How Many of You Actually

A comedian I saw late at night said, "Only in America do we leave cars worth thousands of dollars in the driveway and leave useless things and junk in boxes in the garage."

I laughed because it's oh-so-true. We bought a house where the garage had even been walled off to create a sort of "man cave" with a closet and everything. Prior to home ownership we had lived in apartment complexes for over thirteen years and only one of the places we lived had a covered parking spot, and even then, it was only one per unit so my car was always in an uncovered spot anyhow. We just got used to it.

We don't have a garage (although I have the plans in the office for building one... that's not going to happen any time soon).

When we DID have a garage... OH YEAH... parked in it and love it. It rains here 9-10mo a year. Being able to be DRY, esp with a baby and car seat back when, what absolute heaven.

I do not have a garage where I live now, but the prior place we lived in was a duplex and it had zero storage, I mean no coat closet, not even a linen closet! It was crazy, it was a super small garage but we never parked a car in it, used it as storage, saved us from having to pay for a storage unit ( which we have one now) I don't know, would love to have a garage we could use, just has not worked out that way so far.

we have a 2 car. we always park 1 car and the summer the other side is for bikes trikes and wagons.. in the winter we put the bikes away and boht cars are in the garage..

We have a one car garage. It is full of stuff. Lots of stuff. When we move from base to base I weed it all out. I really do! But we still always have more stuff than storage. But we do have a 2 car driveway.

We have a one car garage and never park in it. It's more of an oversized closet if you will being that we have cabinetry built on one side for storage and a vehicle will fit but we have a 2 car driveway so we just park there. The neighbor to my left and also the one to my right have garages that I've never seen them park in.

Two cars in our 2-car garage. When we lived in Texas we had one built for our old house, and after we moved to NJ we had a new garage built to replace the falling-down one that was with this house (didn't park in that one - door barely worked and it probably would have fallen down on top of our cars eventually).

And sorry to the poster below who said people with clean garages have boring lives - my camping equipment is in my basement, sports equipment is kept in baskets in my enclosed porch, beach equipment is in the deck box and woodshop equipment is in it's place along the edges of the garage. We lead active lives AND want to protect our cars from the elements!

I park in the garage year round. In the winter, we move a bunch of stuff to the shed so we can fit my husband's car in there too.

We don't have a garage :( but I dream of the day we can afford to have one put up so I no longer have to freeze my butt off while clearing off the snow!

Edited: @ Jane we don't have a garage we store our camping gear in the attic, hubbys tools and projects get stored in the very nifty old brick shed in our yard, beach stuff, outdoor toys, etc get stored in our regular shed if we had a garage it would be clean and our cars would be in it!

my theory:
people who park in their garages have clean garages. People with clean garages live boring lives with no hobbies outdoor activities they participate in. They don't build stuff, have an art studio, a shop, camping equipment, or beach gear galore. We have not parked in our garage in years because it is full of stuff. Stuff that represents the fullness of our lives.

Not. Garage = storage.

We do.

I hated having to load three kids in the pouring rain.

When we moved into our house....The garage was the first thing we emptied...We also dont live in a GREAT area..So knowing the car is off the street...they can not break into it as easily!!

Yes, we park in our garage and could never give it up. Nice to get in a car that is not too hot or cold depending on the season, never have to scrape ice. When it's raining outside, we don't have to get wet, either. Love, love, love our garage!

We have a three car garage and my husband and I both park in it. He is really good about having a clean garage. Keeps the vehicles clean and away from hail etc. Not to mention when it gets cold here or icy. I know I'm talking about TX but I'm not one to want to scrape ice off my windshields in morning.

My husband has a sports car that he won and we keep that in out garage, however our Tahoe doesnt fit is just a little to long for our garage, and we are up sizing soon.

When I had a garage, I parked in it always. In Minnesota, it saves you scraping the ice off the windshield every morning for several months of the year.

I grew up with a carport so when I got married and had the luxury of parking my car inside I was stoked. I've never thought any different of where my car should go. If I ran out of space I think I'd build a shed in the backyard before parking outside. Plus, having to load kids into the car when it's raining or snowing isn't really my thing.

I park my car in the garage. In Missouri you never know when it's going to hail, snow, or ice. This Spring I had $1000 worth of hail damage. With a $250 deductible, it's just CHEAPER to park in the garage!

I love my garage:-)) !!!! After years of having to scrape off ice and snow off my car windows in winter, not to mention having locks freeze and car doors freeze shut. It is soooooooo nice not to have to do that. Right now my garage needs some work and one garage door is always open and broken but I never have to scrape windows.

I always park in the garage.

