Snow Shoveling

[SithMaster]

Some of the forum goers here have to deal with snow much more than me (I'm from New Jersey) so for the most part this year it hasn't been overwhelming snowfall.  In my town almost no one thinks parking on the street when its snowing is a bad idea.  They just knock the snow into the street to dig out, put a chair (empty diaper box, garbage can, etc) into "their spot", and don't care that snow plows cannot properly plow the street.  All these people have empty driveways.  Twice already a friend has received notes telling him to not park in "their spot" unless he feels like shoveling the spot for them.  Today my friend and I were approached by a someone who in a word snapped at us after waiting to see who the car belonged to.

Honestly can someone tell me what's right?  I'm sure thinking people are capable of being adult is too much to ask, naive even, but being disrespectful towards a stranger over using a spot on the street (which is public parking unless it requires a permit) because they are being lazy and won't use their driveway.  Its ridiculous.

[SavannahLion]

Honestly can someone tell me what's right? 

It depends on the code around where you live. Street parking isn't illegal per se. But you'll get an ear full from whomever pays to have that spot plowed (where I lived you had to pay). We used to have to "reserve" our space and tourist ---uvulas--- still parked there anyways. If the plow operator didn't destroy their car the next day, we usually called a tow truck to have the car hauled away.

I lived where ten or twenty feet of snow isn't too uncommon (if it's not a drought year). Parking in the street is actually suicidal. If you're unlucky, it won't be a plow that comes along but a Juggernaut snow blower. It'll chew the ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- out of your car and you'll get a knock on your front door with the operator holding a handful of metal shrapnel that used to be the remains of the car. If you're not home, CalTrans will be more than happy to send you the bill for the repairs on their machine.

If you're lucky, the snow plow operator will be having a bad day and push your car off the side of the road.

[Xiaou2]

A spot on the street isnt anyones spot.  They cant lay claim to it... and if they try, tell them to take it up with the cops / legal system.

 The Real problem isnt the people (theres no law that says you have to use the driveway), its the Snowplow issue.  If you park in your driveway, and the snowplows zoom by at night... when you wake, you will have to shovel the 2ft tall bank of snow that the plows left in front of your driveway.

 Most people dont want to wake an hour early to do manual labor in the freezing cold.

 A better solution might be a snowplow that acted more like a snowblower.  Maybe an inverted V, which funneled snow into a center channel, and then spit the snow out a top tube.  A 2nd man would act as a gunner, aiming the snow-cannon to throw the snow in front lawns instead of driveways and sidewalks.

[SithMaster]

Honestly can someone tell me what's right? 

It depends on the code around where you live. Street parking isn't illegal per se. But you'll get an ear full from whomever pays to have that spot plowed (where I lived you had to pay). We used to have to "reserve" our space and tourist ---uvulas--- still parked there anyways. If the plow operator didn't destroy their car the next day, we usually called a tow truck to have the car hauled away.

It wasn't permit only for the street?  Though I'm sorta confused. Is this a private street where are all maintenance is paid by only the residents of that street?

A spot on the street isnt anyones spot.  They cant lay claim to it... and if they try, tell them to take it up with the cops / legal system.

Apparently the guy doesn't know that and went so far as to ban us from parking on the street.  My town seems to be full of jerks so I can imagine the guy turning towards vandalism to get revenge for taking the spot (one that he doesn't even park in).  Guy goes from "Can I have a word" to yelling at us so his rationale state of mind is questionable.

The thing is why not park in the driveway close to the sidewalk so you only have to shovel from the street to the back of your car?  The closer they get to the curb the better.  When I shovel my driveway its maybe 3 feet from the back of the car to the spot the plows cleared.  I go down other streets and the pile goes towards the middle of the street.  Two car road (with room for parking on both sides) to a one lane road with barely enough room to not get your mirrors knocked off by passing cars.

I'd be concerned the snow-blower/plow/tank would still not get close to the curb to let the road be clear enough.  On my side of town it doesn't seem to be as bad, most of the length of my street is two lanes because not many of us park in the street regardless of the weather.  I don't mean to say that I see issue with everyone parking on the street, if its necessary, but from my point of view (which is just opinion) it would make things simpler in the long term.

Doesn't help that what has snowed hasn't melted at all.

[CheffoJeffo]

A spot on the street isnt anyones spot.  They cant lay claim to it... and if they try, tell them to take it up with the cops / legal system.

