Growing up, all the neighborhoods near me (including my own) had garages in the back of the house with alley ways.
The community we live in now has all garages on the front of the house (including our own). I'm not a huge fan.
DH grew up with almost all houses having garages on the front and doesn't think it is weird at all.
GOLD / papaya / 10206 posts
Front of the house. There aren't any alleys in our town. In the nearby city some of the older neighborhoods have alleys with back garages. I'm not crazy about that though.
GOLD / eggplant / 11517 posts
@prettylizy: I prefer alleys so no one has to see the inside of a junky garage and people can do house related projects out there without the whole street having to see/be bothered by it.
Why aren't you crazy about alleys?
grapefruit / 4669 posts
We don't have alleys, but a lot of the houses around us have big driveways that loop around to a garage in the back. Some have front garages and a lot have separate buildings for garages--no 2 houses are alike around here!
GOLD / eggplant / 11517 posts
@tororojo: Sigh. I would love to live in a neighborhood like that! I've always lived in Edward Sizzorhands-ville where every single house is built by the same builder, at the exact same time, with the exact same floor plan (or like 2-3 plans total, but your house is one of those)
pear / 1698 posts
Front of the house here. The last three houses I've owned in 3 different places all had the garage only accessible from the front.
bananas / 9628 posts
interesting! are the garages outback attached to the houses?
the only houses i can think of with garages around back are ones with garages at basement level, so the garage is under the house. we have some houses with garages on the side. the vast majority are on the front of the house.
blogger / pomelo / 5400 posts
Garages that take up half the front of a house are one of my pet peeves, and it's one reason why I dislike a lot of new construction houses. We may build soon BUT the development actually has rear-entry garages with alleys, which is one of the things that appeals to me ... it's def. not the norm here. It just bumps up the "neighborhood" feel, IMO, if you're looking at the front of a house and see porches and windows and doors instead of a big honking garage.
GOLD / eggplant / 11517 posts
@Mrs. Yoyo: Our garage door takes up like 2/3 of the front of our house. 
pomegranate / 3516 posts
Our garage is on the front but growing up our garage was on the side at the end of the driveway. I don't really have a preference though.
grapefruit / 4669 posts
@highwire: Yeah, it's a really cool-looking neighborhood! We just rent one of the guesthouses though, we don't own an awesome house and I don't foresee that happening anytime soon...we'll probably end up in a cookie cutter area at some point.
GOLD / wonderful grape / 20289 posts
I grew up with garages in front, and ours is like that now. I'm not bothered by it.... I guess I'm just used to it that way.
GOLD / papaya / 10206 posts
@highwire: Yeah, I can see that. Our garage is a disaster right now and DH won't even let me open it up until we get it cleaned up this weekend. Usually I park my car in there.
I guess it's regional why I dislike alleys, the only ones I've been exposed to are in dumpier neighbourhoods in the 'bad' areas of the city.
wonderful pomelo / 30692 posts
Front! But all the houses on our street look the same, so it doesn't look weird at all. And we have the longest driveway, so we're at least set back from everyone else, which is nice. I don't really care if people see me doing projects in the garage - usually I have to drive the car out so it's blocking the view anyway.
clementine / 957 posts
Front of the house. Ours is the only part of the house you really see, unfortunately. We have a giant tree that blocks off a lot of the front of the house. I love the privacy though!
wonderful olive / 19353 posts
My current house has the garage in the back with an entrance through an alley way. I'm not a fan of it at all because you have to yield to other cars so you have to find a house with an empty driveway to pull into and hope the other car coming at you didn't do the same because then you play the game of hide and seek or you accidentally pull into their drive way. Fail!!
I grew up in houses where the garages were in the front, and I prefered that much more!
blogger / wonderful cherry / 21628 posts
In my neighborhood they are all detached and to the back. Thank goodness. I don't like the look of a house where the garage door sits more forward than the front door. That was on my will not compromise list when house hunting. I didn't grow up in a neighborhood, it's a preference I developed when we started house hunting.
pomegranate / 3872 posts
Front and maybe on the side depending on the house layout. I'm not sure I've ever even seen a garage facing the back!
grapefruit / 4703 posts
@highwire: Whole neighborhoods with alleys behind the houses? Is this a southern thing? I've never even heard of it. Most of the houses in my neighborhood have garages like @mrs. bird described - on the side at basement level. I'm trying to picture the alley garages... so does no one drive on your street if all the driveways are in the back? Excuse my naivety 
wonderful clementine / 24134 posts
We love our neighborhood because all of the houses have SIDE garages. They are attached to the house, but from the street you don't see a big ugly garage door.
GOLD / eggplant / 11517 posts
@Shutterbug: Ha - no worries! Yep, the whole neighborhood has alleys and garages in the back (most of the city is laid out this way, actually). The only people who drive on the main road down our street would be guests and people using it to get to other streets. We have no basements. Not sure if that makes a difference.
pineapple / 12793 posts
I much prefer alleys and rear yard garages. Our neighborhood has both because of the topography so the houses that step down the hill have front yard garages and the ones at level have rear yard.
| Today | Monthly Record | |
|---|---|---|
| Topics | 0 | 1 |
| Posts | 1 | 3 |
Ask for Help
Make a Suggestion
Frequently Asked Questions
Bee Levels
Acronyms
Most Viewed Posts
Hellobee Gold
Hellobee Recipes
Hellobee Features
Hellobee Contests
Baby-led Weaning
Bento Boxes
Breastfeeding
Newborn Essentials
Parties
Postpartum Care Essentials
Sensory Play Activities
Sleep Training
Starting Solids Gear
Transitioning to Toddler Bed
All Series
Who We Are
About the Bloggers
About the Hostesses
Contributing Bloggers
Apply to Blog
Apply to Hostess
Submit a Guest Blog
Hellobee Buttons
How We Make Money
Community Policies
- Google Plus
- Stumbleupon
- Twitter
- Facebook
- Pinterest
- Favorite0
22 comments