[yellowS2K]

Definitely the check out liability insurance issues – as Aecetia mentioned, even if you don’t do it as a formal business or even if you don’t have a tip jar you should disclose it to your insurance company. Ask them point blank if they would cover your kid’s friend coming over and getting beaned in the head the same way they would cover the kid slipping on a carpet in your home. They might consider it similar to a having a pool on your property where it would affect your premiums but you would have piece of mind that you’d be covered for at least casual use by your kid’s friends. I had a friend who was a certified scuba instructor in Florida, and his insurance company made him sign something explicitly saying he would not use his own pool for scuba instruction – I could imagine an insurance company viewing a batting cage in a similar light.

You might also consider upping your coverage level. I’m not that knowledgeable about insurance, so find an expert, and maybe even talk to a lawyer. I wonder if you’d also want the parents of any kid who comes over to use it even just informally to sign a waiver. Again, experts could tell you if that will actually protect you from a lawsuit (probably wouldn’t), but at least it forces you to get explicit permission from parents, and possibly to have a conversation with them about the risks and the importance of kids wearing helmets and following strict safety rules while in and around the cage. Don’t let me take the fun out of this – it sounds amazing and hopefully nothing will ever happen.

As for a formal business or offering coaching, I’ll defer to the experts on how to set it up (and especially what you’d need in terms of business liability insurance), but first thing to check is zoning. As Rustico said, neighbors might complain about traffic/parking. There’s bound to be at least one busy-body neighbor who will report you just because they can, even if the traffic/parking isn’t really a problem. Might also check to see if you’d need to pay for a city or county business license. If you were doing individual coaching sessions, I can’t imagine it would be a zoning problem as it would be much like a music teacher offering private piano lessons (and presumably you are dealing with one car dropping off one or two kids at a time). But you never know, and even for that scenario you might need a business license.

[yellowS2K]

Definitely the check out liability insurance issues – as Aecetia mentioned, even if you don’t do it as a formal business or even if you don’t have a tip jar you should disclose it to your insurance company. Ask them point blank if they would cover your kid’s friend coming over and getting beaned in the head the same way they would cover the kid slipping on a carpet in your home. They might consider it similar to a having a pool on your property where it would affect your premiums but you would have piece of mind that you’d be covered for at least casual use by your kid’s friends. I had a friend who was a certified scuba instructor in Florida, and his insurance company made him sign something explicitly saying he would not use his own pool for scuba instruction – I could imagine an insurance company viewing a batting cage in a similar light.

You might also consider upping your coverage level. I’m not that knowledgeable about insurance, so find an expert, and maybe even talk to a lawyer. I wonder if you’d also want the parents of any kid who comes over to use it even just informally to sign a waiver. Again, experts could tell you if that will actually protect you from a lawsuit (probably wouldn’t), but at least it forces you to get explicit permission from parents, and possibly to have a conversation with them about the risks and the importance of kids wearing helmets and following strict safety rules while in and around the cage. Don’t let me take the fun out of this – it sounds amazing and hopefully nothing will ever happen.

As for a formal business or offering coaching, I’ll defer to the experts on how to set it up (and especially what you’d need in terms of business liability insurance), but first thing to check is zoning. As Rustico said, neighbors might complain about traffic/parking. There’s bound to be at least one busy-body neighbor who will report you just because they can, even if the traffic/parking isn’t really a problem. Might also check to see if you’d need to pay for a city or county business license. If you were doing individual coaching sessions, I can’t imagine it would be a zoning problem as it would be much like a music teacher offering private piano lessons (and presumably you are dealing with one car dropping off one or two kids at a time). But you never know, and even for that scenario you might need a business license.

[yellowS2K]

Definitely the check out liability insurance issues – as Aecetia mentioned, even if you don’t do it as a formal business or even if you don’t have a tip jar you should disclose it to your insurance company. Ask them point blank if they would cover your kid’s friend coming over and getting beaned in the head the same way they would cover the kid slipping on a carpet in your home. They might consider it similar to a having a pool on your property where it would affect your premiums but you would have piece of mind that you’d be covered for at least casual use by your kid’s friends. I had a friend who was a certified scuba instructor in Florida, and his insurance company made him sign something explicitly saying he would not use his own pool for scuba instruction – I could imagine an insurance company viewing a batting cage in a similar light.

You might also consider upping your coverage level. I’m not that knowledgeable about insurance, so find an expert, and maybe even talk to a lawyer. I wonder if you’d also want the parents of any kid who comes over to use it even just informally to sign a waiver. Again, experts could tell you if that will actually protect you from a lawsuit (probably wouldn’t), but at least it forces you to get explicit permission from parents, and possibly to have a conversation with them about the risks and the importance of kids wearing helmets and following strict safety rules while in and around the cage. Don’t let me take the fun out of this – it sounds amazing and hopefully nothing will ever happen.

