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"AITAH My Neighbors are "sick and tired of looking at" my basketball hoop"
The short part of the story: I have a portable basketball hoop that I usually lay on its side on my front lawn when not in use because we get very strong wind gusts that can easily topple the hoop if I left it standing. The hoop is entirely on my lawn, on my side of the property line. I recently found out that my neighbors hold a grudge against me because of it and that they are "sick and tired of looking at it."
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How I found out about this is a longer story. I recently hired a contractor to do some heavy duty landscaping work in my backyard. He needed to park some heavy machineries near the house. He used my curb and my driveway as much as he could, but there just wasn't quite enough space, so one day he parked on the curb between my house and my neighbors, that is almost always unoccupied. The next day, he arrived to find the neighbor has parked their truck on that shared curb despite their driveway being empty and more space is available on the other side of their house. The contractor kindly asked the neighbors if they could move their truck so he could use that space. To his surprise, the neighbors lashed out at him and told him "Why don't you ask them when they are going to move their basketball hoop 'cause we're sick and tired of looking at it."
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When we were kids, playing around in the neighborhood and making new friends, we felt like every house around us held its own magic and charm.
You see, when I was growing up, the neighborhood was filled with kids, and we would go from house to house and explore what each one had to offer to make our afternoons as fun as possible. One house had a set of swings, another had a huge trampoline, and a third had the best hiding places for a great game of hide and seek. Every day, after school, we would meet out on the street and decide whose house we're going to that day, and we'd spend hours there, enjoying everything it had to offer. The neighborhood felt like our kingdom.
Reading how resentful these neighbors are of a basketball hoop, I can't help but reminisce about my childhood and how appreciative I would have been if I had a neighbor with a basketball hoop. If only these neighbors could see it like that too…
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Two shadows of people talking against a garage door.
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After the contractor told me about the incident, I spoke to my neighbors on the other side of my house, who I am close with. I wanted to verify what the contractor told me, and also find out if I had unknowingly done something to offend the neighbors. The friendly neighbors confirmed that the other neighbors have long held a grudge against me. I asked them if they know whether there was a specific reason — something I had done, something I had said — but they genuinely didn't know either. The basketball hoop was the only thing concrete that has come up in their complaints multiple times. I find it hard to believe that it is the actual root of it, but I wasn't able to find out anything conclusive.
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We don't have an HOA so I am not breaking some sort of aesthetics rules. The basketball hoop is entirely within my property line and is far from encroaching onto the neighbors side. I lay it on its side when not in use for safety reasons. We have gotten strong enough wind to move it halfway across my driveway while it's on its side.
Am I the a**hole for storing my basketball hoop on its side when not in use?
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Senior neighbors friendly talk.
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As long as no one is breaking any rules, the only rule that should be applied here is ‘live and let live’. A basketball hoop shouldn't cause issues in the neighborhood, and if everyone simply minded their own business, they would have realized just how great neighborhood life can be.
Maybe if the neighbors had a little game of ball, they would remember just how fun it can be.
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Comments:
Do they pay your mortgage? No? Then who cares what they think. / vodeodeo55
Clearly you need to get a second one and set up a full court. I think having Xmas lights on them that you can plug in is a good idea too.
Some garden gnomes playing basketball too / vt2022cam
Your property, you can do what you want, as long as it doesn’t violate the laws of your area. And it’d look pretty trashy to have a basketball hoop laying in a front yard time most of the time. So, you're NTA, and also, sounds like you don’t mind having a trashy looking yard. / Masnpip
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