Pittsburgh's tradition of claiming a public parking space by putting a chair in it

boing
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Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2020/02/20/pittsburghs-tradition-of-cla.html

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you seen my fucken cones!

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Dibs!

(says the Chicagoan)

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Beat me to it. But Dibs rules are only in effect when there’s snow. If the streets are clear, there’s no dibsing.

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Echo

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There’s nothing more inspiring than a whole city coming together to waste its outdoor public spaces on car storage

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Not just a Pitt thing.

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I am from Pittsburgh these are common, they are thing.

They are also annoying AF in small neighborhoods with zero parking

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All I can say is that they must have really small cars in Pittsburgh, if they can park in the space a chair takes up.

Out of interest, how far from a chair does one have to park to not be considered impolite?

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Love this (somewhat ageist) line from the article:

The practice is often most effective when accompanied by the threat or actual occurrence of a “look of consternation” from a vigilant, often elderly neighbor who “keeps watch” in the vehicle owner’s absence.

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I’ve seen a few people do this where I grew up (Calgary) as well, but only for discrete purposes. If you’re moving and you absolutely need to reserve that spot in front of your house while you go pick up your rental van, sure, put a chair down. If you tried to do this all the time, I figure you’d have about two days before your chair ended up four blocks away in a drainage ditch. It sounds like Pittsburghians (?) accept this as a routine thing which is just wild to me.

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Every place has its customs.

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We go by “Pittsburghers”

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Amazing how much Pittsburgh looks like Amsterdam.

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If only we had their kinds of cafes!

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You know in Pittsburgh all the girls are behind a glass screen.

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Usually in the obviously hand shoveled area. As a whole street is cleared, the use of chairs basically disappears and it is considered normal parking and you’re the strange person if you use one.

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Ah - I had not fully grokked that it only applies when snow lays. Thanks.

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Pittsberders?

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