What do you use your garage for?

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Sorry bk... but there are merits to the huge garage and driveway aspect. The 3-car wide garage with the 4-car wide driveway is awesome:



1. Huge play space for kids... you can't always pylon off the street with "Kids At Play" signs. Put your cars in the garage and your kids have a nice area for chalk drawings, 4-square... etc etc.

2. Throw a portable hoop up and ball it up with the neighborhood oldies re-living our youth... just bring plenty of BenGay.

3. Portable tents make it a great outdoor party area.

4. Place for bounce house.

5. When you have guests over... they don't have to park in front of your neighbor (T!m!).

6. Awesome landing for that Christmas/Hanukah/Kwanzaa holiday decoration scene.

7. Landing zone for company helicopter.

8. Inflatable neighborhood pool party (slip and slide will hurt though)

... and many more.



A huge garage and driveway can be used as a great social tool in the right hands. There are quite a few of us who appreciate this type of space.
 
BK-you are definitely onto something regarding the cultural and social ramifications of garage placement. Although everyone seems to love to be able to enter their house through the garage, it has contributed to the fact that no one really knows their neighbors anymore. If I am never seen in my front yard, then I don't need to know my neighbors, the only person ever seen in my front yard is my gardener. At least in my neighborhood, the majority of us are still cordial and we know each others names. Although, granted, sometimes I have to drive around the block a few times when the "crazies" across the street are in their front yard.
 
And for picture #1, I would assume the garage is in the back? Wouldn't that mean you see less of your neighbors?



I dunno... but most of my interaction with my neighbors is when we are in front of our house and if we don't see them coming or going... how does that help? Plus if I need to borrow a flame-thrower... my neighbor can't deny having one because I saw it when his garage was up.
 
[quote author="irvine_home_owner" date=1232184217]And for picture #1, I would assume the garage is in the back? Wouldn't that mean you see less of your neighbors?



I dunno... but most of my interaction with my neighbors is when we are in front of our house and if we don't see them coming or going... how does that help? Plus if I need to borrow a flame-thrower... my neighbor can't deny having one because I saw it when his garage was up.</blockquote>


All the homeowners parked their firetrucks, planes and cars in their garage at the back via a long and narrow driveway but rarely entering their homes from the back. They all walk around to the front and even all the way to the sidewalk and admire their beautiful house elevations and the neighbor's before heading toward the front door to pick up flyers and mails left at the stoop.



If I were to live the house depicted on the second picture then I would definitely drive into garage and go into the home directly from the garage just to avoid seeing my atrocious elevation.



Are there any one out there who cares about neighborhood character and aesthetic ?



Wide driveways penetrating properties eliminates landscape along the sidewalks. Grass, trees and parkways were eliminated and replaced by concrete with motor oil stains.



Tmare, do you use your front door after you parked at Park Santiago.
 
All of y'all have wayyy too many cars. I think anything more than a 2-car garage just epitomizes the McMansion, "more-cars-the-better" spoiled rotten consumerism mentality in America these days. Two cars per married family, tops. Teenage children simply do not need their own vehicles. I didn't have my own car until I could afford to buy one myself, at age 23 (a new Corolla).



Me, I park my single vehicle in my IAC 2-car garage with plenty of room left over for the w/d and my Stepmill, which I happen to be on right now.
 
Tmare, do you use your front door after you parked at Park Santiago?</blockquote>


Yes, we use the front door (only because we park in the driveway, the pool table is in the garage). We have a single driveway and a two-car garage (yes, the single car driveway sucks). We could drive all the way back to the garage which is to the left when facing the house but further back from than the house. Then I'd have the extra step of closing the gate, what a hassle. The garage is separate from the house. I suppose if we are ever able to use the garage properly, I wouldn't interact with my neighbors as much, if at all.
 
[quote author="irvine_home_owner" date=1232183141]Sorry bk... but there are merits to the huge garage and driveway aspect. The 3-car wide garage with the 4-car wide driveway is awesome:



1. Huge play space for kids... you can't always pylon off the street with "Kids At Play" signs. Put your cars in the garage and your kids have a nice area for chalk drawings, 4-square... etc etc.

2. Throw a portable hoop up and ball it up with the neighborhood oldies re-living our youth... just bring plenty of BenGay.

3. Portable tents make it a great outdoor party area.

4. Place for bounce house.

5. When you have guests over... they don't have to park in front of your neighbor (T!m!).

6. Awesome landing for that Christmas/Hanukah/Kwanzaa holiday decoration scene.

7. Landing zone for company helicopter.

8. Inflatable neighborhood pool party (slip and slide will hurt though)

... and many more.



A huge garage and driveway can be used as a great social tool in the right hands. There are quite a few of us who appreciate this type of space.</blockquote>


You are every planner's nightmare.



The house depicted in the first picture you can do all of the above at the landscape front yard except for

3. Portable hoop must be by the area back toward the garage just like the scene depicted in Father of the Bride

5. guests have to park in tandem along the long driveway

6. company jet or helicopter have to be in the garage
 
[quote author="bkshopr" date=1232185346]

Are there any one out there who cares about neighborhood character and aesthetic ?

