CHICAGO — Parking in the city: It's the bane of so many drivers' existence. Neighbors engage in heated arguments over the issue, and community meetings are often steered away from important issues to talk about it.
Last week, many Edgewater residents returned to their cars to find small printed notes asking them not to be a "parking pig" and suggesting the proper way to parallel street park.
It's not just the space between cars that gets residents' engines revving — it's the longtime, controversial tradition of "dibs," too.
In February, DNAinfo reported a potentially deadly "dibs-gone-wrong" situation in which a Ukrainian Village woman's brake lines were cut after someone believed she "stole" their parking spot.
The reaction to the "parking pig" story on DNAinfo's online community platform, Neighborhood Square, generated a heated response from people across the city.
Check out some of the comments below, and tell us, what is the biggest parking offense a driver can make in Chicago?
Several commenters said they wished they too had the "parking pig" signs in their neighborhood:
"We have the same problem in Jefferson Park and I have left a few handwritten notes on the vehicles asking them not to take up two spots...esp people who either have huge SUV's or brand new cars who feel they are entitled to the 2-3 spots," user @chrissyzap wrote.
"we need this in ravensewood. there are certain people, who will remain nameless, who seem to think their cars are to precious to be parked bumper to bumper against someone else's car," said @ravenswood.
Others, like @cewing1286, said though they may agree that some people don't parallel park well, the "parking pig" signs went too far.
"They might have a point, but their methods are extremely passive-aggressive. If you want to criticize someone else's parking ... put your name on it, instead of anonymously leaving 'no-no notes' on windshields."
"I agree with not parking like 'a pig' but this campaign is over-presumptuous," wrote @james-mckay.
Some said it was impossible to tell who was actually a "parking pig" and whose car was left in a less-than-ideal position based on the cars moving around them:
"Unless they see you park poorly, they have no right to call you a Parking Pig. Someone else could have parked too far away from you making you look bad," @funnyboy1126 wrote.
"People need to chill out. Who knows, if you put a flier on a car, maybe they weren't the parking pig to begin with. They could have parked perfectly fine, then some jerk rolls in and ruins it, and the original car looks like the bad guy," @Bucktowngal said.
People from across the city joined in to gripe about their experiences with local parking:
"As a Hyde Parker, I couldn't agree more. This approach to parking is in evidence everywhere surrounding the University of Chicago, people leaving half a car length front and/or rear to protect the only part of the car designed to withstand a minor impact," wrote @mattus.
"ALL OVER THE AREAS OF CHINATOWN, FROM CERMAK AND WENTWORTH AVE. THE SIDE STREETS ARE ABIG PROBLEM GETTING A PARKING SPACE CAUSE MANY DO NOT CARE HOW MUCH SPACE THEY TAKE UP, PLUS THE FACT THAT SOME PEOPLE WHO LIVE ON THESE SIDE STREETS STILL PUT MISC. TRASH ITEMS OUT ON THE STREET TO SAVE A PARKING SPACE," said user @Y-MING.
A few commenters brought up other issues, like bad parking in public and private parking lots.
"I often have a problem with a parking PIG in parking lots, they go over the line and make it impossible for a car to park next to them," said @chgosportsfan.
"I'd like to see more notes for people who take up more than their 'space' in a parking lot. It's super-annoying when someone parks so badly that their car is sprawled across one and a half spaces!" @tvelicia wrote.
"What irks me are the people who have two cars and deliberately move one car out and then move the second car up or back taking up two spots so they have 2 spots when they come back," @Mpw60640 said.
One reader even admitted to leaving similar notes on neighbor's cars on occasion:
"Genius. I've been doing this for a few years, but won't disclose the notes I made. I like being incognito," said @marc-moose-moder.
@Funnyboy1126 said he "retaliated" against the notes by leaving a few of his own: "I retaliated and posted these all over my street hoping to land on the person's car who posted the flyer on my car."
The issue also got people talking about impact of "dibs" hitting the streets in a few short months:
"Winter's coming. Who's going to make a flyer to put on the cars that claim "dibs" on parking spots by putting junk in the streets?" @kastigar said.
"Between this and the winter "dibs" BS, the north side is becoming a much more annoying place to park a car than even three years ago," wrote @cewing1286.
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