Airparks, or fly-in communities, are residential neighborhoods designed specifically for people who own their own light airplanes and want to keep them parked in their driveways.

Apparently, there are around 650 airparks around the world, not exactly a small number, so why do so few people know they exist? Well, it may have something to do that most of us can’t afford out own personal airplane, let alone a house design to accommodate it. Living in one of these fly-in communities isn’t cheap. For example, the only available home in California’s Cameron Airpark Estates, one of the world’s nicest airparks, is currently listed on Zillow for $1.5 million. But that’s the price you pay for living in a place where light airplanes are as common, if not more so, than cars.

Photo: Trashbag/Wikimedia Commons

So how do airparks differ from regular suburbs. Well, driving through one, you’re bound to notice that most houses have airplanes parked in their driveways, instead of cars. Garages are the size of small hangars, and the streets are wide enough to fit the wingspan of a light aircraft, about 100 feet wide.

Interestingly, the streets of most airpark neighborhoods are wider than its shared runway, because they are designed to pass by each other safely. Road signs and mailboxes are also positioned unusually low to the ground, to avoid getting clipped by the wings of the airplanes.

So what are the advantages of living in an airpark, as opposed to a regular suburb? Well, if you just love piloting your own airplane, the advantages are obvious, but for many fly-in community residents, the fact that they can commute in their aircrafts is a godsend.

All you have to do is get into your plane, start the engine, drive it to the shared runway and take off. If you work near an airport, this is a great way to beat road traffic. Plus, living in an airpark means you don’t have to go to the hassle of using an airport to fly your aircraft. You just go to the shared runway and take to the skies when you feel like it.

But airparks are not just pilots and airplane enthusiasts. One Cameron Airpark Estates resident recently told Insider Magazine that about 50% of their community is made up of car enthusiasts who love the extra large garages, because they can fit their entire car collection in them. They sometimes complain about airplane noise, which can rub aircraft owners the wrong way, but they remain a tightly-knit community nonetheless.

Finding an available house in a place like Cameron Airpark Estates is extremely difficult, with one resident saying that you basically “have to wait for someone to die”. That may have something to do with the fact that the California airpark is one of the world’s nicest. It looks like a regular suburb with nice houses and picket fences, only with extra perks for airplane owners.