 The Real problem isnt the people (theres no law that says you have to use the driveway), its the Snowplow issue.  If you park in your driveway, and the snowplows zoom by at night... when you wake, you will have to shovel the 2ft tall bank of snow that the plows left in front of your driveway.

 Most people dont want to wake an hour early to do manual labor in the freezing cold.

 A better solution might be a snowplow that acted more like a snowblower.  Maybe an inverted V, which funneled snow into a center channel, and then spit the snow out a top tube.  A 2nd man would act as a gunner, aiming the snow-cannon to throw the snow in front lawns instead of driveways and sidewalks.

Common practice in many jurisdictions, as are plows that don't dump snow at the end of driveways ... are you saying that you don't have such 30-year-old technology when you guys get so much snow ?

[ChadTower]

Depends on the "neighborhood code", too.  When I lived in Boston the neighborhoods had on street parking only.  People tended to park in the same spots all the time as if they were assigned.  If they had to shovel it they'd put something to mark it like a chair or barrel as described above.  You could get into some real problems with a neighbor if you stole someone's shoveled spot.  No laws involved, that's just how the area works, and if you don't like it you'll be fighting neighbors all the time.  I can't imagine what type of battles are going on there right now given that we've already had nearly six feet of snow.


BTW, where I live now, probably an hour south of there, uses pickups with plowfronts.  Nothing fancy.  The other day I had just finished removing the 3' plow wall from my driveways when the plow came along in an attempt to widen up the street a little.  It pushed the snowbank back in front of my driveways twice as deep as it was when I started. 

Our big problem right now is that there's just no place left to put new snow.  My driveways are 5' apart and there is a solid wall 6' high on that patch of grass.  I just can't put anymore there.  Right and left of the driveways are the same thing.  Thank god it was in the 40s this weekend and a few inches melted away.

[Dartful Dodger]

In Chicago they do that chair thing too. It's hard enough to find parking as it is, so if people are lucky enough to park before the snow they now claim that spot until April. 

It's a pain to dig a car out, but if you have want to drive your car you have to dig it out. Claiming the spot is yours afterwards is ridiculous.

After all the snow is melted the City uses the trucks to collect the chairs.

People caught putting chairs in the streets should be ticketed for littering.

[Hoopz]

Man, thank goodness I live in the suburbs.  My stepson shovels the driveway, for the most part, so I've got it made.  I've driven through some neighborhoods in Boston where it's only street parking.  I can't imagine dealing with that crap. 

To Savannah:  In defense of the tourists, I'd bet good money that the majority of tourists had no idea that people actually pay for street parking spots or to have them plowed.  They probably saw a clear spot to park, got excited that it was open, and parked there.  If I did that and somebody got pissed about it, I'd ask to see their deed for owning that section of the road and then tell em to ---fudgesicle--- off.  Sounds like a scam to me.   

[ChadTower]

If I did that and somebody got pissed about it, I'd ask to see their deed for owning that section of the road and then tell em to ---fudgesicle--- off.  Sounds like a scam to me.   

Maybe you'd come back to a busted windshield.  If you were a real ---tallywhacker--- about it you would find out a couple days later someone filled your tank with diesel.  Stealing spots in those areas leads to some nasty retribution.

[SavannahLion]

Xiaou, they've had that technology going on 80 years, not just 30. The problem is whether or not the region can pay for the equipment. That ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- aint cheap, especially if it can't be purposed in the summer.

IRT Hoopz. There are almost always signs indicating reserved parking. And quite frankly, I don't have to show a deed to some ---fudgesicle--- who comes in, ignores signage and tells me to ---fudgesicle--- off. I just wait for the ---uvula--- to pack up and leave the vehicle and call a tow. That's usually $120 in free money. Local police won't do anything, they live there too and deal with the same ---uvulas---.

To go into unnecessary detail. Plows plow the road, not the shoulder. Homes there typically don't have driveway as you would call them. They're more like turn outs. In the winter what is a driveway and what's shoulder becomes blurred. So to get the turnout plowed, you have to pay for it. You can shovel all you want but with 10+ foot snow banks, you quickly lose interest.

[Hoopz]

I must have missed the part about a sign and restricted parking.... 

[RayB]

The snowblower plows are also very slow. They need to work in tandem with a dumptruck. Its too slow and obstructing for most city use.

