Why is Nuget creating the "Packages" folder in the project's parent folder?

Why is Nuget (version 4.2.0) always creating the "Packages" folder in the (VS 2017) project's parent folder? I created a plain test project right now (no solution, no .sln file), it happens even then.

Does that mean there is a nuget.config somewhere telling Nuget to do so and that I have to create a nuget.config for every project in order to get the "Packages" folder created in my project folder, as expected?

I tried on my second PC, it's the same behavior there.

I found a NuGet.Config in c:\Users\Me\AppData\Roaming\NuGet which gives me no hint.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<configuration>
  <packageSources>
    <add key="nuget.org" value="https://api.nuget.org/v3/index.json" protocolVersion="3" />
    <add key="nuget.org" value="https://www.nuget.org/api/v2/" />
  </packageSources>
  <activePackageSource>
    <add key="nuget.org" value="https://api.nuget.org/v3/index.json" />
  </activePackageSource>
  <packageRestore>
    <add key="enabled" value="True" />
    <add key="automatic" value="True" />
  </packageRestore>
  <bindingRedirects>
    <add key="skip" value="False" />
  </bindingRedirects>
  <packageManagement>
    <add key="format" value="0" />
    <add key="disabled" value="False" />
  </packageManagement>
</configuration>

There is no NuGet.Config in %ProgramFiles(x86)%\NuGet\Config\