How do yall clean snow off your cars when parked on the street?

Submitted by G1naaa t3_z0dwjw in philadelphia

Im going to be going through my first winter in Philly. I have a resident parking pass so I park on the street and am just wondering what the routine is for cleaning your car off? I previously had a dedicated parking lot so it was easy but when youre parked ass to mouth with the car in front of and behind you how do yall do it? Also is there a law for where you shovel the snow to? On the street or the sidewalk? Pls help 🥲 Edit: thank you to all that replied! Seems like Im a little SOL but now my expectations are very low so Ill plan ahead

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[deleted] t1_ix50a6z wrote

[deleted]

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RustedRelics t1_ix6k2jq wrote

§₩«3.66»/•{176°(nine)}^^. = 🪑🚙🪑🪑🚗🪑

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JBizznass t1_ix515ci wrote

Heads up: Philly doesn’t plow most of its streets (even bus routes) and if they do plow your street it may be over a day after the snow stops. Make sure you plan accordingly as this always seems to shock people who moved to the city.

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G1naaa OP t1_ix560il wrote

Umm yeah thats news to me 🤣 youd think in a city like this they would...

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JBizznass t1_ix5hsia wrote

Well it’s the same department who are responsible for repairing the roads and collecting trash so set your expectations accordingly low and then a little lower since there is a strong argument that snow removal is the thing they are probably the worst at.

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MajorNoodles t1_ix65mmf wrote

I used to live in the far Northeast and you could easily tell where the city limit were when it snowed because the streets were suddenly clean.

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cerialthriller t1_ix5lkfp wrote

They sold all the plows and snow melting trucks after we didn’t have snow one year

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AbsentEmpire t1_ix5rb11 wrote

The streets department doesn't bother to even to sweep the streets, why would you think they'd plow them?

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Allemaengel t1_ix5uqlj wrote

But if they had enough plows they could kill two birds with one stone and at least plow away that unswept trash each winter?

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TheBSQ t1_ix827bz wrote

In all seriousness, never expect anything to function properly or any basic service to be done.

That way you’ll be pleasantly surprised when something actually does goes right, instead of consistently mad for the 99% of the time the city fails to do the bare minimum.

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LoudGroans t1_ix8wazv wrote

A lot of the streets out here are simply too narrow for plows to get through.

My best advice is: shovel the snow anywhere the wind blows, get yourself two plastic chairs to put in your space as you're leaving, and then don't leave — just defend the spot with your life. Forever.

Jokes aside, it's an actual shit show out here when we get any shovel-able snow on the ground. Best thing to do is forget you have an automobile, eat the drugs you were smart enough to buy in advance of the storm, and then go sledding with everyone at the art museum steps.

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[deleted] t1_ixd6auf wrote

[deleted]

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LoudGroans t1_ixd6q84 wrote

You're not wrong, but aside from accounting for plow and truck sizes, you also have to account for snow displacement. So, can the plow truck PHYSICALLY fit? Sure. But plowing in an entire street of cars just so the ingress and egress is clear hurts more than it helps. There's a BIG difference between shoveling 2 feet of fresh untouched snow and a foot of hardened, packed death powder.

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Kuzball t1_ix6m7ps wrote

To be fair it’s not so much a “city” as it is a 142-square-mile zone of anarchy and chaos.

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eva-geo t1_ix807tp wrote

They always plow you in if they do plow usually after you just dug your way out

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JBizznass t1_ix8nnlg wrote

100% agree. The best way to get your street plowed is to spend hours meticulously clearing your sidewalk and parking space.

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MaoZedongs t1_ix7oopb wrote

I see people complaining about the city not plowing snow.

The complaint may be justified, but you have to ask. Where do you want them to push the snow to? There is nowhere.

Dumping it into the river is even worse, as it ends up turning into icebergs that jam the river. Remember when they did that back in like 2013 and they had to bring ice breaker ships from Maine to clean up the mess?

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pasnow t1_ix8elzx wrote

I thought they stopped that in the 90s when Rendell dumped it into the Schuylkill? (93 or 96). Partially cause the salt from the trucks was toxic to the rivers ecosystem. There was video of the trucks doing it on youtube a while back.

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MaoZedongs t1_ix9681j wrote

Definitely not.

Imagine, I’m being downvoted for this. It did happen in 2010. There were icebergs from the snow dumping both in Philly and all the way up to Trenton. Clearly visible from the Bristol Bridge.

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Mysterious_Bobcat483 t1_ix5g9bg wrote

Just shovel it into the street. Then the plows will push it back on the car. Circle of life.

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Little_Noodles t1_ix56rez wrote

I’m a big fan of using a janitor style broom to handle the bulk work.

