The Hill Gripe – Parking Courtesies

uploaded from flickr.com, by Elvert Barnes

Capitol Hill is a very dense neighborhood.  A quick look to online sources shows the Lincoln Park area is 70% denser than the average for all of Washington DC.  We are also a walkable neighborhood, with shops, conveniences, and eateries within easy foot-reach.  But let’s face it: there are still necessities that are lacking on the Hill, and for these many of us resort to automobiles.  Whether needed for shopping or a daily commute that’s out of reach by foot or Metro, cars are a necessity for some.  These vehicles need to be parked somewhere and few homes on the Hill have private garages, so street parking is the norm for most of us. However, that zone 6 sticker seems to mean not just parking but also certain liberties about how one parks.

I admit my patience grows thin for folks who cannot seem to figure out how to use street parking in a courteous fashion.  I would not be surprised if we have more cars on the Hill than linear feet of parking available, so that patience gets even thinner when I see perfectly viable parking area go to waste.  I’m hoping it’s simply a lack of mindfulness about the issue and cars aren’t located with contempt for a fellow neighbor, but one never knows.

Let’s review some common Capitol Hill parking foibles and see if we all can’t move toward a more efficient colocation of vehicles.

1. “Assuming My Neighbor Has a Mini Cooper” – Or a Fiat.  Or a Fit.  Or a Versa.  Yes, smaller cars are popular and more economical, easier to park, and possibly safer to drive on narrow side street.  But please don’t assume your neighbor owns one – especially if you own a Suburban – and leave half a car-length between your bumper and the closest no-parking zone sign.  I’m not sure if this is a passive-aggressive assertion of spatial privilege or what, but it wastes precious curb space for everyone else.  This pattern sadly goes hand-in-hand with…

2.  “Leaving Room for the Holy Spirit” – No one wants their bumper dented or scraped when your neighbor pulls out of his space in the morning, but that doesn’t justify leaving six feet of space between cars in a curbside line.   We all parallel park frequently enough that you should be able to slide that suburban neatly between those two Fiats without the need for an atmospheric cushion.

3.  “Mind the Gap” – Or to your neighbors, “don’t mind the giant gap between my car and the curb.”  Yes, your rims are beautiful and no one wants to see them scuffed, but if your car is more than a foot from the curb I think you should no longer be considered parked but instead extremely slow-moving traffic.  And thanks for folding in your side mirror, because that really helps.

4. The “Hovering Parent” – Pick-ups and drop offs are a common occurrence, but if your party isn’t already curbside could you maybe find a close-by parking space?  Hill streets are generally narrow and can barely fit two lanes of passing traffic in addition to two lanes of parking.  Stopping with your flashers on to wait for someone to count grains of sand or whatever creates a dangerous passing situation (especially around schools, where this seems to most often occur).  Oh and please continue to lean on your horn to call your passenger out of his or her home.  This phenomenon is closely related to…

5. “The Inchworm” –  Not sure if you’re kid is finished with practice yet?  Maybe church hasn’t let out?  Why not just drive extremely slowly down the block waiting in the hopes someone will come running to your car?  While you might think driving three miles per hour down a long block will make your charge hop in faster, all it does it make it challenging to ride behind or pass you.  Note that numbers 4 and 5 here also play havoc on bicyclists trying to make it home by a decent hour.

I’m sure I’ve missed some other common occurrences, but these seem to be the prevalent issues that I encounter around the Hill.  Let’s try and be courteous to our fellow neighbors and drivers (and cyclists) and pull over when needed, park efficiently, and think in general as we drive along our livable, walkable streets.