I live on the corner of a very busy street; it is a major east/west through way here in Tampa. When our neighborhood started out in the late teens, it was still considered a main street, but much, much smaller and nowhere near as busy (how fast could they go on a sea shell paved road?). I find the aspect of this location that bothers me the most is not the noise (except maybe the sirens), not the lack of privacy and not the street people coming up to us offering to do work for money, or just flat out asking for money; I knew all this when we bought the house. What bothers me the most here is the road dirt. If you live close enough to a busy street you may know what I mean-it's a fine, black dusty dirt which blankets everything, particularly noticeable on the front porch. We have to hose the porch off weekly, but even then, it does not completely go away. It clings to feet and travels inside, even with a door mat out front. I suspect the dirt is composed of tire/rubber dust and brake dust. It makes my white window trim black, and is a B**CH to get off, the water only moved the top layer, the rest clings. It makes it hard to enjoy the front porch, although we usually do...we just make sure we're not in our "good clothes" while we are sitting out there. I wonder how many other people are dealing with this...or maybe we are just in a "special" spot which receives the brunt of the dirt. Who knows?
3 comments:
I share your pain of being on a busy street here in S.H. and the black dust/dirt that accumulates on the front porch. My house sits rather close to the street.
When I have my house cleaned I usually tell them to treat the porch like an indoor room...sweep, mop, and dust the furniture & railing. But, like you, my house trim is light and the dirt does really cling....it needs to be scrubbed. But that doesn't happen very often....we just wear our dirt colored clothes when we sit out there!
I am enjoying your blog, and look forward to future posts. Welcome!!
Sherry
I too have the intrusion of the interstate via noise and dirt. I think that many people in the 'hood acknowledge it and let it be. As my partner says "circle of influence" and what you can and can't control - that and a good pressure wash every year gives me piece of mind.
Yeah, we own a pressure washer, and use it every few months....I just hate the effect inside.....you know those "dirt sensors" on some vacuums? I can vacuum the rug in front of the door for ten minutes and the light won't turn green! A person could develop an obsession with the dirt sensor light! I actually used dish liquid and a mop a few months back on the front porch.....it worked ok, but for all the work, the stuff was back the next day....
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