I shove it toward the sidewalk, and pepper the whole mess with a pet-friendly melt in the hopes it’ll be easier to deal with when I get back

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blandstick t1_ix5lt5c wrote

Damn, RIP your paint

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Little_Noodles t1_ix5mhnn wrote

Honestly, I don’t care about my paint. I have a very utilitarian view re: cars.

Like, I take very good care of the guts of my super high mileage car, and will keep on it until that’s no longer an option.

But my car is a tool I wish I didn’t need. It is … not new. And I don’t actually care that much about what it looks like at this point, so long as it can safely carry me back and forth to the locations it needs to get to.

During the everything shortages of the pandemic years, my windshield cracked the fuck in half during a storm or something and it only passed inspection that year because it wasn’t possible to fix it.

I had to buy a new windshield this year, and I’m a little salty about it. As long as it’s gets me where I need to go, idgaf. And I kind of felt like a worn paint job and a busted windshield was good carjacking/panhandling/catalytic converter insurance.

That said, my catalytic converter is actually fucked. I have good insurance and I’m a little salty the dicks that keep hitting my block know the score.

To circle back though, my solution mostly doesn’t actually touch the paint. I’m short, so it’s how I clear off the top layers of bullshit.

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CharlieTheK t1_ix6m1g4 wrote

I drive a car that has seen better days and everytime I replace a windshield or need new brakes I multiply the ballpark monthly payment of a new car by 12 and remember that driving a good vehicle that isn't pretty and has good insurance rates is a better deal.

Plus it's kind of nice to be able to fuck around, drive off-road, etc and not really care what the outcome is.

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Little_Noodles t1_ix6pini wrote

Yeah, 1000%. I make a medium level effort to not fuck it up unnecessarily.

But I have a lot of genuine responsibilities in my life, where the stakes of fucking up are way higher than brush strokes on a well maintained but street parked 10 year old car.

On days where I can barely maintain any of it, I know where to focus my priorities. And it’s not the paint job of a tool I’d ditch in a heartbeat if I could get away with it.

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Wu-Tang_Killa_Bees t1_ix8lq0w wrote

> That said, my catalytic converter is actually fucked. I have good insurance and I’m a little salty the dicks that keep hitting my block know the score.

Just steal your own / have a friend steal it

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LFKhael t1_ix50fpj wrote

Snow is supposed to be shoveled towards the house, from the sidewalk.

But you don't have to worry about enforcement anyways. Snow that sticks isn't common in Philly to begin with.

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G1naaa OP t1_ix55w4u wrote

Oh i didnt know that! Im kind of local I just assumed it snowed and stuck like back home.

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Doctadalton t1_ix5jsqd wrote

i mean i’d say we’ve had some level of sticking snow every year for the past however many years, we got quite a bit of snow just the past 2 or 3 years, so don’t get a false sense of security. We’re just not as bad with the snow as areas around us get.

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XcheatcodeX t1_ix7swga wrote

Yeah we get snow but in comparison to even an hour north of here it’s not significant. I moved here from Morris County NJ two years ago (about an hour and a half northeast), The difference is staggering.

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throwawaitnine t1_ix52df0 wrote

I shovel all the snow from my sidewalk and on my car into the street and always have and always will. I know you aren't supposed to but where else am I supposed to put it?

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Suntag19 t1_ix5jr1k wrote

Who wants to tell them about putting a chair in the parking spot to save it?

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Hib3rnian t1_ix61ba6 wrote

Leaf blower. No joke, it works REALLY well

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XcheatcodeX t1_ix7t4qh wrote

As a former landscaper, I wholeheartedly agree, the problem is to really clear snow with a leaf blower effectively you need a high powered professional grade one, mixed gas, above 50CCs (the highest big box stores have). It’s hundreds of dollars and for a city dweller not really worth the investment in my opinion. But I used to use them constantly for snow removal.

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TheBSQ t1_ix83hsz wrote

real snow storms are infrequent and things tend to melt quickly. You’ll probably really only have to worry about it 1-3 times a year.

Technically, you’re not supposed to shovel into the street, and you’re supposed to have a three foot white path on your sidewalk. This generally means a little mound/wall right at the curb.

But, the real answer is that the city won’t enforce shit, but I’d ask for you to be considerate to others and not bury someone else’s car or sidewalk, or make it harder to drive down the street. Do the best you can to pile it wherever you think it’s the least bothersome to others.

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mortgagepants t1_ix876nn wrote

i haven't seen this in the comments but if you have a job you need to be in the office, figure out how to get there via subway/el. just leave your car for a day or two if you can.

one of the most beautiful times in the city is after a big snowfall when no cars are out. just walking down the middle of the street in silence. also, shovel your sidewalk, go to your corner bar, have a few, come back and shovel some more. it is a great time.

