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I've seen this posted a bunch of times so I realize this is not unique thought, but it's maddening trying to navigate through South Philly with a stroller when everyone just parks wherever they want and the PPA does literally nothing about it. I don't understand why, this is revenue for the city that they're literally passing up.

PPA isn’t all seeing, they don’t get an alert the moment someone parks illegally

Isn't the PPA off on Sunday, at least in the majority of the city?

I don't understand why people leave comments like this. Yeah I get that PPA is not some omniscient force, but I'm pretty sure they know the hot spots of the city where people love to park illegally.

That might be true but it's like this everyday.

yeah i live nearby, no argument there. i only really see them parked in the crosswalks like that later at night or early in the morning though.

Unless that's metered/permitted parking on one or both of those streets, PPA would tell you it's not their problem. So, technically, this would be PPD not giving a shit. You could place a non-emergency call to 911 and report it, then wait and see how none shits they give.

Perhaps we could start a Reddit tree of sorts? When we see this, the whole chain calls and reports it. At least make it inconvenient for PPD to let this go on.

That makes sense. I usually take a walk in the morning and it's every block I'm having to walk out into the street with my baby stroller. it doesn't seem like it gets better even around 11:00 a.m.

That's actually a fantastic idea.

or you could just realize that you live in a city where people don't fucking care about eachother and until we can have cops and ppa actually do their jobs and people are afraid of jail and fines nothing will ever happen

You'd think if the city is getting sued for being inaccessible that they would at least try to make up some lost revenue by ticketing or towing these fuckers

I was born and raised here and I give a shit and I know that other people do too. Being a self-absorbed prick is not a Philly specific problem.

I agree with you and I'm glad you care, but for philly it does appear more people don't care about others and start shit when ppa and ppd try and do their jobs so here we are. I wish they would tow every single car not parked and fine them and hold them accountable.... but you you think that the people would just accept it and pay their fines.... no shot

They have enough of a shit to ticker everyone under the Sun the last week or so in Port Richmond. I stuck out maybe a foot past where a sidewalk ramp began and got ticketed. If they would only drive around at night and see why people park the way they do, they’d see parking is awful anymore.

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4th and Jackson doesn't belong to a zoned RPP. So they don't patrol the area.

Please, I use a mobility device and it’s next to impossible to get anywhere in my neighborhood after 6pm. I actually had a person on Facebook suggest ppl in mobility devices shouldn’t be out after dark. That’s how insanely obsessed with cars ppl in this city can be. They think they are owed the streets, the bike lanes and sidewalks. This is also unsafe for everyone, including drivers.

We have to take our son into the street constantly because the curb cuts and crosswalks are blocked by cars. Not to mention the amount of times I’ve almost had the front of my car ripped off because I had to inch out to see if anyone was coming.

Where are they ticketing in PR?! No one had any around our house in years.

I feel for you. It makes me really angry that this isn't an issue that is taken seriously by anyone with authority

Around Clearfield, Ontario, etc. It’s one officer who keeps popping up on the tickets too so I’m not sure if he’s just a stickler or what. It’s definitely annoying. I have to pay $76. I get it I was maybe a foot into the ramp but there are cars almost sticking out 2/3 past the corner. He’s hitting the same people multiple times in a week. I always say this but if I ever move out of Port Richmond, it’ll be because of the parking.

My parents live near a street where if someone parks close to the corner you're bound to here a car crash at some point during the day. It's crazy.

That's super dumb.

I really do feel bad for those Port Richmond residents whose homes came with a legally binding guarantee of a convenient place to park an unlimited number of cars on the public street. When they can't find their guaranteed spot, they have no choice but to park illegally.

Looks like we need to call..............The Car Rangers............

*Not affiliated or associated with The Cone Rangers

*All terms and restrictions apply

*may cause increased urges to gamble

Why?

Its technically a PPD issue.

Call the local precinct /district and complain. I'm sure they'll get right on it. Lol.

It's dumb that there are certain parts of the city where you can park wherever you want to the detriment of other citizens. Does that make sense?

Thanks for editing your comment

Take some of the sidewalk parkers on my block with you, please and thank you.

That's crazy,

They’re busy ticketing the delivery driver that stops to pick up an order.

