to think that if you live near a city centre you should expect this

[mileend2bermondsey]

I currently live about 10 miles from a big city which I work in. To save money on parking in the city centre at on average 8gbp per day I drive to the outskirts of the city, park on the closest street that does not have yellow lines and walk just over a mile into work. I was chatting to a friend about it who said I was lucky my car has been nicked (dodgy area) then goes on to say she'd be fuming if commuters parked on her street. My opinon is that if you chose to live on one of the first streets without parking restrictions, there are bound to be people who will park there to save money, same with living near a train station. I used to live in a terrace opposite a shopping precinct, during business hours you couldn't park on the street for love nor money. It was part and parcel of living in that particular location, I got on with it until I could move and consider such factors when moving since. I certainly wouldnt blame the drivers or key their cars over such a 'slight' as my friend thinks may happen.

You could be in an empty street and still piss off someone by parking outside their house though. Doesn't mean you should never ever park outside anyone's house. Or you could park in an empty street to find it's next to a primary school and hell at 3.30 - have a road like that near us but someone coming into town at 2pm might not even notice there's a school there.

I actually live on a street on the edge of a restricted zone. People do park here and go into town or to the station. Visitors can't always park on my road. That's life. I don't begrudge people parking for free if they can.

"You buy a bloody house, you don't buy the bit of road outside it"

This, really. A car is pretty much the only thing of appreciable size that we buy without being able to store it somewhere other than on the public street. It's why there is a net cost to towns and cities when people visit by car. I appreciate that many, many houses do not have off-road parking and that those that do will be more expensive. But that does not get round the fact that people often feel possessive about the stretch of road outside their home when actually they have no more right to use it than anybody else.

Really we need to change infrastructure and expectations. There shouldn't be an expectation that you can in effect use a piece of prime real estate for nothing. You'd be outraged if I dumped a double bed or a wardrobe on the street, and yet a car? Fine go ahead. And whilst it has more practical uses in context, it's no more or less of an obstruction.

We should be designing urban areas so that we have both adequate parking and public transport so that people don't need it anyway.

Why does it make a difference whether it's one particular person parking in a spot every day or a succession of different people? If it's a popular parking area a spot will be filled regardless, surely? There will always be someone coming along and if commuters stop parking where the OP was people aren't going to drive past and be all "ooh, a quiet street, obviously nobody is parking there out of respect for the homeowners" - they'll think "ooh, quiet street with free parking and lots of space, I'll park there." If you live near stuff, people will park there. They just will.

Brian, that suggests you have a drive?

Someone would have to be impressively thick not to

I don't believe in only considering the legality of the situation: ethics, rights and morality form my overriding considerations usually.

It's just in this specific situation the conflict of interest is:

perceived (but not actual) entitlement of the homeowner to reserve and keep empty the parking space outside their house for themselves

vs

actual entitlement of the public to park legally and considerately in a public spot

I feel in this situation it is morally wrong to expect to impact a driver significantly financially to preserve a false sense of entitlement to keep a public parking space unused.

Further, I think its a good thing for a driver to keep traffic congestion out of a city centre and walk some distance.

If I arrived at a parking spot at the same time as an owner I would certainly cede if requested. But I don't think every residential street in the country should be kept empty of parked cars to keep spaces reserved for the residents directly outside their homes, no.

I understand the inconvenience of the resident, having experienced it myself, but I have never blamed the owner of the parked car for exercising their rights, rather the decision makers who determined that my house didn't deserve a restricted parking spot.

There is a first come first served situation in much of life, and if the person before me in the queue gets the last item in the shop, I don't resent them for not putting my perceived greater need before their own, but I might resent the shop for not planning to meet everybody's needs well.

But she doesn't park outside anyone's house.
She parks outside fields where there is plenty of parking.
This thread is weird.

And private parking won't help either.
I currently live in a flat with a car park that is private parking. Does it stop the mums dropping off their darlings at school parking there?? No it bloody doesn't!!

I used to live near-ish to a train station in a terraced house. Lived there for over 7 years. I think I got to park outside my own house about 3 times in total. But I knew that would be the case and accepted it. You just get used to it.

OP pays road tax and she can park legally where ever she likes.
And she chooses to walk a bit further so as not to upset residents by parking outside their houses.

SHE PARKS OUTSIDE FIELDS!!!!!

I do have a drive - obviously one look at the road would have ruled out buying a house here if you had a car if the house had no drive. We have also lived on streets with terrible parking and people used to come out of the front and tell you off if you parked in "his space". I thought that was stupid then and I still do!

Bugger. Typing while feeding infant.

Someone would have to be impressively thick not to think parking might be an issue round here. Terraces and semis with no drives anywhere, parking spaces at an absolute premium, 15 minute walk to mainline station into London, outer London suburb where most folk are either at home during the day or commute into London.

Before maternity leave I ended up paying to park at the staton a few times after doing an early nursery drop off because the circling hordes and snapped up every car space within a walkable radius of my house. Perfectly legal, but I do wonder at the mentality that says 'I'm all right so fuck the rest of the world'.

As for visitors? Funny, funny idea.

YANBU. I feel the same about people who live near schools, especially primary.

The only two things that drive me mad with parking

School at the top of the road, they park both sides and it's a T junction. 5 metres away is a free car park on the same side as the school but nobody uses it. Lots of near misses with residents trying to get out the junction because we can't see around the cars

The stupid cow who uses my private parking space or blocks me in rather than parking on the free street which is probably 8/10m (that's metres, not miles!) walk
Why?!?!?!

We have also lived on streets with terrible parking and people used to come out of the front and tell you off if you parked in "his space". I thought that was stupid then and I still do!

No one round here would dream of doing that - strong spirit of all being in this together round here.

