors and a fence dividing the property (a horse fence made of wire, not something to block visuals or anything) on the far edge of their land and right on our boundary. Well, in the summer they have 4-wheelers and in the winter it's snowmobiles.

Now mind you,they have the whole field to ride in, but they need to ride right on the edge of the fence, which is about 20 ft. from our house. NOISY!!!! And to top it off, the kids are not really monitored on the 4-wheelers (unless you count the drunken adults, I don't) and they are little kids.....6 yrs. old and up.I saw one kid (a guest of theirs, had to be less than 5) wipe out pretty bad on a mini dirt bike and we went out and bought stockade fencing the next weekend.I just can't watch it anymore!