As for a formal business or offering coaching, I’ll defer to the experts on how to set it up (and especially what you’d need in terms of business liability insurance), but first thing to check is zoning. As Rustico said, neighbors might complain about traffic/parking. There’s bound to be at least one busy-body neighbor who will report you just because they can, even if the traffic/parking isn’t really a problem. Might also check to see if you’d need to pay for a city or county business license. If you were doing individual coaching sessions, I can’t imagine it would be a zoning problem as it would be much like a music teacher offering private piano lessons (and presumably you are dealing with one car dropping off one or two kids at a time). But you never know, and even for that scenario you might need a business license.

[yellowS2K]

Definitely the check out liability insurance issues – as Aecetia mentioned, even if you don’t do it as a formal business or even if you don’t have a tip jar you should disclose it to your insurance company. Ask them point blank if they would cover your kid’s friend coming over and getting beaned in the head the same way they would cover the kid slipping on a carpet in your home. They might consider it similar to a having a pool on your property where it would affect your premiums but you would have piece of mind that you’d be covered for at least casual use by your kid’s friends. I had a friend who was a certified scuba instructor in Florida, and his insurance company made him sign something explicitly saying he would not use his own pool for scuba instruction – I could imagine an insurance company viewing a batting cage in a similar light.

You might also consider upping your coverage level. I’m not that knowledgeable about insurance, so find an expert, and maybe even talk to a lawyer. I wonder if you’d also want the parents of any kid who comes over to use it even just informally to sign a waiver. Again, experts could tell you if that will actually protect you from a lawsuit (probably wouldn’t), but at least it forces you to get explicit permission from parents, and possibly to have a conversation with them about the risks and the importance of kids wearing helmets and following strict safety rules while in and around the cage. Don’t let me take the fun out of this – it sounds amazing and hopefully nothing will ever happen.

As for a formal business or offering coaching, I’ll defer to the experts on how to set it up (and especially what you’d need in terms of business liability insurance), but first thing to check is zoning. As Rustico said, neighbors might complain about traffic/parking. There’s bound to be at least one busy-body neighbor who will report you just because they can, even if the traffic/parking isn’t really a problem. Might also check to see if you’d need to pay for a city or county business license. If you were doing individual coaching sessions, I can’t imagine it would be a zoning problem as it would be much like a music teacher offering private piano lessons (and presumably you are dealing with one car dropping off one or two kids at a time). But you never know, and even for that scenario you might need a business license.

[yellowS2K]

Definitely the check out liability insurance issues – as Aecetia mentioned, even if you don’t do it as a formal business or even if you don’t have a tip jar you should disclose it to your insurance company. Ask them point blank if they would cover your kid’s friend coming over and getting beaned in the head the same way they would cover the kid slipping on a carpet in your home. They might consider it similar to a having a pool on your property where it would affect your premiums but you would have piece of mind that you’d be covered for at least casual use by your kid’s friends. I had a friend who was a certified scuba instructor in Florida, and his insurance company made him sign something explicitly saying he would not use his own pool for scuba instruction – I could imagine an insurance company viewing a batting cage in a similar light.

You might also consider upping your coverage level. I’m not that knowledgeable about insurance, so find an expert, and maybe even talk to a lawyer. I wonder if you’d also want the parents of any kid who comes over to use it even just informally to sign a waiver. Again, experts could tell you if that will actually protect you from a lawsuit (probably wouldn’t), but at least it forces you to get explicit permission from parents, and possibly to have a conversation with them about the risks and the importance of kids wearing helmets and following strict safety rules while in and around the cage. Don’t let me take the fun out of this – it sounds amazing and hopefully nothing will ever happen.

As for a formal business or offering coaching, I’ll defer to the experts on how to set it up (and especially what you’d need in terms of business liability insurance), but first thing to check is zoning. As Rustico said, neighbors might complain about traffic/parking. There’s bound to be at least one busy-body neighbor who will report you just because they can, even if the traffic/parking isn’t really a problem. Might also check to see if you’d need to pay for a city or county business license. If you were doing individual coaching sessions, I can’t imagine it would be a zoning problem as it would be much like a music teacher offering private piano lessons (and presumably you are dealing with one car dropping off one or two kids at a time). But you never know, and even for that scenario you might need a business license.

[yellowS2K]

[quote=zk]I agree that there’s no meaningful difference between the 4 schools. I think what ys2k is looking for is to walk his kids to school, which he wouldn’t be able to do if he lived in Bridle Ridge and his kids went to Torrey Hills.[/quote]

Yep — that’s pretty much it. We’re definitely not fixated on one particular school – all of them are good and if the worst case was she ended up at Torrey Hills and we couldn’t walk, well, it wouldn’t be the end of the world and we wouldn’t regret our decision (if that’s what we end up deciding to buy). It’s certainly not like we’d be picking the neighborhood and home for only this one reason.

