Alleyways

[Panhandle78]

A neighbor behind me has a chain fence that encroaches onto the alleyway. They will not remove it. Can I tear it down? It blocks access to the other side and the slum renters in the back park there. Can I clear the way.....

[Shamrock]

Assuming the alley is a right-of-way owned by the City of Houston, then the City of Houston would have authority to take down a fence blocking the way. If there is a utility easement running down the alleyway, as there often is in the Heights, the utility company may have a similar right. However, a neighbor most likely does not have a right to remove the fence unless it encroached on the neighbor's property.

Have city officials been notified? They move egregiously slow on issues like this, but it may be the only option at this point.

[TexasVines]

alleys are the stupidest thing ever invented

it is just another place for criminal trash to have easy access to your property, they are wasted space, and are always full of crap and junk and over grown weeds, not to mention just one more thing to maintain by the city

thank God Houston has so few compared to stupid cities that STILL built those damn things

[AJXterra]

A neighbor behind me has a chain fence that encroaches onto the alleyway. They will not remove it. Can I tear it down? It blocks access to the other side and the slum renters in the back park there. Can I clear the way.....

Have you thought perhaps that their fence is there for a reason? What benefit is there for you to remove this fence?

[SaintCyr]

I like my ally. It allows me to park in the back when traffic is busy and you need a prayer and a little luck to get backed out of my driveway onto Yale. I think if they are properly maintained and you have good neighbors then there is no issue. I actually get to talk to my neighbors on both sides. Eh, different strokes for different folks.

[innerloop]

I love my alley. In fact, is was one of my requirements in selecting my house that it had to have an alley. By having a rear facing garage, there's no need for a driveway all of the way through the front and back yards, so you end up with more useable yard space. An important consideration with some of our small lot sizes. And asthetics are a personal choice, but I much prefer the look of a house that is not burdened with the front facing garage doors.

[galahad1743]

Apparently at the last Shady Acres meeting Peter Brown said that would encourage rear alleys if he is elected mayor. From what I've seen, this post is exactly right when it says that Peter Brown can talk a lot and say nothing. He also says that Houston is the second most dangerous city in the nation next to Dallas... where did he get this? From what I remember seeing we are nowhere near the top of the list.

On the subject of alleyways, I personally prefer lots with a dedicated drive that goes to a detached garage behind the house. It takes up some yard but you don't have a street facing garage. I guess it all depends on how big the lot is.

[Urbannomad]

Alleys are great. Especially in more dense, urban neighborhoods where land values are very high and street parking is common. Otherwise, you have to build a driveway on some VERY expensive land which adds substantial width to a lot just for paving... sounds silly to some I'm sure, but at $30-$50+ sqft for land alone that can get pricey. Also, trash pickup can be a nightmare in Shady Acres since we don't have alleys and street parking is common. Sunday nights are a fight for curb space. Without going into detail, it creates an obvious drainage problem as well with higher density development when the entire lot including ditch is paved for entire blocks (I'm thinking Heights Annex are for example). I can only imagine the problems when our neighborhood is completely built out. I for one would love to have alleys in our neighborhood. Outside of the movies, I've never actually known anyone who has had any real problems with an alley behind their house. Maybe in some really bad neighborhoods that is the case but I don't think the alleys are the problem.

[Tiko]

Also, the alleyways allow for the utilities to be in the rear and allow for access.

An interesting idea I've heard floated is to close off (one or both) certain street blocks to vehicles on streets with good alley access - homeowners could use the alleys to access their property but cut-through traffic would be prevented. I think the technique is used in some European cities to calm the traffic and encourage pedestrian/bicycle use.

[BonivaGScott]

I love our alley too! Two exits from the property.

We live on Yale and I would love to start driving through it to park the car from the rear, but multiple neighbors nearer to the end of the street use the alley as their own personal driveway.

I like to think the back of the house is safer because of the alley. So many of the neighbors' houses look out onto the alley & they walk dogs back there at all hours, I figure burglars are less likely to break in. If there were just one neighbor's yard backing up the property it would be a lot more private for thieves. We also have two houses of elderly always at home looking out the window folks on the sides, so I feel pretty secure .

[plumber2]

I love our alley too! Two exits from the property.

We live on Yale and I would love to start driving through it to park the car from the rear, but multiple neighbors nearer to the end of the street use the alley as their own personal driveway.

I like to think the back of the house is safer because of the alley. So many of the neighbors' houses look out onto the alley & they walk dogs back there at all hours, I figure burglars are less likely to break in. If there were just one neighbor's yard backing up the property it would be a lot more private for thieves. We also have two houses of elderly always at home looking out the window folks on the sides, so I feel pretty secure .

That was the way it was on Ashland when my grandparents were alive. They and their two nearest neighbors used the alley to access their own garages. Beyond that, the alley was pretty much overgrown and blocked with junk until you reached the other end of the block, were the last couple of properties used it the same way. I guess people in the middle of the block just didn't want to drive into the alley that far. It was like that all over the Heights.

[TexasCE]

Count me as another person in favor of alleys. As has been pointed out, alleys increase the amount of usable space on a lot and thus, in the long term in a denser neighborhood, increase the property value.

My garage faces our alley allowing us to utilize more of the property. It was one of the considerations I had when I purchased the property. If you look at some of the nicer neighborhoods in town, many have allesy for the exact same reasons. Land is very expensive and so the more access points you can creat to a property, the better.

[RedScare]

I love our alley too! Two exits from the property.

We live on Yale and I would love to start driving through it to park the car from the rear, but multiple neighbors nearer to the end of the street use the alley as their own personal driveway.

I like to think the back of the house is safer because of the alley. So many of the neighbors' houses look out onto the alley & they walk dogs back there at all hours, I figure burglars are less likely to break in. If there were just one neighbor's yard backing up the property it would be a lot more private for thieves. We also have two houses of elderly always at home looking out the window folks on the sides, so I feel pretty secure .

What do you mean that the neighbors use the alley as their own personal driveway? That they park in the middle of the alley? If this is the case, notify the City, if you do not want to confront the neighbor yourself. The alley is city property, and it is illegal to block the access. A 311 call, or an email to your councilman's office will take care of it. You can even ask them not to mention your name, for neighborhood peace purposes.

This is not a big deal to correct.

[TheJudge]

I've decided to put a gate up on one end of my alley (the other side is already gated by a neighbor a few houses down), and use it to store my extra vehicle. I'm the middle of the block, so not disturbing anyone. The city hasn't cleared the alley in 5 years. So I'm just going to claim it for myself. If the City asks, I'll give them a key to the gate. It will also keep the hooker from dragging her mattress back there to turn tricks.

[SaintCyr]

I've decided to put a gate up on one end of my alley (the other side is already gated by a neighbor a few houses down), and use it to store my extra vehicle. I'm the middle of the block, so not disturbing anyone. The city hasn't cleared the alley in 5 years. So I'm just going to claim it for myself. If the City asks, I'll give them a key to the gate. It will also keep the hooker from dragging her mattress back there to turn tricks.

I'd ask around to the different neighbors before doing that. The guy at the end of our alley (11th b/t Allston and Yale) put up a gate it was only a few days before it was torn down. They still use it as their drive way on that end but I have a feeling that will end when the house at 11th and Allston is completed. I'm the last one that uses it on my side (north) and I'm 4 lots in from 12th, however I see utility trucks in and out of there from time to time. Just a suggestion to ask around before you accidently start a fight because someone has nothing better to do.