The Chair on the Corner: Understanding Pittsburgh’s Quirky Parking Space Tradition
A Snowstorm Changes Everything
To understand the tradition, you first have to understand Pittsburgh winters.
Snow doesn’t simply make the roads slippery. In many of the city’s older neighborhoods, it creates a parking problem.
Pittsburgh has countless streets lined with closely packed houses and limited off-street parking. Many homes don’t have garages, driveways, or large private parking areas.
When several inches of snow fall, an ordinary parking space can disappear completely.
And before someone can park there again, somebody has to dig it out.
That means grabbing a shovel, putting on winter clothes, and spending a considerable amount of time clearing heavy snow from the street.
Depending on the storm, the job can be exhausting.
You shovel the snow away from the car.
Then you clear the space behind it.
Then the area in front.
Then you discover that the snowplow has pushed an enormous wall of icy snow against the edge of your freshly cleared space.
So you shovel some more.
By the time you’re finished, your back hurts, your gloves are wet, and you’ve spent a significant part of your morning simply creating somewhere to put your vehicle.
And that’s where the chair comes in.
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