What do you guys think off a house next to bike/walk/public path? Would it be a safety issue? Understand rear will have access point to in addition of front. Any safety precautions we can efficiently adopt, e.g. metal curtains, camera, etc.? Any other potential issue like noise, etc? Would you guys recommend?
I'm always interested in houses next to trail or park but not sure about safety or noise.
Thanks
Being near a walking path is lovely. I am near one, occasionally I hear kids playing but not often.
It's fine, just make sure you have a fence (of any kind) up, otherwise people will assume your garden is a small park or a clearing and walk/picnic in it.
Where do you live that people are that dumb?
Happens everywhere. It's a grassy patch next to a walking path, it's not unreasonable to think it's part of the path or a rest stop.
People generally either put up fences or just not care.
Biking and walking aren't typically noisy activities, and people usually do those activities during the day.
As long as you have a 1.8m high boundary fence for privacy and your access gate/door is lockable, everything should be perfectly fine.
In fact, I personally believe it's better as you are sharing a boundary with open public/Crown land, which is safer due to the openness, but also less hassle and stress in terms of any potential new development. It's also nice to have direct access to a public open green space and/or public path literally at your doorstep!
Thanks all, yea next to path/trail is actually a plus for me but seems the price about 10% lower than the houses away from path/trail. So not sure if public perception is bad or meh. Thanks.
If you're going to live there a long time and you like it then don't worry about the difference in value! That only matters when it comes time to sell. And if that's ten years plus down the track then who cares :)
Edit - one disadvantage I can think of, is if your neighbours or the people opposite the path to you (if it is like an alleyway type path) have dogs then you might get a chorus of barking every time people walk down the path. The path near my place is part of a big green belt so there's not any close neighbours for this to happen to me
Thanks for your feedback. We will live there for the next 25 years lol…. I'm not keen to move around…. No neighbours in the opposite only left and right… So Freeway - path - some green - house .
Sounds good then!!
So the freeway is dropping the value?
If it's anything like the bike paths that have been installed around my place over the last couple of years (that have made the streets treacherous narrow to navigate), they'll never have anyone on them.
Less chance of annoyance stemming from a public path than an inconsiderate neighbour.
It's probably pretty low on the list of priorities when looking at a property though.
Would it be a safety issue?
Why would it be a safety issue?
There's 1 more access point to the house and expose to public (night especially)?
Every house has a front and back door… Not sure where the one more access point is ???
You talking about a bike/foot/dog path that goes past the front of the house? or a house on a corner with 2 paths??
Past the back fence of the house.
In my experience, most of the noise comes from the neighbours' dogs going nuts when someone does walk along the path. Occasionally someone might take a converted motorised bike along there, so it sounds like a lawn mower, but that's about it. Generally it's quiet and is a really convenient option if you want to walk or cycle somewhere.
Hi OP, this is just my personal opinion as I've been in the past looking at homes which were near public places. You might want to check with the signficant others who'll be staying at the property with you to get their view of things too. If it was me living in such a property, I'd feel a bit "exposed" if I didn't have a high fence/hedging, and I'd be more expectant to see people out the front of the property when I venture out into the front yard (meaning I'd have to adapt to knowing that it will be less likely that I can get away with retrieving my mail/taking out/in the bins/gardening in my PJs ("lounge-wear").
Incidentally, just earlier in the week, I visited one of the local neighbourhood tennis courts (currently no hire fee), in the middle of suburbia, and I was thinking how much of a perk it was, for the adjoining property owners, to be in such close proximity to the park/tennis court. But then I immediately thought about the potential aformentioned downsides (from my perspective). Also wondering whether these public places will mean there's more "strangers" potentially being "around"/near any children who live in the vicinity. Not meaning to scare/deter you, just offering my genuine personal thoughts on the subject, since you asked. I guess it is a pro-cons thing, and as you alluded to, how you'd mitigate any risks identified.
Depends on the path a bit. How busy it is, who uses it etc.
If there is lots of graffiti and rubbish I wouldn’t want those sort of people passing my house so close all the time.
If your driveway crosses the path you’d need to be extra vigilant to give way to cyclists and pedestrians.
For me I think it would be good, nice and close for exercising as long as the path goes somewhere ‘nice’.
I use a public walking path that has loads of houses backing onto it and it seems completely fine. Some have cameras, others don’t. Aside from a bit of noise from people using the path, it seems fine.
Admittedly I only go there during daylight hours so I can’t talk about anything that happens after dark.