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Boston's Cone Wars

Want to blend in stay safe while you are visiting Charlestown or Southie during the winter? Then you better know the parking rules.

Parking is limited enough in these bastions of Irish-Catholic, old-school, Boston neighborhoods, but when it snows, things get a little nuts.

On the day directly following the snow storm most Townies/Southies are out and about shoveling out their cars and helping others do so as well. However, once your car is shoveled out, most seasoned Townies/Southies throw a bright orange cone down to claim their spot while they are off at work, getting gas, or at the grocery store. Lawn chairs, ironing boards, and trash barrels are all perfectly acceptable spot savers.

There are a couple hard and fast rules to keep in mind as you venture into this white washed modern day version of Manifest Destiny:

·   Once you shovel out, feel free to put a cone down. Once a decent amount of time has passed, say 48 hours, maybe longer after a bigger storm, or shorter after a smaller one, remove the cone and resume regular first come first server parking procedures.

·   Don't be a cone lingerer or a pre-mature coner. For example, you can't watch "Stormwatch" at 6pm then go out and put a cone in your spot while you run to the store for milk the night before a storm.  

·   Unless people have broken these rules, don't touch the cones.

We know what you are saying, "No one *owns* a resident parking spot", "Ooo, I am scared, what happens if I touch the cones." Well, no, no one does own a resident parking spot, but go ahead and move a cone that was placed correctly and watch what happens.

Sure there is no legal precedent here, but when in Boston, if you find yourself on these neighborhood streets before, after or during a storm, now you know what the hell all those bright orange cones are about.

Does this happen in other cities? Let us know.

Related Stories:
·   Parking Marker Compromise Sought [Boston.com]