{"id":1348,"date":"2013-09-30T04:01:52","date_gmt":"2013-09-30T04:01:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/?p=1348"},"modified":"2015-01-09T15:32:32","modified_gmt":"2015-01-09T20:32:32","slug":"the-art-of-pittsburgh-parking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2013\/09\/30\/the-art-of-pittsburgh-parking\/","title":{"rendered":"The art of Pittsburgh parking"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Schenley <\/a>
Schenley Plaza parking in 1937. (Photo credit: Unknown) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Downtown <\/a>
Downtown parking during the Christmas season in 1954. (Photo credit: Unknown) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Charles <\/a>
Charles Diamond is determined to pay a damaged meter on East Carson Street. (Bill Levis\/Post-Gazette) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"The <\/a>
The owner of one downtown lot chained the car of a scofflaw in 1973. (Howard Moyer\/The Pittsburgh Press) <\/div> <\/div>
\"Harry <\/a>
Harry Barbe at his North Side parking lot in 1973. (Michael Chikiris\/The Pittsburgh Press) <\/div> <\/div>
\"Fred <\/a>
Fred Tutino stretches his 5-foot, 4-inch body to pay a damaged meter in Stowe. (Photo by Robert J. Pavuchak\/The Pittsburgh Press) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

Real Pittsburghers get confused and confounded when driving into those oversized parking lots at suburban shopping malls. All those spaces, each one carefully delineated by bright white paint \u2014 it\u2019s too much.<\/p>\n

When we see parking lots that big, our first question is, \u201cWhere\u2019s the stadium?\u201d Then we\u2019re overcome by an urge to set up a grill, pop open an Iron City and paint some part of our anatomy black and gold. God created asphalt for tailgating.<\/p>\n

Give us the tightly packed, overcrowded streets of Shadyside, the South Side or the Strip District. Give us a true parking challenge. Asking a Pittsburgher to slide his \u201997 Impala into a battleship-sized space at WalMart is like asking Andrew McCutchen to play tee ball.<\/p>\n

True fulfillment for us is attained only by driving down narrow strips of concrete in search of a chair-less, non-yellow curb space that\u2019s one-inch longer than the length of our car. Parallel parking? Ha! We Pittsburghers practice parallel bumping, a technique that allows us to wedge a 12-foot long vehicle in an 11-foot space.<\/p>\n

On other occasions, we empty our retirement accounts so we can enjoy the privilege of securing our automobiles (heretofore referred to as \u201csardines\u201d) in paid lots and garages (heretofore referred to as \u201ccans\u201d). With great pride we display our vehicle\u2019s dents, dings and scratches. We share stories of being ticketed and towed in the way people in other parts of the country share fishing stories. Want to \u201cwow\u201d your friends at a party? Tell them about your experience at the tow pound.<\/p>\n

Last week we discovered a file of pictures showing our forebears blissfully enjoying their own versions of temporary vehicular storage. Tears came to our eyes when we saw the images inside. Our predecessors, through determination and creativity, elevated into art what had been an everyday, mundane act.<\/p>\n

The picture of Fred Tutino scaling a parking meter should be sculpted in marble and placed on the courthouse steps. It\u2019s a true representation of the Pittsburgh spirit. (The meter, by the way, had been raised by thieves who thought they could simply lift it from the sidewalk. They were unaware that parking meter poles extend to the Earth\u2019s core.)<\/p>\n

And our hearts skipped when we read a caption in which North Side parking lot manager Harry Barbe recalled bygone days when he was allowed to jam 50 cars into a space designed for 17. \u201cYou had to climb in the windows to get into them,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Man, that\u2019s poetry.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Real Pittsburghers get confused and confounded when driving into those oversized parking lots at suburban shopping malls.<\/p>\n

Look at the picturesThe art of Pittsburgh parking<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":1351,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"gallery","meta":{"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[946],"tags":[975,989,1025,996,1267,1013,1016,1033,1193,1043,1157],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/tumblr_mtsj9nkwCv1rr5swxo2_1280.jpg?fit=1280%2C632&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":217,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2014\/09\/29\/pamelas-pittsburghs-signature-breakfast-diner\/","url_meta":{"origin":1348,"position":0},"title":"Pamela’s, Pittsburgh’s signature breakfast diner","date":"September 29, 2014","format":"gallery","excerpt":"If you ask a Pittsburgher where to find best pancakes in the city, the answer most likely would be, \u201cAt Pamela\u2019s.\u201d","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/tumblr_ncnbdwrjRj1rr5swxo2_r1_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C795&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4705,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2015\/01\/07\/pittsburghs-fallout-shelters\/","url_meta":{"origin":1348,"position":1},"title":"Pittsburgh’s fallout shelters","date":"January 7, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Allegheny County once nearly purchased a hole in the ground for $30,000.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/Fallout-shelters-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C883&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":729,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2014\/04\/25\/the-long-view-of-the-produce-terminal\/","url_meta":{"origin":1348,"position":2},"title":"The long view of the Produce Terminal","date":"April 25, 2014","format":"gallery","excerpt":"Often, a visit to the Strip District also means paying for parking on the southern side of the Produce Terminal.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/tumblr_n4jzrm3YhR1rr5swxo1_1280.jpg?fit=1000%2C774&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1526,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2013\/08\/07\/shadyside-pittsburghs-greenwich-village\/","url_meta":{"origin":1348,"position":3},"title":"Shadyside: Pittsburgh\u2019s Greenwich Village","date":"August 7, 2013","format":"gallery","excerpt":"Groovy. 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