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Would love to but I have to ask. Is your street a small street? I only ask bc people park on sidewalks in the small side streets here. It’s always been this way.

I don’t mind it. I’ve been 2 blocks from there my whole life and it’s always been rough to park so you gotta find other ways. It doesn’t bother most of us. PPA will hopefully never come around this area.

Except it’s not revenue for the city, it’s revenue for the PPA.

Right? I drove in this area this AM, and every corner was like this. Every all way stop feels like a potential death trap, bc you can’t see if anyone is coming the other direction til you’re in the intersection. It’s clear this isn’t a one off.

Having everyone calling 911 doesn't make it inconvenient for PPD. It clogs up 911 lines, so that people having actual emergencies won't be answered as quickly.

If all those people lobbied their council members to establish a non emergency line for Police instead of calling 911, that would be a more reasonable idea.

Or lobby the PPA to have an illegal parking phone # that people could call and PPA could send out a person to issue a ticket. They are ruthlessly efficient, and it would probably work well as parking is their main mission anyway

Doesn't care at all about how disabled neighbors or those with children get around. User name checks out.

The size of my dick is not gonna fix 50 yrs of city neglect. Cars are the least of your worries here.

So, once we convince city council to change the way Philadelphians have to request city services or convince the PPA to take on problems that are well-established not to be theirs, can we then request that the city do their job and give us safe street crossings for people not in cars? Or will

We're repeatedly told by the city that routing non-emergency calls through 911 is the way they want to do it. If it's more efficient like they say, cool. If it's not, that's not an excuse for us to not request city services; they need to change their system.

The residents of South Philly long ago made it a zone where rules don’t apply. Politicians have been afraid to take it on because they’ve needed the votes and the ward captains.

The new residents are part of the Free Parking is a Human Right movement, so little will ever change.

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Huge misconception that PPA is efficient or even gives a sh!t about illegal parking, aside from maybe a few blocks in center city. I've called their hotline to report the most egregious violations in areas they patrol, and it's a crapshoot whether they show up, let alone issue a ticket.

Lol they don't even do this outside of center city

Have you tried finding ways to park that don't make you a dumb asshole?

Fuck the PPA and fuck people who park like this.

Wait, now we like PPA?

Frankford and tioga and the surrounding streets during school drop off and pickup time is crazy. i have to walk out into cross section traffic to cross the street because the car is blocking the crosswalk. .

Once a month they hit my hood and all the illegal parked cars, sadly once they come the locals know they got like 2-3 weeks before it happens again

They certainly seem to give a shit when it’s my car!

Defund the PPA!

The lack of parking enforcement in Philly is baffling to me. How people think it’s okay to park and the fact there are no repercussions are directly linked. I’ve lived in a number of major U.S. cities before deciding to settle down here and this would not fly anywhere else. Those cars would be ticketed and towed very quickly. It’s a huge revenue stream for cities too. When we first moved here people would regularly park on the sidewalk so close to our front door it was difficult to enter/exit our home. We had to literally block the curb to prevent people from doing this.

That's called an Idaho Park.

I like to watch the people who are handicapped going to the hospital Dodge all the cyclists blowing red lights at 34th Street everyday

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Nah, I park anywhere I can fit the car honestly, most of us do. Look around. Maybe try moving to jersey or out of the city you won’t have to deal with us.

It’s because people are quite literally fully parking their cars on the sidewalks, or sticking out in the middle of the street.

Ppa spends unfairly spends too much time in graduate hospital, south street, Fairmont and nolibs.

They need to equally evaluate all sections of the city instead of just the gentrified ones

Oh I won’t dispute this. However, people are also sticking out past ramps bc parking is so tight anymore. I get it because it’s bad parking, homes with multiple cars, and the fact that they build multi unit buildings with insufficient parking. To think that doesn’t contribute is shortsighted.

Maybe try getting rid of your car if there's nowhere to park it. Or move to Jersey

Philly’s govt/systems don’t work. Simple as that.

I have always wondered this. I understand it’s not zoned but I live in point breeze where some streets are zoned and some aren’t.

If you live on a non-zone street you will still get ticketed for this I don’t know why they do it in our neighborhood but not just a few blocks south. My assumption is they drive their little cars around to hit the zone streets and will just take advantage of their time there for the others.