[CheffoJeffo]

The snowblower plows are also very slow. They need to work in tandem with a dumptruck. Its too slow and obstructing for most city use.

They use them with dumptrucks here in ON, but they never did when I lived in Mtl.

[ChadTower]

We're supposed to get another 1-2 feet in the next couple of days.  I have no place to put it.  I'm tempted to get some metal barrels and light fires by my snowbanks to play defense.

[RayB]

The snowblower plows are also very slow. They need to work in tandem with a dumptruck. Its too slow and obstructing for most city use.

They use them with dumptrucks here in ON, but they never did when I lived in Mtl.

I've only seen them on the highway. Never in my hood. You?

[CheffoJeffo]

Yep, on residential streets. Rarely here in TO, but all the time in MTl.

[Mikezilla]

Thank god I live in San Diego, all this snow business sounds like a pain in the ass.

[ErikRuud]

The snowblower plows are also very slow. They need to work in tandem with a dumptruck. Its too slow and obstructing for most city use.

The city of Chicago has some of them, but as far as I know, they only use them on the highways.

Out in the suburbs where I live, we all have driveways and rarely park in the street.

The snowplows always come through and block driveways.  Mine usually isn't too bad, because I have a corner lot, so there isn't as much snow in front of the blade when it goes past.  The next guy past me gets it much worse than I do.

My corner of the intersection is also the bus stop for the kindergarten through 5th grade kids.  Guess which corner the plows always use to pile up the snow from the intersection on?.

I have the biggest snowblower I could by.  A couple times I have "found" the Sunday newspaper buried under the snow.  The snow blower hardly notices, it just gives a slight thump and shoots confetti everywhere.

[javeryh]

Parking in Hoboken or Jersey City right now is a freaking mess.  We have a ton of snow but in my neighborhood people really only park in front of their own houses (or in their driveways).  I can't remember having this much snow on the ground for this long.  We haven't seen green since Christmas!

I know what you mean about the chairs and "reserving" a spot though.  I used to hate spending an hour shoveling myself out only to come back an hour later and the spot is taken so I'm forced to park in some crappy spot that someone just pulled out of without shoveling at all - people suck.  I never reserved a spot but I was annoyed all the same.

[SithMaster]

Parking in Hoboken or Jersey City right now is a freaking mess.  We have a ton of snow but in my neighborhood people really only park in front of their own houses (or in their driveways).  I can't remember having this much snow on the ground for this long.  We haven't seen green since Christmas!

I know what you mean about the chairs and "reserving" a spot though.  I used to hate spending an hour shoveling myself out only to come back an hour later and the spot is taken so I'm forced to park in some crappy spot that someone just pulled out of without shoveling at all - people suck.  I never reserved a spot but I was annoyed all the same.

Chad's driveway sounds like mine.  I've considered building a flamethrower to deal with the snow, but its not really safe.  Two walls of snow on both halves of the lawn with the only other place that's somewhat empty being the empty space of the driveway (two cars in a four car driveway with both being parked close to the sidewalk).

If my car was parked on the street and I took the time to shovel the area around it out I'd be annoyed too about someone else taking the spot.  I wouldn't confront them over it unless they were a neighbor though since people visiting my neighbors would have no were else to park (reasonably close).  If a neighbor already had a spot and decides mine is better that's disrespectful.

I will say parking on the street after its snowed and been plowed is somewhat safer than using the driveway.  On either side of my driveway there are huge piles of snow that you can't really see over.

To go into unnecessary detail. Plows plow the road, not the shoulder. Homes there typically don't have driveway as you would call them. They're more like turn outs. In the winter what is a driveway and what's shoulder becomes blurred. So to get the turnout plowed, you have to pay for it. You can shovel all you want but with 10+ foot snow banks, you quickly lose interest.

If the signs indicating permit only are covered with snow I can understand why they decided to park there though.  I can't understand why they park there though if no driveways are visible for homeowners other than the turn outs.

I can't wait for spring.  No more parking nonsense and the windows won't have that white stuff from the salt on the road.

[SavannahLion]

With, my old home does not have permit parking, its not a city type of place. It doesn't even qualify a urban. Not to mention snow isn't created equally everywhere. Different regions have different types of snow. Snow around here is thick and tends to fall off once the sun hits it.

