For the many Philadelphia residents who spend hours shoveling snow out of parking spaces for their cars, keeping that space from being taken by another person comes down to dropping a strategically placed chair, cone or trashcan in the spot.

But the practice, though popular among many Philly residents is both illegal and some would say, plain old unfair.

Amir Goodwin, who has been living on the 1400 block of West Chew Avenue in the Olney section of the city for nearly 25 years spent most of his afternoon clearing his street’s sidewalks of snow. He says it’s only fair that neighbors help one another shovel and share parking spaces when there’s been a major snow storm.

“I do it as a courtesy. I know their families, their grandchildren and all, you know. I think that we should share, everybody should share, just like you share with helping people dig out,” Goodwin said.

"You might come home at a time when your neighbor might not be there and that might be the only spot on the block, and you might’ve helped them dig out. That’s a problem," he said.

Mia Johnson, 31, says she, her husband and her children teamed up to clear the walkway in front of her house and to dig out a parking spot for her car. After returning from a trip to a local grocery store, Johnson carried the foldaway chair she’d used to save a space for her car up to her porch.

"My husband suggested it," Johnson said. “I didn’t really care. I was like whatever; if somebody’s in my spot, they’re in my spot. I mean, it would irk me if I came back and somebody parked in the spot I dug out but I don’t own the street."

Shortly before the city’s last big snow storm on Jan. 2, a resident tweeted the Philadelphia Police Department (PPD) asking if her chair would be arrested for reserving her parking spot.

PPD’s humorous response: #NoSavesies.



Fun aside, residents might want to think twice about putting that chair out there -- or at least think twice about using anything expensive to reserve a space.

Philly Police say their officers can and will confiscate any item used to reserve a parking space on a city street, and residents can call 911 to report neighbors who are using items to reserve the spaces.

So, when it comes to sharing, neighbors in the city might want to take a little advice from Goodwin.

"You want good to come in your life, you gotta do good. People should just be nice and share," he said.