Philly and DC are learning all about space savers—and their many issues
“If you park in my spot, I’ll break your f---ing windows,’’ one Philly space saver reads.
Just like after any major snowstorm, a series of coolers, chairs, and cones appeared in shoveled out parking spots this week.
This time, though, it’s not just in Boston.
Washington, D.C. and Philadelphia are dealing with the same issues of space savers that have for so long vexed Boston officials.
Call it “The great post-blizzard parking struggle,’’ says a headline in The Washington Post on Wednesday.
In one of the more extreme versions of the space saver conundrum, one Capitol Hill resident posted a plastic-covered message to anyone daring to park in his spot.
“I spent a lot of time, energy and some money to get this spot cleared,’’ the note says. “You are ‘free’ to park anywhere you choose without interference. However, please know – if you choose to take this spot – that I will spend the same amount of time, energy and money to place the snow back in it’s [sic] original place around your vehicle.’’
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It’s altogether a similar threat as one that actually happened in Boston last year. A man who shoveled out a spot and put down a bookshelf returned to find a car with New York plates there.
“So I put all the snow back,’’ he wrote in a viral Craigslist post.
There are plenty of others in Philadelphia, too. Some are fairly aggressive, like this NSFW space saver threatening to “break your f—ing windows’’ if you park in that spot.
Others, like the one below, ask for understanding of the work that went into clearing the spot.
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Both D.C. and Philadelphia Police have banned the use of parking space savers.
“No one owns a parking space,’’ D.C. police chief Cathy Lanier said. “As tempting as it might be, once you pull out, that spot can be taken by someone else.’’
Philly Police took a more playful tack, riffing on the Drake song “Hotline Bling.’’
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The debate over space savers balances arguments of personal fairness with communal sharing.
Residents who spent hours shoveling out their car feel it’s just fair to use that spot until the snow in the area is cleared. But others say there’s no claiming public property, and cutting off spaces restricts what is already a tight parking situation.
Now try getting a whole city of cold, exhausted shoveleres to follow that rule. As Boston knows well, and D.C. and Philadelphia are learning, it’s not so easy.
A table marks a dug out parking spot on a street in Washington, D.C.
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