Each afternoon I walk to the bus stop at 1st and Wall Street in order to catch the 15 or 18 bus down to King Street Station where I take the Sounder Train to Auburn. Parking is scarce in the Belltown district of Seattle so any sliver of street parking is most sought after. Within a block and a half of where I took these pictures are a couple of coffee houses as well as a dry cleaners where customers rely on convenient parking to patronize these business.
None of this would be interesting except for this one area disguised as a parking spot that’s actually not a parking spot. At least twice a week, while waiting for the bus, I can count on someone pulling their car into this space and running off to the cleaners or to grab coffee only to return to a $22 ticket. I’ve seen a number of drivers return to their car while parking enforcement was in the process of printing the ticket. Each time the driver points out the white markers while the enforcer just shrugs. Ticket quota in about an hour.
Take this first picture. The precise white markers on the street would make most people believe this is an available parking spot. But look closely off to the far right and you’ll see a very small yellow sign, only a couple of feet off the ground.
Here is a close up of the sign. The sign doesn’t say “No Parking” only that your car will be towed. I’ve never once seen a car towed but I’ve seen dozens of cars ticketed for parking here.
I took this picture just seconds after snapping the picture of the sign. The owner of this Range Rover even walked over the parking meter machine and paid $3 thinking this must be a parking space. He then ran off to the dry cleaners only to return to a ticket on the windshield. I believe the parking enforcement crew hang out around the corner just waiting for easy prey. As soon as the driver is out of sight they will appear from around the corner and print out a ticket. What a nice racket for the City of Seattle.
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