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Officials find it more convenient for themselves to get sued and continue their neglect of the sidewalks.

I don't think the PPA gives a shit about anything other than time restrictions, but they're wildly efficient with those. They don't work for the general citizenry; they work for the person who wants to park their car in the spot you've got your car in (whether that's a permitted zone resident or someone else who wants to feed that meter).

If there were organized complaints about specific cars illegally parked in the crosswalk, I would actually suspect that there would be more action taken where the PPD is responsible. At least the last organization has to report somewhere about response times to emergency and non-emergency calls, so there's the faintest shred of accountability.

Yes. If the citizens want enforcement they can petition the PPA to have an RPP installed.

People love to hate on the PPA, but then complain about shit like this.

> read igotbabydick comment. Thats the attitude in a nut shell.

> oh and CB_700_SC comment as well. Hates the PPA, but hates people who park like this? CB_700 is probably a person who parks like this often and has been ticketed for it in the past. Lol.

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For years, I've talked to the police, council, and Congress rep. When I've talked to my neighborhood's police captain at the PPD, He assures me they will ticket when you call them. Not always the case. But I have a success rate of over 50% reporting it to the dispatcher and having a cop write a ticket. The captain advised that if after reporting the vehicle to 911 dispatch, and no one arrives to write a ticket, I should then call the local PPD and ask for the supervisor to make a Lack Of Service Complaint. That second call has always guaranteed an officer to arrive shortly and issue the ticket. So if I really want to insist that someone get a ticket, I make the second call to the local station.

But the PPD admittedly will not patrol parking and enforce it, they will ONLY write a ticket if a complaint is made to 911.

So if this is happening on your block frequently, you may need to become the local enforcer by constantly making the complaints. And the regular offenders will be ticketed and eventually learn to find proper parking spots. If you don't care to spend that much time and energy on it, I'm afraid city leadership is uninterested in tackling the issue.

As far as party politicians, the only solution a councilman or congressman will give you is "organize permit parking on your block." This will activate regular PPA patrol and enforcement for the block.

They should allow citizens to report illegal parking via app/online and collect bounties from the tickets because I would be making a killing.

We don’t like them because they only ticket for cars parked over time limits and they only tow for unpaid violations. Technically, this would be the PPD’s job, but they’re not going to do it either.

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I ain’t the one bitching.

There is more of us than you… look outside.

They have a number you can call and report, just tell them the color and make of the car.

Controversial take but the fact that I actively see PPA officers out of their vehicles and ticketing cars and while every time I see a PPD officer they’re sitting in their squad car sitting on their phone makes me want to like the PPA. At least they’re actually doing something.

However the PPA as an organization is so shady and not even run by the city and who knows where all the money from tickets actually ends up. Either way it’s a lose lose situation

Some cities have toyed with the idea of letting residents report parking violations with an app: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-09-29/nyc-may-pay-people-for-reporting-bike-lane-blockers

The NYC proposal would even pay the reporter a portion of the fine

I would be like a pig in shit being able to generate fines for every car left unoccupied in bike lanes

I see why its controversial, because when I see PPA writing tickets, I get pissed off lol

There is no equality with the PPA which is the most enraging thing about them. God forbid your parked legally but go over a time limit.

Are they paid to give a shit?

No equality with the PPA. It’s kind of their go-to

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You're too busy being a bitch.

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The people at the top most certainly are

>cause of the problem isn't complaining about the problem

No shit

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Well given you’re the one throwing insults while hiding behind your computer, I’d say that’s more a projection of yourself.

Well yea no shit, the ones with spaces are… but when it’s 9pm and the streets are full… take a good look.

Rule 7: Your submission was removed for violating the subreddit’s rules against hate speech, bigotry, sexism, and racism.

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Says the guy bragging about parking like a jerk.Putting people in danger. I'm disabled and people like you have me crossing streets from between parked cars. So yeah, you're a bitch bro.

It’s a for profit organization, they spend all their time giving out tickets to make more money. This doesn’t make them money so they ignore it. Just like the cops

It’s a for profit organization. They only go places and do things that result in money.

