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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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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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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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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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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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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JBizznass t1_ix5hsia wrote

Replying to G1naaa (#593,868)

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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Suntag19 t1_ix5jr1k wrote

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

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Doctadalton t1_ix5jsqd wrote

Replying to G1naaa (#593,863)

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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Little_Noodles t1_ix5mhnn wrote

Replying to blandstick (#594,923)

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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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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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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Prestigious-Owl-6397 t1_ix5uugt wrote

Replying to AbsentEmpire (#595,288)

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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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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Hib3rnian t1_ix61ba6 wrote

Leaf blower. No joke, it works REALLY well

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Odd-Emergency5839 t1_ix6lm0t wrote

Replying to brilliantpants (#596,197)

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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CharlieTheK t1_ix6m1g4 wrote

Replying to Little_Noodles (#594,975)

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

Replying to CharlieTheK (#597,207)

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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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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MaoZedongs t1_ix7oopb wrote

Replying to JBizznass (#593,547)

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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XcheatcodeX t1_ix7swga wrote

Replying to G1naaa (#593,863)

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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XcheatcodeX t1_ix7t4qh wrote

Replying to Hib3rnian (#595,910)

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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jbphilly t1_ix7vjc7 wrote

Replying to Prestigious-Owl-6397 (#594,999)

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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TheBSQ t1_ix827bz wrote

Replying to G1naaa (#593,868)

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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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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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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TheBSQ t1_ix84nat wrote

Replying to EldritchHam (#595,673)

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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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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pasnow t1_ix8elzx wrote

Replying to MaoZedongs (#599,347)

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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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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LoudGroans t1_ix8wazv wrote

Replying to G1naaa (#593,868)

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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Trailmix88 t1_ix93lpb wrote

Replying to 8Draw (#603,490)

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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MaoZedongs t1_ix9681j wrote

Replying to pasnow (#601,492)

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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LoudGroans t1_ixd6q84 wrote

Replying to [deleted] (#616,378)

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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