Homeowner Has 10-Year Problem with Driveway, Internet Has Wild Solutions
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
A frustrated Arizona resident has turned to Reddit for help in solving a long-standing parking problem—and fellow Redditors responded with thousands of creative, bold and "unhinged" suggestions.
The post, shared by Reddit user u/aquietinspiration in the r/HowTo community, was titled: "Give me your most unhinged ideas for how to get people to stop blocking my driveway." It has drawn 17,000 upvotes and 8,000 comments since it was shared on Monday. The post features images of the resident's driveway blocked by other vehicles.
In the post, the resident, who did not share their name or age, explained: "Ten years of this issue and I feel like we've tried everything. I've talked to people nicely, I've been a little less than nice in some cases, I've asked people WHY they thought it was okay to block the driveway, we've put up a No Parking/Tow Zone sign, we've talked to the city for advice, we've talked directly to the neighbors, yet we continue to get blocked in or out of the driveway. Hit me with your most unhinged (but legal) ideas to get this to stop."
The poster, who lives in the Phoenix area, told Newsweek that turnover in the neighboring rental property contributed to the ongoing problem. "You can see my next-door neighbor has the problem but it's changed renters so many times over the years that it simply hasn't seemed to [have] build up as much frustration," they said.
"It's been an investment property since at least 2014 and has changed hands five times since 2013...all investors who live out of state. So, with that has come new renters pretty much every year, and also new landscapers, new pest control companies, new repair people, new visitors etc.," the poster added.
Neighbor disputes over parking and property boundaries are far from rare in the United States. In a recent survey conducted by Talker Research on behalf of Newsweek, 1,000 U.S. adults reported a wide range of conflicts with neighbors, from noise complaints and lawn maintenance issues to property damage and boundary disputes.
Some commenters in the viral post suggested that the material of the driveway itself might confuse visitors. The original poster noted: "You probably saw that a ton of comments said it doesn't look like a driveway, either because of the material or because of the sidewalk."
However, the poster explained that "compacted 1/4 minus is a very common way to pave here and is also better for the environment. It's well maintained, has a stone border, and is much smaller rock than the rest of the yard—my landscaped yard has one inch rock."
"And the sidewalk, I can't do anything about. That's just how they are built here," the poster added.
'Sticks and Random Effigies'
Reddit users were quick to offer an imaginative mix of legal, sometimes eccentric, solutions for the dilemma.
U/cityofcharlotte suggested: "I'd consider putting sticks and random effigies there. Most people won't touch 'magic' they don't understand." The original poster replied enthusiastically: "This is the type of unhinged I'm here for."
U/Yew2S recommended: "Put a fake poster showing 'cars towed this month:' or more devilish idea and try to keep it updated to make it look real xD so when ppl see that they will try to avoid parking there."
U/Wonk_puffin recalled seeing another unusual tactic, noting: "saw one example where bird seeds were out on a car. The birds did the rest."
U/Berns429 referenced an idea from another Reddit post, saying: "I saw a Reddit post a few months back that some Australian dude set up sprinkler system that soaked whoever parked in the spot and got out of the car."
Stock image: A car parked in front of a home garage door.
Stock image: A car parked in front of a home garage door.
Getty
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