Views of the Neighborhood – Driveways

~ John W. Howell

I know it seems a little odd to feature driveways on Views of the Neighborhood. I just found that some of them are so steep up or down that I couldn’t help myself in taking pictures of them. They may interest you as well.

Views of the Neighborhood

Here is one that drops about thirty feet and then you have to go through a gate as well.

I thought this was interesting in that there is a handrail which you would need to pull yourself up the drive. The sign that looks like a tree to the right designates this house as someone who needs help getting their trash to the curb. The collectors go down and get the cans.

Here is another sign that means this house also needs help with the trash containers. The reason it is not a tree is that the collection company has changed over time.

A drive so long that a drain is needed at the bottom to collect the sunami water rushing down from the rain.

Here is another handrail to help you drag yourself up the drive. Also a drain and tile insets for decoration.

A long driveway made of asphalt

Another handrail and steps to make it easier for you to drag yourself up the driveway.

Shade and winding drive

Bit of a drop-off. Gotta hope the brakes are good.

Another sign indicating the need for help with trash. This is the third type and is the current trash pick-up provider.

You can’t see the house from here, but you could roll right into the living room. Just follow the drive.

I think you aim for the front door but keep a heavy foot on the brake.

Well, that’s about it. I hope you enjoyed the tour which gives you an idea of how hilly our topography is around here.

 

85 thoughts on “Views of the Neighborhood – Driveways”

  1. I would have never thought it would be so hilly in your area, John. It’s a good thing those driveways aren’t out in the Mid West, they’d be snowed in until spring. Great photos…thanks for sharing! Enjoy your Sunday!

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  2. I loved this adventure. It brought back lots of memories. Years ago I lived in a very hilly area back East and had to drive down a steep road to reach my house. I soon learned that long driveways and winter are to be avoided. Maybe not a problem for Texas? 😀

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        1. I’ll sure check it out. My drive is flat as a pancake so I don’t have to worry. I guess the indication will be stream or dry driveway. I know a few of these folks are loaded so who knows. (Like Kerrville)

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  5. I’m afraid I would not be living in one of those homes at the bottom of the hill!! Flooding would always be on my mind. I see the drains in the driveways, but my street has experienced flooding due to clogged or damaged drains more than once right here in flat Florida. Other than that – you’ve given us a good post today, thanks!

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  6. We had some friends who once lived on a lake. Their driveway was short and steep. Reminded me a bit of the 9th photo you showed. And yes, you hope for good brakes and an engine powerful enough to back out of the driveway uphill!

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  8. The long and winding road…to the living room. Twiggy might need the steps, John. All I can think of is having to clear the snow and melt the ice if we had those here. Growing up in Pittsburgh, we had some steep driveways. I remember shoveling ours so my dad could get to work.

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  9. I love nosing around residential areas, peoples homes are so fascinating, including how on earth they get in or out of them. I have visited houses where the winding steps up to the front door are more like a mountain climb and if you took the brake off your car it would roll straight out of the driveway onto the main road.

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  12. Fascinating post John. I was particularly interested in the little trash signs. Unfortunately the garbage men in Nova Scotia have no such service. If you have trouble doing it yourself you must call upon a kindly neighbor or a family member.

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  14. Those are cray-cray! Actually, the home I grew up in had a steep driveway – very short, the length of 2.5, 3 cars only. And one winter, my mother’s car just slid down and smashed into the garage door! We had to learn the sweet spot of safety in cases of freezing rain.
    Many moons later, my father had it filled in, the garage door changed to a large window and normal door as access to his home office – which never happened, by the way. I bought the house and the year after our famous ice storm, we converted it into the wood-burning stove room!

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  17. Those driveways are very pretty, and the trash pick up people sure have their work cut out for them. Here it’s totally flat, so it’s interesting to see these in your area. 🙂

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  18. I would never choose a house with a steep drive no matter how much I liked the house. IF I did choose a steep drive it would have to be downhill from the house. I wouldn’t want all the rainwater rushing toward my front door.
    Great photos! I thought Texas was flat.

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  21. This is a cool topic. You don’t realize how important they are until you look at houses with the intention to buy. Then it’s mindboggling how strange some are. And how pretty others are.

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  23. I wouldn’t want to have a manual transmission going up those driveways! An interesting topic that one rarely thinks about unless you’re dealing with a steep driveway!

    When I was 5-… we lived in San Diego which is really hilly, anyway we lived at the top of a hill and our driveway was long and steep. On top of that, we had stairs to climb to get to the front door. The driveway was so steep that when I got my first 2 wheeler for Christmas I was too chicken to go down the whole driveway. I walked it down halfway and then glided or raced down the rest of the way down,

    My Mom had one of the first 4 doors Datsun’s in this country back then and my Dad found a big rock to put behind one of the tires to ensure the car wouldn’t roll down the driveway. One day we all four us kids were in the car and Mom started the car then rolled the rock out of the way, then turned her back to close the garage door and we began to roll down the hill! We all started yelling for my Mom who turned around and ran to the car jumped in and safely got us down the driveway.
    It’s etched in my mind, and my Mom says she was terrified we’d end up in the ditch and she wouldn’t be able to catch the car.

    They haven’t owned a house with a steep driveway like that since.

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  24. Some of those driveways remind me of the neighborhood we used to live in. It was on the lake, and several of the driveways were steep enough to make me nervous – definitely need good brakes.

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  25. Oh, my. It’s obvious these driveways aren’t in Illinois. Nobody here would have such a steep entryway (or exit) because of having to shovel snow from it during the winter. Thanks for the tour, John — at least the owners get a workout just walking up or down, right?!

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