We don't - it's a small one car and for storage, not parking. We'd really need a 3 car garage before we could park in it regularly.

Always park in the garage. Can't imagine not. We have a 4 car garage and we park 3 cars in it. We have garage cabinets for storage. (husband very organized).

if I could see the floor of our garage, I would :)

We do park our cars in the garage. I've seen hail the size of golf balls and I don't want those babies hitting my car. Plus it's just as easy to pull into the garage as it is to park right in front of it. In the winter, I NEVER have to scrape my windshield or dig out of the snow. In summer, my seats don't get so hot they burn my thighs when I'm in shorts. I love having a garage...

I long looked forward to having my own house so I could park in the garage, but no such luck, my DH has a "workshop" and "man cave" (also it's the laundry area)
This winter he will have to make room for the not so watertight 69 convertible bug he acquired this past year.... sigh....

I park in the garage because that way I can send my older daughter to the car to get settled in while I struggle to get the younger daughter out the door while keeping the dogs and cats in the house. I also am really short with short little t-rex arms so I can't clean snow off the car very well in the winter. Park in the garage...no snow for me to struggle with.

Always park in the garage.
Especially in our hot sun here, parking in a garage is needed or your car... its paint and surfaces, gets old looking faster.

When we lived up north (in Iowa), we parked in the garage in the winter, for sure. Otherwise, I don't remember if we parked in the garage every night.....

Parking in the garage made it easier to warm up the car, and keep ice off the windows.... we had a large detached garage, so we still had to walk outside to get into the car, but at least we didn't have to scrape the ice off the windshields every morning.

We have a two car+ garage but I have always let my daughter park inside and I park outside. I drive a "lovely" company provided Impala in a beautiful shade of blueberry (with sparkles)...that's OK, it's almost free! I bought my daughter a very cute and safe California Edition Jetta when she was 15 (Dad and I both have company cars that she isn't allowed to drive). I feel better with her pulling into the garage with my protective dog right there, then she shuts the door. We don't have rain, ice, snow or anything that's really a hazard or time consuming...maybe some dirt!

We do. Both me AND my husband, although sometimes he leaves his out for various reasons (like last week, the lovebugs were REALLY atrocious. It looked like it was going to rain, so he left his out hoping the downpour would wash off some bugs and dirt/pollen).

I just have a "thing" about it, I guess. It is a garage. That means the purpose is to house vehicles. There is a lot of other stuff out there, but I will never buy more "stuff" than I can fit with my cars IN the garage.

The garage protects the car from the elements (or falling branches) which includes rain, hail, sun and bird poop. It also keeps ME dry when it is raining and I need to go somewhere, or it is raining when I get home. And when it is hot out, it keeps the interior of my car below 170 degrees at entry. And in the winter I don't have to go out in the wind to get in the car. No frozen/frosted windshields or side view mirrors either.. which can be a safety hazard.
I lived in an apartment for a couple of years and I HATED having to leave home when it was raining. Now it doesn't really bother me much.

We have a narrow 2-car garage. With 2 cars inside, it's hard to open the car door without hitting the other car. My husband likes to have at least one car in the garage, especially if there's a chance for bad weather. We had one side full of tools, a big pile of plywood, and our son's workbench for a long time. Then we got a new car, built an overhead shelf for the tools and wood, put our son's workbench in his playhouse, and fit both cars in. It's frustrating to me, because I'd rather have the workshop space back. If my FIL comes over with a board he needs me to cut, I have to back the cars out, get out a folding workbench, pull out a saw that's not the one I want because I can't lift the other one off the shelf by myself, and try to have the whole project done and cleaned up before my husband gets home from work.

Our garage is part off roading/project car vehicle storage (an international scout) and man cave/ home brewing area. So technically there IS a car in there but we rarely drive it.

I'm not really sure where the cabs I take, park. Maybe a garage or a lot or on the street or something?

My husband decided that his car is more important than mine. We only have a one car garage.

Until 2002 both cars were in the garage. We bought my Grand Caravan in 2001 and it was a tight fit with the car seat....Bob's car was in the garage until 2006....then my parents and Bob built lockers for the boys and his car hasn't been back in since!! YIKES!!

It is my goal to get Bob's car back in the garage!!! ONE DAY!!! (LOL!!)

We have a 2 car garage and used to park one car in it. Then I bought too much stuff. Its been about 20 years since we could get a car in the garage. My husband has dreams about parking in the garage again.