.</blockquote>


It's Irvine, they leave at 7AM or earlier to take the kids to montessori/school and race home at 6PM to pick the kids up from after school care before they get booted, race to grab dinner and then charge on to sport club, cello practice, before coming home for four hours of school studies drill practice from 8PM to midnight.



Other than that, I do, however frankly, the SoCal social contract that we can have it all has left families with zero free social time.
 
[quote author="No_Such_Reality" date=1232199487][quote author="bkshopr" date=1232185346]

Are there any one out there who cares about neighborhood character and aesthetic ?

.</blockquote>


It's Irvine, they leave at 7AM or earlier to take the kids to montessori/school and race home at 6PM to pick the kids up from after school care before they get booted, race to grab dinner and then charge on to sport club, cello practice, before coming home for four hours of school studies drill practice from 8PM to midnight.



Other than that, I do, however frankly, the SoCal social contract that we can have it all has left families with zero free social time.</blockquote>


How sad. I asked my four year old yesterday if he wanted to join his friend's art class and he said, "Mommy, I think I already have a lot to do". So I said, "Ok, no art class". Out of the mouths of babes.....
 
[quote author="stepping_up" date=1232148063][quote author="tmare" date=1232029517][quote author="stepping_up" date=1232020049][quote author="tmare" date=1232019199]The two car garage holds the pool table and all of the baby crap I need to get rid of. I really wish the cars were there, but it just never seems to happen. The driveway can hold at least 4 cars although not side by side. I've always dreamed of having the cars in the garage, I guess I'll have to keep dreaming.</blockquote>


My mom is a hoarder and always buying us tons of crap. When I tell her that I don't have room for something she brings up our garage. I tell her that we want to park in there once we get an automatic garage door opener and she always argues with me that people don't use their garages for cars, rather to store stuff. Even though we store stuff in our garage, we could fit two cars in it. Driving into it is another story. Do we really all have that much stuff that we have to pile it in the garage?</blockquote>


Yes, mothers. We have to take everything in the house to the Goodwill just before Christmas because my mom thinks that if one of something is good, we must be able to use ten. It's a battle we have agreed to lose, there is really very little she enjoys anymore. Giving us crap is one of her greatest pleasures in life.</blockquote>


OMG, we're sisters and didn't even know it! I'm just astounded at the quantity and redundancies of things she gives us. In the last six months she has given us 20 dish towels. Peelers were on clearance so she thought we could use a few more 'cause you never know when you want to have a peeling party. I still have a three year supply of bath stuff from the kick she went on last year and I'll never have to buy another candle as long as live because that was another favorite for a while.</blockquote>


You two have an IHB calling, the thread that Panda started in OT on garage sales. Seriously, I feel you, but thankfully not as bad, but get in there and get rid of this stuff. You never know, someone other than yourselves might actually need it.
 
[quote author="ipoplaya" date=1232007766]Once my company succumbs to this recession, my garage will probably look something like this:



<img src="http://www.itsyourtimes.com/files/indoorweed-dea.jpg" alt="" /></blockquote>


WTF did I tell you about never, ever posting pictures of my house? I thought we had a deal, I supply, you no tell? You think the photos I have of your old place are bad now? Just wait, just you wait... your next place will see the full wrath of graph!
 
[quote author="bkshopr" date=1232181533]I am a neo traditional Urbanist and garages IMO have been a driving force that led to our unfriendly sub-culture in suburbia. I posted on its psychological effect on occupants and behavior that alienate friendliness with neighbors. I studied neighborhoods throughout this country ranging from some small towns America to Irvine and everywhere in between. Culture of cars and parking led to strip malls, wider street, unsightly parking lots, demise of public transportation, and pedestrians.



People say that someday that they will get rid of their storage and reclaim that third stall. Storage is like an addiction and habit will not stop. It is often a subject that started quarrels between husband and wife. I surveyed this subject for many years few have actually and successfully reclaimed that sacred third spot for car but instead eventually losing the second stall from storage encroachment.



I agree with you the man door access should be relocated away from the Tandem space so the storage is a destination rather than a walk thru. The width should also be 12? wider than the current 10? to actually allow car door swings and ample walking room on both sides of the vehicle. The 3 car wide driveway is totally unnecessary and the 3 car wide garage ruins the charm and the aesthetic of a home. The cost of your 3 cars side by side configuration is about $100,000 for the vacant driveway and the extra length of road associated. Cost is much more expensive by using a deeper beam for spanning across 30? instead of 20?.



The only disadvantages that I see with the tandem scheme are when the 3rd stall is for the 3rd car and storage of bikes, carts, and other recreation toys with wheels that having a garage door makes a lot of sense.



