Engaging Introduction
If you’ve ever driven through Pittsburgh in the winter, you’ve probably seen it: an old lawn chair, a dining room throne, or even a beaten-up recliner sitting sentinel in a cleared parking space on the side of the road.
Your first reaction might be confusion. Is someone selling furniture? Did this fall off a truck? Why is there a chair in the middle of the street?
But if you ask a local, they’ll just smile and say: “That spot’s taken.”
Welcome to one of Pittsburgh’s most beloved, peculiar, and surprisingly enduring traditions: saving your hard-earned parking spot with a chair after a snowstorm.
It’s quirky. It’s technically illegal. And yet, it’s a practice that embodies the resilience, community spirit, and practical ingenuity of a city that knows how to handle winter’s challenges.
I remember the first time I saw it. I had just moved to Pittsburgh from the
