What's with reserving car spaces with chairs/cones/bins today ... ?

[Anonymous]

Why do all these people with HOAs, which suggests suburbs, which in turn suggests driveways and attached garages ... have people parking in the street / saving spaces with chairs? One would think the latter is an urban thing, not a Fairfax thing.

Put another way, why would you move all the way out to Fairfax County only to have to park in the street and dig your car out?

Why do all these people who live in the city assume everyone who lives outside the beltway has a driveway and attached garage? Have you ever been outside DC? Our townhouse community has no driveways or attached garages - we each have 1 assigned space and the rest are "open." Anyone with more than 1 car has to park it in a public space or on the street.

[Anonymous]

Why do all these people with HOAs, which suggests suburbs, which in turn suggests driveways and attached garages ... have people parking in the street / saving spaces with chairs? One would think the latter is an urban thing, not a Fairfax thing.

When you back up an assumption with another assumption with another assumption, you are usually end up with very incorrect analysis. For example, I could say "you live in DC, which suggests urban, which suggests South East, which suggests gang neighborhoods . . ."

Do you live in a gang neighborhood? Why would you move to DC just to live in a gang neighborhood?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm going to drive around DC and collect all the fucking trash from the spots during the work day. I'm going to go to all the neighborhoods mentioned in this thread. Have fun at work on Tuesday!!

Too funny. Maybe it would be more effective if you add, rather than remove, yard trash to the chairs, cones and whatnots already out there. Kind of like a lot where there's some trash and somehow other people think it's ok to dump their trash there. That might put a stop to this.

Really, though, the problem seems to be transplants bringing their lawn chair reservation practice to this area and teaching snowstorm newbies bad habits.

We're (almost) all transplants. If you're not, no bragging rights because DC was likely just as much of a pit as we imagine (cities with blue collar images such as) Cleveland and Pittsburgh to be when you were growing up.

[Anonymous]

Why would someone move out to the sticks and not demand the perks of living in the sticks? Isn't that the point of living in the suburbs, the perks you can't get in town?

I wouldn't move to Leesburg or Howard County so that I could contend with homicides, bad schools, OR competitive street parking.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Why do all these people with HOAs, which suggests suburbs, which in turn suggests driveways and attached garages ... have people parking in the street / saving spaces with chairs? One would think the latter is an urban thing, not a Fairfax thing.

Put another way, why would you move all the way out to Fairfax County only to have to park in the street and dig your car out?

Why do all these people who live in the city assume everyone who lives outside the beltway has a driveway and attached garage? Have you ever been outside DC? Our townhouse community has no driveways or attached garages - we each have 1 assigned space and the rest are "open." Anyone with more than 1 car has to park it in a public space or on the street.

Why live where space is cheap without buying enough space to conveniently anchor your fleet of land yachts? If parking causes so much trouble, move to a place where mobility doesn't require driving, or at least doesn't require a car for each adult.

[Anonymous]

I live in a close-in suburb, but our townhouse community only grants each house one space. Most houses have more than one car, which means the guest spaces and streets are typically full of cars. Lots of folks are saving their spaces with chairs and I don't really blame them. (I also don't blame some of the creative parkers, even if they're making it a wee bit more difficult to navigate my street.) This is a historic storm- we all need to adapt. I park in my reserved space, but I've been leaving an old folding chair in it when I take out my car, just in case. Yes, there's a sign prohibiting someone from parking in a reserved space, but if someone chose to ignore that and park there anyway- which has happened at times - I'd be really screwed. (nowhere else to park my car while waiting for theirs to be towed.) I figure with the chair there, they'd at least have to get out and move it and be more likely to see my house # on the space.

I also keep a shovel in my car during the winter. It comes in handy for shoveling out of a parking lot if there's an unexpected storm, or shoveling my way into a semi-plowed parking spot at metro. Or shoveling out the street if I get stuck in a snowbank.

Hang in there, people. This will pass.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why do all these people with HOAs, which suggests suburbs, which in turn suggests driveways and attached garages ... have people parking in the street / saving spaces with chairs? One would think the latter is an urban thing, not a Fairfax thing.

Put another way, why would you move all the way out to Fairfax County only to have to park in the street and dig your car out?

Just FYI there are parts of Ffx co that are not what you're thinking of. I live in the Falls Church area of Ffx co, just over the Arlington line, and it's much more like Arlington or DC than, say, Chantilly. 50s neighborhood, short driveways, plenty of cars parked on the street. Very few garages.

[Anonymous]

Why do all these people with HOAs, which suggests suburbs, which in turn suggests driveways and attached garages ... have people parking in the street / saving spaces with chairs? One would think the latter is an urban thing, not a Fairfax thing.

Put another way, why would you move all the way out to Fairfax County only to have to park in the street and dig your car out?

Maybe, just maybe, and I'm really going out on a limb here . . . maybe some people have priorities above parking? Like good public schools? Safe neighborhoods? Nearby parks? Access to shopping?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Why do all these people with HOAs, which suggests suburbs, which in turn suggests driveways and attached garages ... have people parking in the street / saving spaces with chairs? One would think the latter is an urban thing, not a Fairfax thing.

Put another way, why would you move all the way out to Fairfax County only to have to park in the street and dig your car out?

Maybe, just maybe, and I'm really going out on a limb here . . . maybe some people have priorities above parking? Like good public schools? Safe neighborhoods? Nearby parks? Access to shopping?

Not to mention different budgets!

[Anonymous]

OP back again.

So, a week has gone by and this whole chair reserving thing is causing chaos on the roads from what I can see. People who usually take a parking spot for 10 minutes to drop their kids to school, or for an hour or two while they shop or eat out, are driving around aimlessly on roads that are already difficult to pass.

Can I suggest this ...

Move your chair from the parking spot and place it on top of the pile of snow on the side of the street. Add a sign that says "If you need to park here, I would be very grateful if you could leave by 6pm" ... or similar.

Honestly, that would save the craziness I've experienced this week trying to drop the kids to school & daycare.

Don't you think you've already reaped the rewards of your digging by having a personal piece of public space for a whole week now? And haven't you figured out yet that everybody else on the street had to dig their car out too?

[Anonymous]

But OP by asking for logical, rational thinking and consideration of others, you really are asking for too much in these parts. It's simply beyond their capabilities.

[Anonymous]

I think it has gotten way beyond ridiculous. The snow was a week ago. Shoveling for a couple of hours does not, I'm sorry, entitle one to a guaranteed street parking space indefinitely. The other day I parked for FIVE minutes (yes, I checked my watch) on a street in Chevy Chase DC, to drop off DC at preschool. I moved the obstacle that was blocking the space because a) I was there for five minutes only and b) there were no unmarked spaces within four blocks of the school (I know this because I circled around first looking before deciding to just move the barrier). When I returned to my car someone yelled at me for moving the barrier. I calmly said, "Look, I was only gone for five minutes, but more importantly, it is against the law to put a marker there in the first place." (And yes, we shoveled as well.)

[Anonymous]

With the melting snow this weekend, I would think (hope) that this chair era has/will pass.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:With the melting snow this weekend, I would think (hope) that this chair era has/will pass.

You would think so, but I've been through this in Chicago during more epic levels of snowfall. People will milk this for all it's worth and reserve spots as long as they think they can. I think tickets should start appearing to deter the spot saving and make up some of the revenue shortfall from all the snow removal.

[Anonymous]

Good idea, but what would police ticket? The chair?