Chicago Tribune columnist John Kass, a longtime suburbanite and proponent of dibs, calls the act of saving your public parking spot with random crap Chicago's "street art" and the "collective expression of the city's indomitable will." more ›

We took a leisurely stroll around the wunnerful Bridgeport area to see if anyone had started the time honored practice of bringing their garbage to the street in order to secure their parking spot. more ›

The Streets and Sanintation Department has issued a passive reminder that, with the remnants of the Blizzard of 2011 fast melting, it's time to get the lawn chairs, milk crates and other trash we're using to save our parking spaces off the street. more ›

Chair Free Chicago (remember them) announced this morning they were organizing a "shovel out" in Bridgeport in an attempt to advocate helping each other dig out from the Blizzaster and promote their dibs-free mission. more ›

We know that the dibs system here in Chicago has stayed the same for decades and regardless of how you feel about marking that space you spent all day digging out, city officials are okay with dibs, for now at least. The Tribune reports Streets and Sanitation Commissioner Thomas Byrne saying of dibs, “At this moment, that's a thing they're (residents) doing and they're trying to save what they dug out and we're not going to take a position on that.” more ›

With Blizzaster 2011 somewhat behind us and city neighborhoods digging out around Chicago, the streets are going to be overflowing in chairs, crates, industrial-sized jugs and other junk to save the parking spaces that have been shoveled out by car owners. more ›

Yeah, it's a slow news day. But it's given us a good opportunity to really dig in (pun intended) to Wikipedia's entry on parking chairs or, as they're more commonly known, "dibs." more ›

The Chicago area received some decent snowfall over the weekend, but not enough to start the dibs argument that has split families and neighbors since time immemorial. When it comes to Chicago arguments, only the pizza debate can lead to more heated exchanges. more ›

So that snow that's coming tonight? It's the vanguard to a winter weather advisory through midnight Sunday. The National Weather Service is predicting up to an inch an hour of snow during the height of the storm. If you're driving tonight and tomorrow, visibility could be limited to less than a mile. more ›

Yes, those are plastic chairs in the street, and yes, it's nearly August. That, astoundingly enough, is an example of mid-summer "dibs." I was hoping I wasn't going to have to bring that term up for at least a few more months, but in the hopes that this is an isolated event as opposed to a new trend, I thought I'd open this up to the floor. I've seen this a couple times around my neck of the woods recently and wouldn't bring it up except I'm hoping to have my fears dispelled and my faith in humanity restored. Have you seen this anywhere in your neighborhood? more ›

Not that we desperately want to re-ignite the conversation about dibs again, but the department of Streets and Sanitation has decreed that dibs is done. Streets & San bossman Tom Byrne released a statement over the weekend calling it off until the next big snow. No word if last night's snow met the criteria. more ›

Following up (finally) on 47th Ward Ald. Eugene Schulter's complaint that suburbanites are claiming the best seats at Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park, Mayor Daley lashed out at those who are ungrateful for the benevolent contributions that suburban corporate benefactors have made to build Millennium Park. "Remember, people gave money [to build Millennium Park] who lived throughout the metropolitan area - business leaders. And if you look at many of them, they lived in suburban areas. They should have never given," Daley said Monday. "We have free concerts there. First come, first served. People show up early. I mean - they show up REAL early. So, it's first come, first served," the Mayor told the Sun-Times. "It's a wonderful program. Of course, they [also] have the Grant Park concerts. That goes on." more ›

With the city hundreds of millions of dollars in debt, fewer police on the street to battle crime, and a transit system on the verge of another round of service cuts and fare hikes, the City Council is tackling the tough issue plaguing our city: suburbanites claiming the best seats at Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park. During the Council's budget hearings yesterday, it was Ald. Eugene Schulter (47th) who spoke up, according to the Sun-Times. Said Ald. Schulter: more ›

A few weeks back, we discussed the Chicago tradition known as "dibs." It now seems that Ald. Dick Mell (33rd) has had it up to here with you kids and your dibs, issuing this email to constituents. more ›

Do you do "dibs?" Since we're smack dab in the eye of the storm, with 5 inches freshly dumped on us and up to double that coming tonight and tomorrow, we figured this would be an appropriate time to discuss "dibs." more ›

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This is why it pays to carry a camera with you. Or at least an iPhone. While out for lunch this afternoon, Benjy noticed that some of the neighbors around Smoque aren't happy that their hard-earned parking spaces are being usurped by employees or customers of the popular barbecue joint.
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