Garage as a home office in Irvine...what do you think?

I

IrvineCitizen_IHB

New member
We have a neighbor who doesn't park their cars inside their two-car garage. Instead they have a plasma TV, refrigerator, kids playroom along with a desk, office chair and PC. They leave their garage open 24/7 from Friday through Sunday night and almost every weeknight. It's starting to bug me. I know that Irvine has a No-Garage-As-Living-Space rule but I don't want to start trouble. Yep, we have an HOA as well that disallows this.



Does this stuff bug most of you or am I being one of those pesky Irvine nitpickers? How many of you would say something and how many of you would say none of your business?



It would be interesting to hear some thoughts.
 
[quote author="IrvineCitizen" date=1240100506]We have a neighbor who doesn't park their cars inside their two-car garage. Instead they have a plasma TV, refrigerator, kids playroom along with a desk, office chair and PC. They leave their garage open 24/7 from Friday through Sunday night and almost every weeknight. It's starting to bug me. I know that Irvine has a No-Garage-As-Living-Space rule but I don't want to start trouble. Yep, we have an HOA as well that disallows this.



Does this stuff bug most of you or am I being one of those pesky Irvine nitpickers? How many of you would say something and how many of you would say none of your business?



It would be interesting to hear some thoughts.</blockquote>


Nope. It would bug me. I personally would report it to the HOA to see what they would do about it. Does the noise bug you?
 
Why is it bugging you?



Because they are "breaking the rules", or because it is somehow negatively affecting your enjoyment of your house?
 
Just post a "free stuff" ad on Craig's List. When the first customers show up for their free plasma TV, desk and PC, that garage door will go down in no time. :)



My neighbors also use their garage as an extended living space, and such use is not permitted by the CC&Rs;. The garage is sometimes open, but it doesn't bother me because there isn't a noise problem. Also, it is a family of four in a 3-bedroom house, and so it's probably the best use of space for them. I prefer the organized, extended living space to a sea of boxes.
 
[quote author="freedomCM" date=1240102210]Why is it bugging you?



Because they are "breaking the rules", or because it is somehow negatively affecting your enjoyment of your house?</blockquote>


Noise, television always on, garage door to the house always left open as well, pain in the neck to see it every time we leave our house. Hell, if I were to go on things based on "breaking the rules" the HOA and City of Irvine would have a 300-page set of offenses monthly from me.
 
[quote author="IrvineCitizen" date=1240104169][quote author="freedomCM" date=1240102210]Why is it bugging you?



Because they are "breaking the rules", or because it is somehow negatively affecting your enjoyment of your house?</blockquote>


Noise, television always on, garage door to the house always left open as well, pain in the neck to see it every time we leave our house. Hell, if I were to go on things based on "breaking the rules" the HOA and City of Irvine would have a 300-page set of offenses monthly from me.</blockquote>


In a nutshell, because it's Ghetto.
 
Why don't you say something to them about keeping the garage closed first rather than throwing them under the association bus.
 
[quote author="Booom" date=1240106753]Why don't you say something to them about keeping the garage closed first rather than throwing them under the association bus.</blockquote>
A face to face would cause a bad neighbor to get even worse.



Just leave an anonymous note on their door while they are at work, and call it a day.
 
This is an obnoxious neighbor from hell situation, throw them under the HOA bus as soon as you can and call more city buses to run them over again if they don't get the good neighbor message. Maybe some guerilla tactics might work if the official ones don't ... ruin their experience in the garage since it's ruining your neighborhood experience ...
 
Yep, I have one neighbor like this. He's like the only one. Loves to wash his huge truck. Then let it sun dry for 3 hours. Once we couldn't get into the garage while he was washing his truck. He looked at us with an unfriendly frown as though we're bothering him.



This is the main reason I will not buy another condo/townhome whereby the driveway is shared with the neighbors.
 
Sorry for your neighbor troubles. When I lived in Chino, I had a redneck neighbor whose garage faced my house. He was an unfortunate-looking man with a clean-shaven head and covered in tattoos. I do not understand the logic behind this... but he would frequently move the cars out of the garage (parking them on red curbs instead, of course), lie down ON the garage floor partially clothed, and have his wife do a lengthy back massage (with the garage door up, naturally.) There is no way to explain how it feels looking at that all the time, especially when you have company over. Reason #1,254 why I like the idea of an alley-loaded garage... however I have a feeling this behavior isn't typical to the Irvine crowd, or to most civilized people.
 
[quote author="No_Such_Reality" date=1240105716][quote author="IrvineCitizen" date=1240104169][quote author="freedomCM" date=1240102210]Why is it bugging you?



Because they are "breaking the rules", or because it is somehow negatively affecting your enjoyment of your house?</blockquote>


Noise, television always on, garage door to the house always left open as well, pain in the neck to see it every time we leave our house. Hell, if I were to go on things based on "breaking the rules" the HOA and City of Irvine would have a 300-page set of offenses monthly from me.</blockquote>


In a nutshell, because it's Ghetto.</blockquote>


Why is it ghetto? I've converted my garage into an anti-PMS room. I keep my cars in the driveway. I don't take up any street parking say if my neighbors decide to have guests. The previous owner didn't keep their cars in the garage either.

It was his workshop along with storing misc items.



You live your life and let your neighbors live theirs.
 
