With space at a premium in the fast-growing City of Toronto, most of us understand that we may sometimes see more of our neighbours than we'd really like to.
Condos with balconies facing each other, office buildings with perfect views of downtown hotel suites, brightly-lit gyms at street level facing busy streetcar stops... we deal. It's fine.
Someone building a deck on the side of a two-storey house that looks right into someone else's second-floor bedroom, though? That's excessive (and maybe even illegal.)
My neighbours built a deck that looks directly into my bedroom. (xpost from r/mildlyinfuriating) from r/toronto
A woman identified by CTV News as MJ Crawford sparked a rollicking conversation on Reddit this week about reasonable expectations of privacy in one's home with a photo of her neighbour's newly-built second-floor deck.
"My neighbours built a deck that looks directly into my bedroom," she wrote in the r/mildlyinfuriating subreddit on Tuesday, including a photo of her disturbing view.
The photo shows a deck sitting not more than a few feet in front of Crawford's bedroom window with two chairs on it, both of them facing into her High Park apartment.
More than 3,000 people commented on that post to express their horror, while a version cross-posted to a Toronto-specific subreddit solicited over 1,000 more.
"Part 9 Ontario building code has rules about how close one can build to a neighbour. They may have broken some laws there," commented one person in the latter sub.
"Also, 99 per cent chance they didn't get a permit for that. Check with the city. Just by looking at it from that pic I can tell you it doesn't meet code if they got a permit... Which they didn't."
"What's wrong with people? They think they own a property and can do whatever the f*ck they want," wrote another. "Call By-Law ASAP get this sh*t removed."
Others are coming up with more creative suggestions for Crawford to get back at her neighbours for building a deck so close to her room.
"Get a 90000 lumen flashlights and point them at the balcony," advised one. "If they bitch, just tell them you want them to be able to see what they're doing while they're up there."
"Just stare at them. No words. Windows entirely open. And then every once in a while scream at the top of your lungs at them," wrote another. "With luck, one of them might fall off."
Fortunately, Crawford hasn't had to deal with the neighbours directly just yet, as the home is currently vacant.
She did tell CTV however that construction workers have been around for more than a year working on various projects at the house — including the one right outside her room.
"There are a couple of contractors that have already seen too much of me," she wrote on Reddit. "Trying to convince a friend to dress up like Buffalo Bill and give them a real nice show."
Crawford wrote in the original thread that she had done some more research to learn that her neighbours do not, in fact, have a permit for the build.
Until she can get a hold of them, however, or get the city to come out and take action, Crawford said she'll be pulling the blinds shut a lot more often.
They block out the light, which she doesn't like, but at least they'll keep strangers from looking into her room while she's sleeping (or worse.)
by Lauren O'Neil via blogTO
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