I do because I'm too cheap to pay for a sticker to park on the street

Cars belong in the garage?? Hahaha
In So Cal there are no basements and rarely if ever an attic so the garage does the duty. The holiday decorations, the lawn mower, the kids clothes waiting for the next child, the bikes, the balls, the washer and dryer, you name it. We have a garage that's supposed to be a 2 car garage and I can guarentee that even if it was completely empty both cars would not even fit in there. We park them both side by side on the driveway and they barely fit. The minivan is practically run up on the grass and the 4 door is parked at an angle. It doesn't help that our house was one of the show houses for the subdivision we live in and for whatever reason they did not line up the driveway with the garage door. If you pull in wrong with the 4 door you will hit the mail box, the fence or the neighbors brick planter.
If we're luck the next house we might be able to park something in the garage but I'm not holding my breath LOL

Nope, but that's because my fiance has turned it into his own little studio, lol. Otherwise I would park the car in the garage.

Both cars go in our 3 car garage. To me it is like making your bed...makes the house look nice and well kept.

Good luck and best wishes!

We do have 1 car in our garage...supposedly it is a 2 car garage but for 2 cars to be in there, it would be really tight and not leave much room for anything else. Between the motorcycle, lawn mower, snow blower, work bench, garbage cans, and our daughter's outdoor toys (bike, scooter, etc.), there is no way we could get 2 cars in there. But we do make it a point to keep it cleared out enough for the 1! It's the first time I've had a garage to park my car in since I got my first car at age 22 and I am now 39! When we were having the house built 3 years ago, I was like, "Woo-hoo! We're getting a garage!" So at least there will be one car I don't have to constantly scrape ice and snow off of all winter!

I think it depends on your climate. I would think in the Winter you would choose to put the car in the garage so you don't have to shovel snow off it. That saves so much time.

We park in the garage. Then we walk through the garage door into the house. I guess there is no reason to park there in the summer but in the winter it is very nice not to have to clean ice/snow off the car. I guess it protects the paint from sun/weather damage too. The garage door opens up directly into the kitchen so it is the obvious choice for bringing in groceries. The front door would mean more walking/less convenience. Why did you NOT park in your garage when you had a big one?

We live in the south and my good, new car gets parked in the garage along with hubby's motorcycle. His beat up old SUV sits in the driveway. For us - besides the safety factor, it keeps animals off the car, and hail is terrible here.

At MY house, I didn't have a garage and hated every minute of it. I had to put the lawnmower in the family room closet (yes it was big enough to fit it.) I had to carry the bikes from the basement to the patio on nice days and put away at night. UGH!!!

Now that I've married, we have a two car oversized garage and I love it! I refuse to park outside. No more scraping the windows of frost and snow, no more running to the car in the rain, no more wet feet tromping in the entryway from the car.

I can change the oil or rotate the tires without getting soaked from the ground or laying on dirt!!

We do park in the garage.

We have a large 3.5 car garage. Hubby and I park in the large double and daughter parks in the single. We never, ever park on the street and rarely will leave a car in the driveway. We drive very expensive cars and we just prefer to keep them in the garage where they are safer.

I have one of those driveways that kids love to skateboard down,,, I frown upon that because I don't want anyone to get hurt.

Not too long ago, I had not pulled my car into the garage because I was unloading groceries. I drive a Mercedes SL 550 convertible. As I walked back out to get a bag, a mom was smiling as her kid was joyously flying down my driveway on a scooter. He almost hit my car, I screamed, the mom said "he loves your driveway", I said, "well I guess you'll love repairing my car if he so much as touches it". That is one of the main reasons we never leave a car outside.

we do not park in our garage , because of one simple reason, it's a mess and there is no room.

We both put our vehicles in the garage every day.
The motorcycle fits, too!

We always park in the garage. I hate having too much clutter! If it sits for more than 3 years untouched, it's given to charity or thrown away! It is also a good place for my kids to play when it is too cold or hot outside.
A.

We park in our garage. Right now we have a three car garage and both of our cars fit with no problem. Another car would be tight. We don't use it for storage or anything. We keep "upgrading" every year, moving from an apartment with only covered parking to an apartment with a garage then a house with a two car garage. We always park in the garage.

We just moved to FL and my husband and I laugh as it seems like no one in our neighborhood parks in the garage except us!

I haven't had a garage in a while, AND I MISS IT!!!! :)

I've always parked in the garage. Its a 2-car garage, and the other space has my sisters car in it.q

Our garage door is currently stuck closed, so no one's parking in there. Normally one car gets parked in there, and the other car gets parked in the driveway.