[yellowS2K]

[quote=zk]I agree that there’s no meaningful difference between the 4 schools. I think what ys2k is looking for is to walk his kids to school, which he wouldn’t be able to do if he lived in Bridle Ridge and his kids went to Torrey Hills.[/quote]

Yep — that’s pretty much it. We’re definitely not fixated on one particular school – all of them are good and if the worst case was she ended up at Torrey Hills and we couldn’t walk, well, it wouldn’t be the end of the world and we wouldn’t regret our decision (if that’s what we end up deciding to buy). It’s certainly not like we’d be picking the neighborhood and home for only this one reason.

[yellowS2K]

[quote=zk]I agree that there’s no meaningful difference between the 4 schools. I think what ys2k is looking for is to walk his kids to school, which he wouldn’t be able to do if he lived in Bridle Ridge and his kids went to Torrey Hills.[/quote]

Yep — that’s pretty much it. We’re definitely not fixated on one particular school – all of them are good and if the worst case was she ended up at Torrey Hills and we couldn’t walk, well, it wouldn’t be the end of the world and we wouldn’t regret our decision (if that’s what we end up deciding to buy). It’s certainly not like we’d be picking the neighborhood and home for only this one reason.

[yellowS2K]

[quote=zk]I agree that there’s no meaningful difference between the 4 schools. I think what ys2k is looking for is to walk his kids to school, which he wouldn’t be able to do if he lived in Bridle Ridge and his kids went to Torrey Hills.[/quote]

Yep — that’s pretty much it. We’re definitely not fixated on one particular school – all of them are good and if the worst case was she ended up at Torrey Hills and we couldn’t walk, well, it wouldn’t be the end of the world and we wouldn’t regret our decision (if that’s what we end up deciding to buy). It’s certainly not like we’d be picking the neighborhood and home for only this one reason.

[yellowS2K]

[quote=zk]I agree that there’s no meaningful difference between the 4 schools. I think what ys2k is looking for is to walk his kids to school, which he wouldn’t be able to do if he lived in Bridle Ridge and his kids went to Torrey Hills.[/quote]

Yep — that’s pretty much it. We’re definitely not fixated on one particular school – all of them are good and if the worst case was she ended up at Torrey Hills and we couldn’t walk, well, it wouldn’t be the end of the world and we wouldn’t regret our decision (if that’s what we end up deciding to buy). It’s certainly not like we’d be picking the neighborhood and home for only this one reason.

[yellowS2K]

[quote=zk]Not sure if it came across like I didn’t like UC. I like UC (but I did want to set the record straight on CV), and if you don’t mind an older home, slightly less-good schools, and less young families, it’s no doubt a great place to live. The house on Condon is a bit small, but it looks like a pretty cool retro little house on a cool lot (sure, the back yard is all pool, but you’re surrounded by canyon). Somebody mentioned train noise. I don’t know about you, but I like train noise. The train only comes by occasionally, and I think it’d be cool to watch and listen to. I’m pretty sure they don’t run late at night, so they shouldn’t wake you up. You’ll get noise from jets departing Miramar there, too.[/quote]

UC is still in the running, and we’ll watch LJ near Scenic Dr too in case something we could afford comes on the market maybe right after the holidays (at which point wife would order the Segway too so she could scoot to work). But I think we’re going to try to make a decision and try to buy something in early Jan so we could move in hopefully by Feb (both to be well settled by the time baby #2 comes a few months later, and in case it is CV, to get on the list for Sage or Ocean Air).

Lived close to train tracks in Chicago once with freight trains rumbling by at 2 am (50 yards from bedroom window) – after a week we didn’t hear it anymore unless someone parked a car w/alarm on too close. I’m sure daughter would love watching them! I worry about the slope lot, though – I assume we’d be responsible for clearing brush for fire risk and such? And might be landslide risk? Still might go look at it.

[yellowS2K]

[quote=zk]Not sure if it came across like I didn’t like UC. I like UC (but I did want to set the record straight on CV), and if you don’t mind an older home, slightly less-good schools, and less young families, it’s no doubt a great place to live. The house on Condon is a bit small, but it looks like a pretty cool retro little house on a cool lot (sure, the back yard is all pool, but you’re surrounded by canyon). Somebody mentioned train noise. I don’t know about you, but I like train noise. The train only comes by occasionally, and I think it’d be cool to watch and listen to. I’m pretty sure they don’t run late at night, so they shouldn’t wake you up. You’ll get noise from jets departing Miramar there, too.[/quote]

UC is still in the running, and we’ll watch LJ near Scenic Dr too in case something we could afford comes on the market maybe right after the holidays (at which point wife would order the Segway too so she could scoot to work). But I think we’re going to try to make a decision and try to buy something in early Jan so we could move in hopefully by Feb (both to be well settled by the time baby #2 comes a few months later, and in case it is CV, to get on the list for Sage or Ocean Air).