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Chuck1705 t1_ix82w40 wrote

Get a barrell. Start a fire in the barrell. Start to take the snow off your car and put it into the barrell. until your car is clean. Put out the fire. drive off.

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EldritchHam t1_ix5xjq3 wrote

I'm relatively new to adulting, what's a resident parking pass? I feel like its self explanatory but in what situation is that required? Is that an apartment thing?

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G1naaa OP t1_ix5yz62 wrote

Its just a cheap yearly pass to park on the street where your "zone" is bc I cant pay 300 a month for a spot at my apt.

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TheBSQ t1_ix84nat wrote

There’s two main residential parking situations in Philly.

There are PPA permitted blocks that have parking time restrictions unless you have a PPA parking permit for that district (only available to residents of that district), and the PPA will aggressively ticket violators.

Then, there’s the non-permit residential blocks where, in theory, the police enforce parking rules, but never do, and people do whatever they want, like park on the sidewalk.

I’m assuming this person is talking about the residential PPA district parking permit.

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Trailmix88 t1_ix5s7qm wrote

Snow should get piled up against the front of the house. Not in the street where it will never be plowed. Not blocking the sidewalk.

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8Draw t1_ix90utm wrote

Depending on the grade of your sidewalk this is a great way to get moisture in your basement.

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Trailmix88 t1_ix93lpb wrote

If the concern is sidewalk backflow causing moisture in the basement because of snow melt trickling in...I got news for you about this thing called rain.

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JPower96 t1_ix763q3 wrote

We get heavy snowfall rarely enough that I haven't really been forced to deal with that. I also didn't have a car in the city until moving in with my now fiancée. When I've had to do it at all for comparatively light snow, it was really just use a plain old snow brush. The minimum is to clear the windows (including windshield) and roof, and just shoving it off the closest edge of the car has been fine.

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ThaddyG t1_ix8m99g wrote

I've always just swept it into the street, it's pretty rare to get more than a few inches here. Of course once a decade or so something will come along that drops 20 inches but most are 6 or less

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Prestigious-Owl-6397 t1_ix5my0e wrote

This is one advantage bikes have over cars. I don't have to dig my bike out. However, I imagine the bike paths and trails aren't plowed or salted well.

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AbsentEmpire t1_ix5roft wrote

>I imagine the bike paths and trails aren't plowed or salted well.

They aren't plowed or salted at all, and most of the bike lanes on the street by default have all snow plowed into them.

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Little_Noodles t1_ix6dfq0 wrote

Yeah. There’s MANY opportunities to be legitimately smug about biking vs driving in the city. This is not one of them.

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Prestigious-Owl-6397 t1_ix5uugt wrote

I live just outside the city, and this will be my first year winter bike commuting on trails because last year I worked literally down the street from my home. I'm not looking forward to seeing how icy the trails get.

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courageous_liquid t1_ix6cm1o wrote

You might wanna try walking or some other mode. It'll be absolutely dicey by biking, at best.

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Prestigious-Owl-6397 t1_ix6ep4i wrote

I can't walk from Souderton to Lansdale, and I don't drive. I might have to avoid the trails and stick to the main roads but use winter tires.

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Squadooch t1_ix6spym wrote

Yikes. That sounds really dangerous. I know lansdale has a train station, nothing in souderton I guess?

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Prestigious-Owl-6397 t1_ix6thxo wrote

There's a bus that goes to Lansdale, but it drops you off 2 miles from my work, which is off roads with no sidewalks.

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Wu-Tang_Killa_Bees t1_ix8m57o wrote

Oof this could be a rough winter for you my friend. They barely plow or salt roads at all when it snows. Is it possible to discuss WFH with your job?

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Trailmix88 t1_ixjbtjb wrote

Studded tires & you'll be fine. I think Nokian makes them for fat bikes? They are pricey but the ice is what will send your hip to it's death at lightning pace. The studs bite in and keep you upright.

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brilliantpants t1_ix6654v wrote

The only thing worse than riding a bike in Philly on a regular day is trying to ride a bike in Philly after a big snow.

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Odd-Emergency5839 t1_ix6lm0t wrote

Philly is great to bike in. Particularly center city, and south Philly. More bike lanes would be nice but I legit pass cars all the time in south Philly. By far the fastest and most fun way to get around town.

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jbphilly t1_ix7vjc7 wrote

Maybe if you have a fatbike with studded tires.

Biking is absolute suicide for about a week, give or take, after a major snowstorm. All the snow gets plowed into the bike lanes/sides of streets, so you're competing with cars for much-reduced lane space. And god help you if it re-freezes after plowing.

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