11-07-2025
Neighborhood's Parallel Parking Competition Is My Kind of Block Party
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Parallel parking is a skill—an art, even—that's slowly becoming extinct in today's drivers. More and more, our cities are designed in ways that parallel parking just isn't necessary, and as a result, BMVs across America are dropping the requirement from their driving skill exams. Despite this, many urban areas still require parallel parking, and a tight-knit community in Portland, Oregon, is making sure neighbors have the skills to park their Subarus.
Daniel Lyman and his husband, Casey Schreiner, along with the help of friend Stefanie Lynch, are going viral for organizing a pretty unique block party, one that's more of a competition than a party, really—though it looks like a lot of fun shenanigans took place. The idea of a Parallel Parking Contest came from Lynch, who heard of a similar event in Pittsburgh, according to OPB , and the three got to work creating the perfect stage (and set of rules) for a fair and fun competition.
A stretch of sidewalk was chosen, the proper chalk markings were made on it to measure the contestant vehicle's length, and pool noodles were taped to the stationary vehicles fore and aft of the open spot. Furthermore, the judges decided to tape a piece of cardboard to the backup cameras to make sure contestants didn't have an edge and relied purely on skill to avoid hitting another car. Needless to say, no automatic parking features were allowed, even though most of those suck anyway.
According to the video shared by Good Morning America , more than 50 people attempted to show off their skills—or the lack thereof—and even an adorable little kid on a G-Wagen ride-on tried their luck on the course. According to the rules, the shorter the vehicle, the fewer points they were awarded, so if you showed up in a Ford F-250 long bed and did a decent job, you probably would've taken home the trophy. And yes, there is an actual trophy, and it being Portland, it's a golden Subaru. GMA/YouTube
As someone who lived downtown and had to parallel park every day for five years before moving to the suburbs and literally never having to do so again, this makes me smile. I kinda miss it, y'know. Pulling off the perfect parallel parking move always gave me a great sense of pride, especially in a huge SUV or mega-expensive exotic press car, so I'm all for folks learning the fine craft that is squeezing a car between two obstacles.
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