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Upvote.

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Too many in this sub believe the PPA, PPD and other city agencies are omniscient.

Mayor Kenney, President Harris, QAnon, Tucker Carlson, WEF and NATO will discuss the parking problems on 4th and Jackson at their next beer hoist this Tuesday.

Because that street isn't permitted and thus the PPA do not patrol or enforce it.

Report it to 911 for illegal parking blocking the cross walk.

Neighborhood.

Because the street in question isn't permitted, so the PPA doesn't enforce it. If the street isn't permitted enforcement falls to the PPD who doesn't give a shit about it.

Call your councilman and complain that all streets should be permitted and the current system doesn't work.

The city just lost an ADA lawsuit over the state of the sidewalks. Perhaps reach out or the same group who one that lawsuit about the non enforcement of curb cuts still being a violation of the ADA.

It's amazing they even got to the hospital to maybe be see a cyclist cut in front of them since every cross walk they needed to use to get that point was blocked by an illegally parked car.

They dont... In certain neighborhoods they do.

It hard to find parking because we give it away for free. Make every street permit parking and charge the real value of the street space and magically it wouldn't be a problem anymore.

Why would PPA enforcing parking laws piss you off, is it your car they're ticketing?

It should be painted and marked. Its an ADA Violation and should be reported.

Enough reported would hopefully force the city to address it. ADA

They only enforce permitted areas, if the street isn't permit parking the PPA doesn't patrol it.

If you want better PPA coverage demand the city permit all streets.

This should be listed as a city resource.

If enough of us complain to get the Justice Department to come down and start slapping city council around maybe it will get better.

Because the idea i have to pay for parking, or be fined to park on streets we all literally pay for is a joke. They dont fix these streets nor actually take care of them during weather. However, I need to pay extra to use the streets when I already pay taxes for the streets? If they want to up property taxes, fine, but dont fine me for parking on a street we literally already pay for.

It's just the city double dipping, and its the poor citizens that a 50 dollar ticket hurts. Rich assholes already have driveways, or a spot in a lot in center city. So the majority of these fines go to people already struggling. Taxing the poor disporportionally for something the highest wage tax in the country already makes them pay for is ridiculous.

Bc when they do, people shoot at them.

That Lack of Service complaint part is really helpful to know; I haven't been doing this. "Organize permit parking on your block" is a ridiculously inadequate solution, though, for so many reasons. First off, it's shitty that the PPA puts the onus on citizens to opt into enforcement, but that would only even work for the block you live on. As soon as you start walking anywhere, you're blocked by dickheads who are blocking a totally different block.

That's only partly true. They spend a lot of time there, but don't clear the crosswalks. The same pick up truck has been blocking the crosswalk at 15th and Fairmount for at least two years on and off, in spite of at least two 911 calls a week about it.

We're aware that they're not omniscient. But when we call and tell them where to look for the cars blocking the intersection, they can't even drive over and write a ticket.

In a world where we got the law enforcement we pay for, a PPD unit rolling down the street that saw this would stop of their own volition and just write the ticket. Instead, they just roll by, or park on the sidewalk next to it to catch up on some paperwork/sleep.

It isn't about getting what you pay for in this situation. Parking is a weird jurisdiction here and more funding don't fix that

But no matter how much we pay for the streets, the laws of physics dictate that there isn't enough space for everyone who wants to use them. Philly's parking management isn't perfect (in fact, it's awful), but the goal is to enable reasonable uses of the street for parking and disincentivize unreasonable uses. Gotta move your car eventually, so we all have some shot at the space we pay for, too. And the crosswalks/corners/hydrants are just straight safety issues.

That said, with the crosswalks, if poor people paid a small fine for blocking them, but a rich person was instead executed, I'd be on board with that.

It's not exactly a jurisdictional problem. PPD absolutely can ticket for a blocked crosswalk anywhere they want (the don't have to stay off PPA's "turf". They just don't, because they can justify it by saying "the PPA covers that". But that leaves only business hour enforcement of some crosswalks and none at all on others.

For 900 or so million dollars a year the city absolutely has the right to expect more, but you're right: more finding won't fix that because those paid to give a fuck actually don't give a fuck.

