I can’t really believe where I live now. It is quite the privileged life.
In South Carolina by the lake, people have garages but never park their cars in them. I never thought about it before, but all my life in the north, it is assumed you should really clear the clutter out of your garage, so you can park your CAR in it, in Winter. Why? It is quite the advantage to not have to clear the ice and snow off your windshield before you leave. Also, the car doesn’t get quite as cold as it does when sitting outside, so there is less chance your engine will FREEZE, or at the very least, your car door locks freeze, necessitating getting out the old reliable can of WD-40, something you always have on hand (in your garage or trunk of the car), and spraying the car door locks with it to unfreeze them. Most people also carry extra blankets in their trunk and perhaps a candy bar or two, just in case you get stranded on a wintry highway sometime.
In South Carolina (by the lake), houses do not have basements, due to swampy land and flooding. People use their garages for storage. There is no need to ever park the car in the garage. They also may set up a BAR in their garage and open the garage door to the neighbors in the evenings, playing music. The funniest thing about SC culture by the lake is that people use their cars when they are leaving the neighborhood. WITHIN the neighborhood, they troll around in their golf carts. They seem to do this for an evening activity, sometimes with their dogs or their kids taking a ride. They then drive right up to their neighbors open garage bar, sit down and shoot the breeze. I find it hilarious.
Our neighborhood is a community within itself. People are out all hours of the night up to about midnight. It seems to be a very safe and friendly place.
Doctor Grandma 
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