Nope. I don't have a garage. At least not right now--but I will park it when we move into our house~ :)

M

I don't get to park my car in the garage. Why? Well, we have a two car garage but only one car can fit in there at the moment =( My hubby had to replace some expensive stereo equipment in his car because it had gotten broken into before (not while parked in our driveway) and he is paranoid of it getting broken into yet again. So my car is out in the cold. And my car is the better car too!!!

We parked in our garage in Phoenix because of the intense heat. It took a couple of years before we got everything cleaned up before we could park inside. I wish we had a garage here because I hate scraping the snow off and trying to get the ice off the car windows!!

I do park in the garage. My husband usually doesn't bother unless a snowstorm is coming

We have a detached garage. The garage is our outdoor storage area - lawn mover, shovels, kayaks, etc. There's no room for a car.

I DO park in the garage every day, I love it. I have 4 children, it is more safe for them (they can not just run out to the street with passing cars). I enjoy it so much when it rains and I can get in and out in dry garage. Also in the winters, so much appreciated. My husband does the same .....we have cleared all the bikes, strollers etc on the side to be able park our cars in the garage.
One you start you WIL LOVE IT!!! I highly recommend it.

good luck

Never.
We have a long driveway (half of it is gated) and a detached garage.
Just to get to the garage I would have to get out, open a locked gate, move two cars then pull up to the garage and figure out how to move the half built hot rod and giant tool box (it's a professional box weighing more then a car). Even if I did want to park in the garage it would be more of a hassle to get in there, walk through the back yard, make sure the driveway gate it shut and then go to the back door, because in the driveway where I park, it's like literally 2 ft. away from the front door. =)

Yep, mainly because I got sick of scraping frost and ice in the winter, and getting hail damage in tornado season. Now we live in FL so none of those things are really a problem anymore but we still do it out of habit. :)

I always park in the garage. There is room for my husband to park in the garage, too, but it's a tight fit. He drives a huge truck, so he only parks in the garage when we're expecting hail or ice. I don't really expect it will ever be cold again . . .

We're in Texas and actually had ANOTHER 100 degree day last week. Ugh.

Our first house was so cluttered with all my husbands cars, and tools. Our house now...I was able to park in the garage for about 6 months...now we are back to a car that does not run (waiting to be fixed) and all of his work out equipment and junk is on my side. Winter is coming and I told him the other day...clean it up or I am...(me cleaning = TRASH)

We park in the driveway and keep our boat in the garage.

We do park in the garage.

Depends on the season. In our snowy winters - yes!
We clean up our one-car garage in the fall & park our older car in there over the winter (since it will usually not start if left to the elements)!

But in the summer both cars are parked in the driveway - the bikes come out of the back shed and stay in the garage for easy access, we roll out an old area rug, set up chairs and have a radio out there, with chalk, balls, trucks & bubbles so when its rainy out its a fun place for the kids to play in the fresh air but still stay dry :)

and i'll add, in response to one poster - i'm gonna have to respectfully disagree that a clean garage means a boring life with no hobbies or outdoor activities! We have TONS of camping and hunting/fishing equipment in the basement storage room... and we have lots of sports equipment, beach stuff, gardening supplies & sleds/snow stuff in our little back shed. And even with the car in the garage, we are still able to organize all my hubby's tools along the back workbench (this summer he built a beautiful arbor/bench from scratch for my grapes to grow up), the golf clubs, softball team equipment (he's head of our church's team) & his smoke cooker (he makes the best jerkey, yum!).We have a whole craft/art book shelf in the basement too. With 2 crazy toddlers and an active teenager, I'd never call our life boring lol :)

My old house: 2 car garage, 1 went in the garage. Granted, my husband has a huge truck. We barely fit both cars in there one time when it was hailing. It was a very very tight squeeze.

My new house: 2 car garage, but we're still building, so NO, no cars in the garage. Right now my fridge and stove are technically in the garage, as are supplies for building and a huge tool bench. One day hopefully we'll have at least one car in the garage. We built it to be oversized where both cars would fit. We do not keep junk around. But our driveway is a muddy mess, so there's really no reason to keep our car in the garage except in the case of hail.

My parents (60s) fit 2 cars in their 3-car garage. The other third is furniture and stuff.

My friend with her 2 car garage, zero cars fit in her garage. Filled with junk and a weight bench.

My brother/SIL (early 30s) with thier 2 car garage, zero cars in their garage. Half the garage is filled with 'stuff' and the other half is my brother's indoor smoke/videogame area ie 'mancave'

Our friends (late 20s early 30s) have a small 2 car garage, zero cars in there. They have 'stuff' and a ping pong table.

Other friends (40s) have a small 2 car garage, zero cars in there. Instead, a fridge, lawn equipment, etc and a pool table.