Sloopin Top Ten of 2012: #3 - Parking Confusion

2012 is almost over and with that we fired up our google analytics account to see which stories had the most views during the year.  With that said, look for posts daily counting down our top ten stories of 2012.

#3:  Parking Confusion

This probably isn't news to you, but parking in the city can be a pain.  With that said, it's no surprise that Parking was another hot topic in the Sloop this year.

The parking debate reared its head in February, when the Chicago Gazette published an article stating that Alderman Fioretti had put forward an ordinance changing the parking zones in the broader neighborhood.  We created a map (on the right) detailing this proposal.

Since this hit home for a lot of people, the comments and outrage were immediate.  In late April, Alderman Fioretti set the record straight and announced that there wouldn't be any changes to the current structure:
Alderman Bob Fioretti laid everyone's fears to rest about such a thing happening. "Everything will remain exactly the same as before," he said. "In spite of the new colors and numbers on the map. If you had zoned parking before, you still have it in your area and in the same zone,"

Not so fast.  As the Chicago Tribune laid summed in up in an article on May 8th:

The Chicago City Council heard Fioretti's plan in February, approved the changes in March, and the new zones went into effect April 18, about the same time the City Clerk's office began selling 2012-2013 city stickers. 

For an extra $25, residents can have the number of their residential parking zone printed directly on the sticker. 

The trouble began when some South Loop residents purchased their city stickers early, then placed them on their windshields. Because the street signs in the South Loop have not yet been changed to reflect the new residential zone numbers, the zone numbers on the city stickers are different from the numbers on the street signs. 

The result is that some residents have received tickets for parking in the wrong residential zone, even though they were appropriately parked.

Ugh!  Man was this a pain and man was it frustrating.  Anyway, the Tribune article goes on to give some more background and what to do if you got a ticket.

Needless to say, it was confusing and frustrating.