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With or Without?



Somewhere out there, in the wilds of HoCo, is a blogger who writes solely about how he would completely redo sections of Columbia and the County if he were in charge. At the moment I can’t remember the name of the blog. He posts rather sporadically.

His blog is on my mind this morning because I recalled a post in which he went to work “fixing” my Village, Oakland Mills. In particular, he stated that the group of quadroplexes where I live would need to be torn down and replaced because “people want garages.”

Is that true? Do you have a garage? Do you think that having a garage is an essential? And, if you have a garage, do you actually park your car in it? Do we think there are more garages in Columbia or Howard County?

A garage takes up space. Space is land. Land is money. HoCo Blogger AnnieRie once explained to me that the houses that annoy me, the ones with the garages out front, are made in that way to make the most economical use of the lot size. That hadn’t occurred to me. I would imagine that having a garage is a luxury item in the grand scheme of things these days. A “want” rather than a “need.” Of course I don’t own a boat, or multiple bicycles, or lots of sports or yard maintenance equipment.

Every house I lived in growing up had a garage. And yes, we parked our cars in them.

Absolutely none of the places I have lived in my adult life had garages. At one time that vaguely bothered me, as though I hadn’t “made it” to the required economic or social status that accorded one the right to a garage. And then I just got used to it. A couple of times a year I wish we had one: digging out from a big snow, perhaps, or when cleaning out my car at the end of the school year. But it’s not a deal breaker.

I’ll tell you what drives me batty about our house, though. It’s not the lack of a garage. We don’t have a basement. After 20 years that still bugs me. But I wouldn’t tear down the entire neighborhood for the lack of them.

But I do wish they’d figure out a way to add one after the house is built.


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