Street Parking

You know what will get an old man mad? Parking in front of his house when there's plenty of other spaces available.

In my neighborhood there are almost no driveways, as the bulk of the houses were built prior to the motorcar taking dominion over the roads. There are some homes with garages, yet even they are relatively few. That leaves street parking, which can limit options quickly itself. And the streets are public, so anyone can park anywhere. 

I get that. I really do, and accept that it is what it is. Still, I see neighbors across the street who will park in front of my house when there are spaces in front of theirs. I mean, don't you want to park in front of your own dwelling? Don't you want fewer steps with packages or whatever in tow? Don't you want to save a couple of steps the next morning when you're heading to work? And here's where the old curmudgeon steps in: don't you want to be courteous towards me? I am towards you. I won't park in front of your place outside of abject necessity. Is it that hard to drive down the block and loop around when you get home?

So park in front of your own place. Is it that much to ask? Can you see me wagging my finger sarcastically as I ask that?

Pettiness by Dearborn Officials

The city of Dearborn is looking to stop its residents from using their garages as gathering places. Apparently they aren't considered safe enough to sit around socializing with friends.

Hmmm...you can park your car in your garage without worry that it will not be safe. You can work on projects in there and not be concerned with you safety. You can hold sales in them and not be overly worried that the folks drifting in and out of them will be harmed. But you can't put tables and chairs and televisions in them and sit around and talk and eat. We just don't see a problem here.

Well, they're not meant to be living spaces. So? Isn't that actually an intention superimposed on the space rather than a safety issue?

But permits cannot be issued to convert them to living spaces because they're not living spaces. Isn't that just a circular argument? Change the ordinances then, if that's so important, and issue the permits.

But more cars are parked on the streets. What are the streets for, thought? Driving and parking. Other neighborhoods in other places don't have a problem with that, and for good reason: it isn't a real problem.

The bottom line is that there isn't a blamed thing wrong with using your garage as a social space, and it's none of the government's nor your neighbors business that you do. The only real question which might come out of it is potential noise. Surely that would be covered by disturbing the peace ordinances, and is really a separate issue anyway.

Let people socialize in their garages. There must be something more serious Dearborn officials can do with their time than pester citizens (although the city is curtailing enforcement for now, to be fair) who are merely in their own homes talking to friends. Ferreting out unlicensed kiddie lemonade dealers perhaps?