Except where you pay for parking, you can literally park there all day everyday if you pay. With the new apps, you can literlly park in a metered spot and never move your car again. Metered parking id not about efficent use of space, its about $$$. This again drastically favors wealthy people.

Only places its for efficency is where its 2 hour parking but free. This requires you to move your car every two hours. Those are found in certain neighborhoods aka nicer neighborhoods that have congestion, or where devlopers pushed to make their upcoming projects worth more to buyers.Most of CC is pay for parking, so it has nothing to do with efficency.

In the nice places, like queens village or other areas around the city, the 2hour parking is for efficency, and due to homeowners pushing so they can have their own spot as they get a permit, and other ppl have 2 hours to use the street that day.

That is my experience. They only seem to ticket based on the two hour time limit. I see tons of cars parked way to close to the intersection all of the time and they seem to do nothing about it.

I have a theory that it has to do with the app they use to scan license plates to determine if you have a permit. I assume that the app automatically tags the time and location for each scan and when it detects a same location over the two hour limit for a tag it prints the ticket with no or little action required by the agent. However, if the agent wants to give a ticket for something like parked to close to the curb they have to take a picture, enter data, etc.

Like it or not, money is how we allocate scarce resources. If you want someone to use something for only a period, you're right: you either charge them for using it or limit the time. The problem with limiting the time is that with a strict two hour limit, everyone who's there longer has to go move their car looking for another free space (both free as in "no cost" and free as in "unoccupied") which vastly increases vehicular congestion (because cars are added to the traffic flow that would have otherwise been parked). So charging for the parking is the least bad solution. Making the parking fees will only make every single parking-related problem we've ever had even worse.

> First off, it's shitty that the PPA puts the onus on citizens to opt into enforcement, but that would only even work for the block you live on.

I think it makes sense to be opt in. For better or worse, people generally don't want parking enforcement outside commercial adjacent areas.

I 100% agree, but this city does not efficently allocate resources in anyway. We pay extra due to politican incompetence and corruption.

I also have no problem paying for a service i get, but paying for parking does not get me anything except saves me from getting a ticket. Lived in this city my whole life and the streets have always been shit, trash collection awful, and the city sucks as dealing with adverse weather events. The money the PPA generates literally first and foremost goes to supporting the PPA and very little, if any, actually gets us better services.

Like i said, increase property taxes, because we already have the highest wage tax in AMERICA. If that helps get good streets and proper maintence, im all for it. However, right now, all we get for paying for parking is saving ourselves a fine, and that is what pisses me off about the PPA.

It makes sense to opt in to the time restrictions, because those are a service to the residents of the area: you now have a block of spots that the PPA will chase people out of on your behalf. In a sense, the PPA is now working to make spots available for you.

But the reality of the situation is that only the PPA may actually ticket for blocking a crosswalk or hydrant (PPD just won't). That being the case, making the PPA opt in is just asking a block whether or not they want the law to apply on their block (with both inertia and self-interest strongly biasing toward "no"). You shouldn't allow the people who have a strong feeling that they "need" to park in a crosswalk decide whether or not it's legal to park in a crosswalk.

Fuck the PPA they gave me a ticket at 2 o’clock. My shit was done at 1:59. I showed up at 2:03.

This ain’t bragging, it’s just the reality of a busy city without immediate parking. You wouldn’t be speaking to anyone this way if you were in person… unless you’re looking to get smacked on the mouth.

I totally understand the dislike of the PPA as an organization. I can imagine a world in which there's a much better PPA (and city government in general), but the parking enforcement function is extremely important. For me, it's about controlling the parking and not really the money. That's just the least bad way to change behavior, since jailing people over it and expecting people to actually care about their fellow citizens when they make decisions about their car seem equally ridiculous.

Thanks for the perspective, though. I appreciate the thoughtfulness.

PPA isn't designed to do this. Expanding to just do corner coverage isn't viable. It dramatically increases the coverage area but barely increases revenue.

It’s technically a neighborhood issue. You should get involved in your neighborhood and petition this is patrolled and permitted.

Which brings us back to why "just opt in to PPA coverage" is totally inadequate as a response to why PPD isn't helping with this.