Neither are plows seen with dump trucks here. There's just too damn much of it. The beasts are powerful enough to toss the snow past your backyard. More often, they direct the chute to throw down into the front yard or down the mountain itself.

[Generic Eric]

The problem we have is with the plows pushing the snow from the street back into the driveways.  Also snow tends to pile up at intersections from plows and wind, so much that you can't see past the banks unless you are in a pickup.

[TOK]

A couple people are shot in Philadelphia over this every winter. What a nightmare. I'm in the 'burbs, but I can't imagine dealing with that parking debacle every time it snows.

This year has been horrible. Usually it snows, warms up, clears, a couple week break, then another snow. ---steaming pile of meadow muffin--- just keeps piling up. Its been snowing every week and the old crap hasn't melted off. I have two 7 foot snow pyramids at the base of my driveway from clearing it. Forecast is for more snow tomorrow followed by a day of freezing rain. I used to love winter, this one did me in I think. 

[BobA]

Good luck to everyone in the US mid west.  From forecasts we are are seeing it looks like a 20 year record setting dump of snow headed that way.  We had ours a while ago and we are still digging out in Alberta Canada.

[DillonFoulds]

BobA's in Northern Alberta (albeit the south part of northern AB)... Southern Alberta just got another foot this weekend, sucks to be Methbridge! (Lethbridge, AB is my city's "Rival City")

Here in central Alberta, we've got a steady two feet on our lawns, and I'm pretty sure it's some of the least snow in the province...

I can't wait for a few years from now, when my son is old enough to play in the snow!

[Samstag]

I heard we might get some of that snow stuff you guys are talking about here in Dallas.

Last year we got about a foot but it was on a friday so we all agreed in advance to stay home and wait it out.  I think it was all gone by Sunday afternoon.  It was the first time I had to "shovel" snow since I moved here, if you can call what I did with a plastic rake "shoveling".

[JeepMonkey]

Watching the Austin news, it looked like it was snowing in Dallas this morning.

[ChadTower]

The problem we have is with the plows pushing the snow from the street back into the driveways.  Also snow tends to pile up at intersections from plows and wind, so much that you can't see past the banks unless you are in a pickup.

I drive a raised Tacoma and still can't see over them.  Lost that ability here weeks ago.  And it looks like we're due at least a foot today followed by freezing rain tomorrow.  Normally I'm one of the last to complain about weather but I'm concerned about where to put any of it.  If it builds up too much tonight I might actually have to take tomorrow off and use fire to melt a bunch off.

[JMB]

[Kevin Mullins]

We're supposed to get another 1-2 feet in the next couple of days.  I have no place to put it. 

Build "up". 
http://www.digyourowngrave.com/giant-snow-wall/

We just finished getting our taste of this snow.... was 72 degrees just a few days ago, now it's like 8 or so.

[Thenasty]

Time to get a SnowBlower 

[ErikRuud]

The official measurement for my area is 20.6 inches.  It ranged fro 8 to 40 inches around my house due to the wind.

This one came out blurry, I'll have to post the video that I shot about the same time.

[SNAAKE]

I feel like watching fargo...

[ErikRuud]

I don't have a wood chipper. 

[ErikRuud]

I was more than a little shocked earlier tonight when the city sent out two bucket loaders to finish clearing the snow without plowing the driveways under. 

[Dartful Dodger]

This is my first official winter in Chicago as a home owner...

I take back what I said about reserving spots in Chicago.

It took me an hour and a half to dig my car out yesterday. It’s right in front of my house. If anyone is parked in that spot when I get home tonight I'm going to use my garden hose to bury their car in ice.

[hyiu]

..... If anyone is parked in that spot when I get home tonight I'm going to use my garden hose to bury their car in ice.

plz post a pic if you do that.... lol....
 

[ErikRuud]

I was more than a little shocked earlier tonight when the city sent out two bucket loaders to finish clearing the snow without plowing the driveways under. 

45 minutes later a snowplow came through and covered all the driveways.     Everything is back to normal.

[AtomSmasher]

No snow around my house, but some genius down the block never changed the timing on his sprinklers.  His whole front lawn, including several bushes and the lower halves of trees all looked like they were dipped in glass.  Kind of cool looking.

[ChadTower]

At least you know that is very likely the last time he uses any of those sprinklers or the piping that leads to them.