Some places you don't have the luxury of 'I wouldn't buy a house without a drive' though - unless you happen to be a millionaire. We're not, so we've chosen the many upsides of living where we do, with the irritation of the parking situation which we'll keep trying to get resolved until the bastard council changes hands.

My street and ones surrounding it asked a London council for parking restrictions. as people parked on both sides of the road, not across drives but made it hard to reverse out of the drive. we went all the way to the ombudsman and the council wouldn't do it.

YANBU - I live in the city and when looking to buy my house one of my criteria was a driveway for this exact reason.
People park all along out the front of my house and as long as they are not blocking my driveway I have no issue.

I don't understand how people feel that they can get territorial over what happens on public space just because it is outside the front of their house. You do not own it - it is free parking for whoever likes to park there. Suck it up. First poster seems a real charmer!

In your case YANBU.

I do get annoyed at everyone & anyone using our residents' only parking area at home - our house is in a sort of courtyard with parking in the middle. The residents all pay a service charge for "management" of the parking area & communal grounds. Someone parking on the road wouldn't concern me though, unless they were blocking the entrance or entirely obscuring the view.

Hollinhurst your school scenario sounds exactly like DD's school! The free car park isn't by a skate park is it? appreciates there must be many schools on T-junctions in the UK

I think it depends on the situation. If you are stopping a resident parking outside their house everyday I would be annoyed but it's a public road so not much can be done about it. It's kind of a suck it up situation. But if there is enough room for the odd commuter to park and residents to park too then it's ok.

We have a newly opened office right by us and a handful of small businesses and since we 've moved here a couple of years ago I have noticed a huge increase in cars parked on our road. It is annoying and makes seeing around the curve in the road when it bends round to the left very hard as people park stupidly but it doesn't stop residents being able to get a space if they don't hAve a drive and we have our own drive so it's not too bad. I can understand why people would do it though.

RPZ have been introduced into our city recently and are spreading further out of the centre. In my view it's ridiculous as each time it just pushes commuters to park on the outskirts of the next zone and so on and so on. It could be never ending. It's stupid that these RPZ are during the day too as I go to the zoo or local shops and there is nowhere to park yet every street is empty because the residents are at work. It makes no sense.

If the OP parks there are most of the residents don't use it during that time anyway as they have driven to work then that's fine. If she's stopping a resident even being able to park on their own road five days a week then not fine.

YABU. Whilst it is not illegal to park outside somebody's house all day, it is downright inconsiderate. Cars regularly park outside my house every single day and commute to the station, purely because they are too bloody tight to pay for the station car park. Whilst they are not parking illegally, I struggle to get on & off my drive because of all the cars parked closely around it. I have had to pay my local council a considerable sum to widen my dropped kerb driveway, just so I have better ease of access. I resent that I have had to do this.

I am currently in the process of asking my council to put parking restrictions down my road to try and rectify this situation. This, unfortunately will take some time, so I have to just put up with it for now. So, you are being very unreasonable, in my opinion!

RTFT - She does NOT park outside someones house all day!
It's FIELDS!!!!!

As long as the road has no parking restrictions and your car is road legal (taxed MOT'd and insured) then YANBU. A road is a 'public highway' if people don't want somebody parking in their road then they need to live on a private road.

To all those who complain about people parking, I suggest you stop using your car to visit friends or family when it entails parking in a residential road, be it a one off or 5 days a week, what's the difference.

If you wish to always be able to park outside your house (except in the case of the person who had a 'polite' parent parking across their drive), then have a driveway laid.

As for the financial side of it, why not save money if you can, you're not being unreasonable, or even putting people out. As I said if it's really that big a deal then they'd have a drive anyway.

Am I being unreasonable to think that people are stupid to believe that they own the 'public highway' outside their house?

Santas - nope!
The woman that uses my parking space has been told over and over its private parking. All the housing association can offer me is mediation and then only if they agree to it

For the record, this is what is being discussed, at the instigation of the OP:

However I still think that if people were to park outside houses ect it is something that the residents should expect due to the location they live in, it would seem silly not to consider it.

Because her friend said she'd be fuming if commuters parked on her street

Where the OP actually parks is somewhat irrelevant.

hollinhurst84

You need NDN to take action.

Lweji - the person who uses it is visiting NDN. NDN couldn't give a shit and threatened one of my family members after their kid damaged my car
So NDN has to agree to the mediation (won't happen)
Next step is a bollard but it doesn't stop her blocking me in

It is silly not to consider the surrounding area when moving somewhere. When I moved opposite a shopping precint I imagined that a lot of shoppers would park outside my home, as they were fully within their rights to do so, they did. Being a terraced house with no off street parking meant I often had to walk a way to park. I didnt spend my time there seething, throwing dog shit or keying cars like PP's. I accepted that it was part and parcel of living in that location.

I dont know why this has become a rich/poor issue about poor people not being able to afford houses with driveways. Surely houses near city centres/train stations ect are more expensive than other similar properties without such nearby conveniences?

I used to work in an office at the end of a residential street (free of parking restrictions) almost all houses had no off road parking. We had three parking places outside the office (first come first served) so most people parked on the road. We had very regular run-ins with the residents and were often victims of their aggression. One time a female staff member was trapped in her car while three adult male residents were shaking her car. She called the police but the men left her before they arrived.

Anyway, the residents petitioned the council for residents only parking, they were successful. Unfortunately for them though the business was also given an allocation of permits so we could still park legally on the road. The only thing they achieved was to get themselves a bill for permits and make it harder for anyone visiting them. I left the job before the permits were introduced. Some residents on the road were aggressive nutters, some posters on this thread remind me of them. I don't think I could live my life angry like them.

Ok, I'll explain, you need "NDN" the superhero who sorted another parking problem in an previous thread. Not your ndn.