[quote author="IrvineCitizen" date=1240100506]Does this stuff bug most of you or am I being one of those pesky Irvine nitpickers? How many of you would say something and how many of you would say none of your business?



It would be interesting to hear some thoughts.</blockquote>


<a href="http://www.irvinehousingblog.com/forums/viewthread/4795/">Reason #1423 some of us would rather live anywhere than Irvine.</a>
 
Of course this bothers me. It increases density in the city once everyone starts doing it.



I grew up in some nasty dense areas and it is not fun. Increase in density is when you start getting crowded street parking, long exit lines out on the freeway ramps, and traffic jams. Density matters!
 
[quote author="SoCal78" date=1240548540]but he would frequently move the cars out of the garage (parking them on red curbs instead, of course), lie down ON the garage floor partially clothed, and have his wife do a lengthy back massage (with the garage door up, naturally.)</blockquote>
My bad... I'll lower the garage door from here on out.
 
[quote author="Serious Weapon" date=1240548675][quote author="No_Such_Reality" date=1240105716][quote author="IrvineCitizen" date=1240104169][quote author="freedomCM" date=1240102210]Why is it bugging you?



Because they are "breaking the rules", or because it is somehow negatively affecting your enjoyment of your house?</blockquote>


Noise, television always on, garage door to the house always left open as well, pain in the neck to see it every time we leave our house. Hell, if I were to go on things based on "breaking the rules" the HOA and City of Irvine would have a 300-page set of offenses monthly from me.</blockquote>


In a nutshell, because it's Ghetto.</blockquote>


Why is it ghetto? I've converted my garage into an anti-PMS room. I keep my cars in the driveway. I don't take up any street parking say if my neighbors decide to have guests. The previous owner didn't keep their cars in the garage either.

It was his workshop along with storing misc items.



You live your life and let your neighbors live theirs.</blockquote>


Gladly, unfortunately, 99% don't park on their driveway. Nor do they show any consideration for the fact that the neighborhood belongs to the neighborhood and not them. As the original poster pointed out, they leave the door standing open. TVs blaring, in a giant megaphone of a open garage. Park the cars all over the street. Take the shared designated parking spot for thier beater that they don't move for a month at pop.



Ghetto. They pile their garage with crap and then force the neighbors to endure their spill-over and detriment to the neighborhood.



If you want to park two cars on the driveway and use your garage, I'm not really complaining. You pile your garage with crap or set up an office and leave a car parked in front of the sidewalk that runs to my front door for days at a time, you're inconveniencing me and degrading my house value and my house enjoyment. That's rude.



Ultimately, I'll be blunt. Most of the people not using their garage are giving virtual finger to the rest of the neighborhood because a it's only about them.
 
I guess if people buying there understood what they were getting into, that this was a strict HOA neighborhood, that they should comply with the rules. That was the expectation of everyone in the neighborhood when they bought, so there really shouldn't be an exception.



An HOA can be an asset to a neighborhood, by keeping everything maintained and ensuring the long term health of the neighborhood.



On the other hand, I have heard the stereotypical stories of the strict (fascist LOL) HOAs that reside in Irvine, and I thought they were exaggerated, but after reading some threads here, I didn't realize this was the actual case!



As long as there aren't clunkers parked in the driveway, who cares? That's what driveways and curbs are for. I would be miserable in this neighborhood, with neighbors all policing each other over stuff I don't consider significant. But those are the rules, and people paid alot of money for those rules to be enforced, so that's the way it goes. I personally prefer some light enforcement, but the degree of neighbor suspicion in these neighborhoods seems way too high.



For me, owning a home means a certain degree of freedom, and these types of HOAs take the fun out of that.
 
[quote author="icey" date=1240566856]I guess if people buying there understood what they were getting into, that this was a strict HOA neighborhood, that they should comply with the rules. That was the expectation of everyone in the neighborhood when they bought, so there really shouldn't be an exception.



An HOA can be an asset to a neighborhood, by keeping everything maintained and ensuring the long term health of the neighborhood.



On the other hand, I have heard the stereotypical stories of the strict (fascist LOL) HOAs that reside in Irvine, and I thought they were exaggerated, but after reading some threads here, I didn't realize this was the actual case!



As long as there aren't clunkers parked in the driveway, who cares? That's what driveways and curbs are for. I would be miserable in this neighborhood, with neighbors all policing each other over stuff I don't consider significant. But those are the rules, and people paid alot of money for those rules to be enforced, so that's the way it goes. I personally prefer some light enforcement, but the degree of neighbor suspicion in these neighborhoods seems way too high.



For me, owning a home means a certain degree of freedom, and these types of HOAs take the fun out of that.</blockquote>


Honestly, this line of thinking drives me batty! Everybody wants this freedom and ability to "live their life" and not be bothered, etc. DON'T LIVE IN IRVINE IN AN HOA ENFORCED NEIGHBORHOOD!!!! That's like living on the beach and saying how much you hate the salty air and noise of the waves and beach traffic in the summer. If you want freedom, the ability to park nine cars in your driveway and blare your TV in your garage all night that's fine, but move to the country or go live on two acres in San Berdoo. Don't live in an Irvine HOA neighborhood and complain about all your rights being taken away when YOU SIGNED THE CCR'S WHEN YOU MOVED IN!!!!!



It gets old.
 
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