Opening Day Brings Parking Hell To Wrigleyville
Hey Hey!
It’s Opening Day at Wrigley Field! The official start of baseball on the north side of Chicago.
And, just by coincidence, the start of parking hell in Lakeview/Wrigleyville. Lakeview residents just LOVE this time of the year.
In honor of opening day, here’s a list of all the night games drivers whom frequent the Lakeview area, need to be aware of.
April 21, 29, 30
May 12, 13, 14, 27, 28, 29
June 10, 11, 24, 25
July 8, 9, 24
August 4, 19, 20, 28
September 2, 3, 16, 17
That’s because non-residents are not allowed to park on residential streets within the zone and you could be ticketed and towed.
Let me clarify. You WILL be ticketed and towed. The city puts a virtual army of ticket writers and tow trucks on patrol throughout the entire zone. Stay the hell out on night games.
The zone’s boundaries are approximately Lake Shore Drive on the east, Ravenswood (just west of Ashland) on the west, Belmont on the south and Montrose on the north. The zone is not quite symmetrical, so make sure you check the signs on some of the boundary areas because I know there are exceptions to the zone I just outlined.
This zone is designated LV-2. In order to park on streets in this zones and marked by the proper signs, your vehicle must display a valid LV-2 Night Ball Game Permit.
On the day of a night game, enforcement begins at 5 PM and ends at 10 PM. I suggest not coming into the area on those days at all if you can all but help it.
If not, make sure you are parked at a metered spot, in a private parking lot or on private property or just get the hell out of there by 4:59 PM.
This is a brutally enforced parking zone. You are not just ticketed, but you most likely be towed. The ticket costs $50 and the tow will cost you $160 or more. Holy Cow!
If you are a resident in the area, you need to get your butt down to Ald. Tunney’s 44th Ward Office and get your LV-2 sticker. Make sure you bring proof of residence, a valid ID and proof of city vehicle sticker. The 44th Ward office is at 1057 W. Belmont Ave.
Here is some more info on the LV-2 Parking Permit.
But also pay attention to parking along Addison St. during night games. There’s already rush hour parking westbound on Addison from 4-6. But on the evening of Cub’s night games, you cannot park on that street from 4 PM until 11PM. Arrgghhh!!!
I’m really, really would not enjoy living in Wrigleyville.
Aloha,, Your post Opening Day Brings Parking Hell To Wrigleyville expressed my opinion exactly. parking signs is an interesting topic with pros and cons that can be argued.
May I have your permission to use your picture of the Wrigley Field sign for a postcard I’m designing?
(Sorry the comment isn’t really related to your excellent article!)
Thanks,
Alicia
Cozy Sweater Publishing
I’m a resident of wrigleyville and they completely messed up the night game parking situation for residents by making everything zone 383 and no longer 383 AND Cubs night games sticker (LV2). I’m not looking forwarded to parking 10 blocks away and seeing all the cars with visitor passes lining my street.
I hate the Fucking Cubs! I just moved to chicago… I paid $100 for a residential parking sticker… I wake up at 430 to go to work and find that my car is towed. I even double checked with the Ward and they said this was the only sticker that I needed! They said that all the stickers are now all in one! I asked a cop.. he said that i would be fine because there was only a few games left and I wouldnt be towed since i had the residential sticker! If i told them at the Ward where I lived why didnt they just give me a stupid cubs sticker. This is the worst part of chicago you could live in. Obama really thinks we need to bring the olympics here? All of Chicago will be turned into a Wrigley/Lakeview parking disaster!