Lived close to train tracks in Chicago once with freight trains rumbling by at 2 am (50 yards from bedroom window) – after a week we didn’t hear it anymore unless someone parked a car w/alarm on too close. I’m sure daughter would love watching them! I worry about the slope lot, though – I assume we’d be responsible for clearing brush for fire risk and such? And might be landslide risk? Still might go look at it.

[yellowS2K]

[quote=zk]Not sure if it came across like I didn’t like UC. I like UC (but I did want to set the record straight on CV), and if you don’t mind an older home, slightly less-good schools, and less young families, it’s no doubt a great place to live. The house on Condon is a bit small, but it looks like a pretty cool retro little house on a cool lot (sure, the back yard is all pool, but you’re surrounded by canyon). Somebody mentioned train noise. I don’t know about you, but I like train noise. The train only comes by occasionally, and I think it’d be cool to watch and listen to. I’m pretty sure they don’t run late at night, so they shouldn’t wake you up. You’ll get noise from jets departing Miramar there, too.[/quote]

UC is still in the running, and we’ll watch LJ near Scenic Dr too in case something we could afford comes on the market maybe right after the holidays (at which point wife would order the Segway too so she could scoot to work). But I think we’re going to try to make a decision and try to buy something in early Jan so we could move in hopefully by Feb (both to be well settled by the time baby #2 comes a few months later, and in case it is CV, to get on the list for Sage or Ocean Air).

Lived close to train tracks in Chicago once with freight trains rumbling by at 2 am (50 yards from bedroom window) – after a week we didn’t hear it anymore unless someone parked a car w/alarm on too close. I’m sure daughter would love watching them! I worry about the slope lot, though – I assume we’d be responsible for clearing brush for fire risk and such? And might be landslide risk? Still might go look at it.

[yellowS2K]

[quote=zk]Not sure if it came across like I didn’t like UC. I like UC (but I did want to set the record straight on CV), and if you don’t mind an older home, slightly less-good schools, and less young families, it’s no doubt a great place to live. The house on Condon is a bit small, but it looks like a pretty cool retro little house on a cool lot (sure, the back yard is all pool, but you’re surrounded by canyon). Somebody mentioned train noise. I don’t know about you, but I like train noise. The train only comes by occasionally, and I think it’d be cool to watch and listen to. I’m pretty sure they don’t run late at night, so they shouldn’t wake you up. You’ll get noise from jets departing Miramar there, too.[/quote]

UC is still in the running, and we’ll watch LJ near Scenic Dr too in case something we could afford comes on the market maybe right after the holidays (at which point wife would order the Segway too so she could scoot to work). But I think we’re going to try to make a decision and try to buy something in early Jan so we could move in hopefully by Feb (both to be well settled by the time baby #2 comes a few months later, and in case it is CV, to get on the list for Sage or Ocean Air).

Lived close to train tracks in Chicago once with freight trains rumbling by at 2 am (50 yards from bedroom window) – after a week we didn’t hear it anymore unless someone parked a car w/alarm on too close. I’m sure daughter would love watching them! I worry about the slope lot, though – I assume we’d be responsible for clearing brush for fire risk and such? And might be landslide risk? Still might go look at it.

[yellowS2K]

[quote=zk]Not sure if it came across like I didn’t like UC. I like UC (but I did want to set the record straight on CV), and if you don’t mind an older home, slightly less-good schools, and less young families, it’s no doubt a great place to live. The house on Condon is a bit small, but it looks like a pretty cool retro little house on a cool lot (sure, the back yard is all pool, but you’re surrounded by canyon). Somebody mentioned train noise. I don’t know about you, but I like train noise. The train only comes by occasionally, and I think it’d be cool to watch and listen to. I’m pretty sure they don’t run late at night, so they shouldn’t wake you up. You’ll get noise from jets departing Miramar there, too.[/quote]

UC is still in the running, and we’ll watch LJ near Scenic Dr too in case something we could afford comes on the market maybe right after the holidays (at which point wife would order the Segway too so she could scoot to work). But I think we’re going to try to make a decision and try to buy something in early Jan so we could move in hopefully by Feb (both to be well settled by the time baby #2 comes a few months later, and in case it is CV, to get on the list for Sage or Ocean Air).

Lived close to train tracks in Chicago once with freight trains rumbling by at 2 am (50 yards from bedroom window) – after a week we didn’t hear it anymore unless someone parked a car w/alarm on too close. I’m sure daughter would love watching them! I worry about the slope lot, though – I assume we’d be responsible for clearing brush for fire risk and such? And might be landslide risk? Still might go look at it.

[Author]

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