I do not like the sight of opened garages and seeing people?s storage. I prefer to see porches instead of garage doors. Yes it is a hassle and not as convenient in a tandem situation but are we as a society getting to be so lazy? </blockquote>


I really should post a pic of my "three" car garage for BK as proof of what he says is an addiction. Do you all know how bleeping hard it is to kick that addiction? No... you really don't! I wish there was an easy fix. I wish I could fit more than one car, I wish there wasn't crap everywhere, I wish that when I started to get it organized that other people wouldn't contribute to the pile of crap, but they did. You wanna really feel what the addiction is like? Then volunteer to come over and help clean it up, I dare you, no... I triple dog dare you. I would post a pic, but it might give BK a heart attack, and I am not going to do that to him, nor would I want to be responsible for that and have to answer to the IHBers who blame me for killing BK.
 
Before Marriage:

<img src="http://ultimategarages.net/images/Ralph_Lauren_Ferrari_garage.jpg" alt="" />



After Marriage:

<img src="http://www.originalcreations.us/Images/clutteredgarage-web.jpg" alt="" />
 
My home in Central California had a two car detached garage all the way in the back of the house at the end of a single width driveway. There was enough space there to park three cars inside the garage (but only two doors) and maybe 10 cars (!) in the driveway total.



My garage was drywalled, textured, insulated, air conditioned, and had 220v wired out there. The doors were all lumber and on sliding tracks (side to side).



Damn I miss that house.
 
I actually wouldn't mind having the garage in back of the house... as long as it had a driveway too.



The thing about having the garage in front is that's where we do most of our grunge work and being able to do that while the kids are out front playing is a bonus. Also if you work on stuff on the front of your house (like putting up decorations or even light landscaping... having to go through or around the house to the garage is an inconvenience.



Maybe on the side of the house is better?
 
[quote author="irvine_home_owner" date=1232413907]I actually wouldn't mind having the garage in back of the house... as long as it had a driveway too.



The thing about having the garage in front is that's where we do most of our grunge work and being able to do that while the kids are out front playing is a bonus. Also if you work on stuff on the front of your house (like putting up decorations or even light landscaping... having to go through or around the house to the garage is an inconvenience.



Maybe on the side of the house is better?</blockquote>


Many Asians have a fear of their children being kidnapped so the concept of kids playing on the driveway is not a factor. Most Asians rarely hang around their garages doing work. They however like the 3 car garages for the convenient of easy vehicle maneuvering.



Many Asian parents would not permit their kids riding a bike to school. During the morning I see only non Asian kids with bikes while the traffic congested school driveways are packed with Japanese and German brand cars.



True period styles are without garages. The garages forced the house to take on a style that no architectural historian could come up with a name for. The most beautiful homes published in books often de-emphasized garages dressed as a horse stables with barn doors.
 
I think you have been bumming away from Irvine too long... where I used to live in Irvine... there are many asian (and non-asian) kids walking/biking to elementary school without adult supervision. Most of them either with musical instruments or those huge backbacks that have rollers on them (man... do kids have that much stuff they need to roll it around?).



I took note of that because when I would see kids walking from my house to school I don't think I would ever let me kids walk that far unsupervised. But that's because I grew up in less master-planned community... where interestingly enough... I still walked/biked to school despite the bad neighborhood.
 
Mass media and mass hysteria have blown out of proportion the true dangers to children. I would argue that the world is no more dangerous than it was when we were children and walked to school, to our friends house and to the store completely unsupervised by about the age of 8. Recently two of my sons neighborhood friends (ages 6 and 8) who live a few blocks from my house came over for a play date, their nanny walked them here and their mother drove over to pick them up. Crazy world, no wonder everyone is so obese.
 
[quote author="tmare" date=1232423920]Mass media and mass hysteria have blown out of proportion the true dangers to children. I would argue that the world is no more dangerous than it was when we were children and walked to school, to our friends house and to the store completely unsupervised by about the age of 8. Recently two of my sons neighborhood friends (ages 6 and 8) who live a few blocks from my house came over for a play date, their nanny walked them here and their mother drove over to pick them up. Crazy world, no wonder everyone is so obese.</blockquote>


Shoppers drive their cars from one end of the strip mall to another. Our cars are contributing to our obesity. Our public transportation failed because of cars. We would not have all these foreclosed fringe communities either because of cars. Our obcession for cars and garages are destroying the charming neighborhoods by replacing greenbelt with massive amount of driveway and longer streets. Water run off from paved surfaces due to the lack off percolation surface is contributing to excessive water run off polluting our coastal beaches.
 
[quote author="irvine_home_owner" date=1232421895]I think you have been bumming away from Irvine too long... where I used to live in Irvine... there are many asian (and non-asian) kids walking/biking to elementary school without adult supervision. Most of them either with musical instruments or those huge backbacks that have rollers on them (man... do kids have that much stuff they need to roll it around?).



I took note of that because when I would see kids walking from my house to school I don't think I would ever let me kids walk that far unsupervised. But that's because I grew up in less master-planned community... where interestingly enough... I still walked/biked to school despite the bad neighborhood.</blockquote>


Have you seen the traffic by Pioneer Middle School and Myford Elementary? Yes there are kids walking or biking to schools but the inverse ratio to kids dropped off by cars is alarming. The School District are requiring double the vehicular stacking distance in front of the school from prior templates.
 
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