PPA opt-in is still insane for other reasons, though. The "voters" that you're trying to convince have probably noticed that instead of paying for a permit, they can have a reserved space for the low price of a stolen traffic cone and a threat to shoot someone, so their motivation to cooperate is low. But that's another whole conversation.

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Not enough people call 911. When I lived in south philly I had a group of neighbors call 911 every single day multiple times a day about dangerous illegal parking at our intersection. After about 2 months they actually started coming out and ticketing when we called and people stopped parking there.

It's ambitious of you to think Philadelphia civil servants of any stripe should diligently do their job. They rarely have in my lifetime, but maybe r/philadelphia can compel them through incessant shaming.

Your post isn't wrong. But until the power base of this city faces a true challenge to their 80-year stranglehold, then nothing changes.

IOW: Park where you want.

Yeah the PPA will notify if your car is broken into. They do scare away thieves.

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If you flipped it to opt out. Most areas would still opt out.

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Why don’t you understand? They don’t have to.

I don't know. The power of inertia is extremely strong. However, the people who want the PPA out (because they want to put their cars wherever) would be very motivated. I'm fairly certain there would be at least one incident of violence or threats of violence over it (trying to get signatures that way).

People are weird about their cars and where they're going to put them. We can't just let people park wherever; the city would soon be covered with so many abandoned/unneeded cars that there wouldn't be room for anything else. That's why city leadership needs to make the unpopular calls on it (that's why we have governments). Unfortunately, we have the government we have, so they just say we can have a solution if we can convince 51% of our neighbors to agree. That way, no one at Council ever needs to make a choice.

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You must be new the the area.

I think that could be very helpful -- Most illegal parking in pedestrian areas goes unreported, because everyone living here is so confused how ticketing actually works.

They just don’t give a shit.

We wouldn’t need to PPA if ppl parked normal.

Clog lines? I have not experienced long wait times for many months. This is how the police and every politician tell you how they want you to handle it. You can even text 911 instead. In addition , as the police are concerned, I've been told by Captain of 19125 PPD the department had no staffing issues and plenty of cars to send out to respond to parking complaints, but keeping in mind parking is the lowest priority. Words directly from the source.

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20 to 30 calls all in a short amount of time for one illegally parked car, could definitely overwhelme system during that time frame, especially if people are doing it for multiple cars a day.

Their suggestion was not to call 911. It was to form a group of people to all call 911 for each car that someone posted

Did you call 911 or nah

I'm not. Just new to walking with a baby stroller.

Also hilarious the amount of smug/sarcastic comments on here for pointing out people parking like assholes

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I have to walk out into the street with my stroller carrying my infant child which isn't safe. What is your problem

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I'm from here, and I'm not obsessing. It's a daily irritation to me walking with a baby stroller that drivers can't see me as I enter the intersection because of illegally parked cars (if they stop at all, that is), or that I have to walk out into the street too cross because the curb cuts are blocked because some people think they're entitled to park like assholes

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As a bus driver, this has costed me a lot of time & peace of mind every day. One time I saw a ppa employee writing a ticket for someone parked like that and I put my thumb up smiling ear to ear and she laughed. It made my day. That was in South Philly.

Lol this clown has a post saying they want to help elderly people and asks what license you need, but asks someone that just said they have to walk in the street with their baby what the issue is.

I had no idea this is a thing and its completely nuts. I've gotten tickets for parking a few inches too close to the intersection in some neighborhoods, and in the one pictured people literally park in the middle of 4th street without consequence. How in the hell is the city set up to operate like this?

They’re too busy downtown ticketing ppl who literally just left their cars a second ago

nerds

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This is what pisses me off about the PPA. All they care about is revenue, the don't even bother with the facade of serving the public.

Parked in the crosswalk? Who gives a fuck.

Parked on the sidewalk? Fuck you, not my problem.

Meter expired for 3 minutes? HOLY FUCK YOU'RE A MENACE TO SOCIETY AND MUST BE STOPPED! PAY YOUR FINE YOU PSHYCOPATH

20th street between Shunk and wolf would be a gold mine. No less than a dozen double parkers at all times

Congratulations!!! I'll be new to that too and I'm very much not looking forward to the same frustration haha

Large amount of PPA workers bailed when that dude got shot.