DIBS: Chicago’s Most Heated Winter Tradition
DIBS: A Chicago winter staple. Shovel your parking spot, claim it—but for how long? Is it fair? Is it chaos? From history to unwritten rules, we break down this fiercely debated tradition and why it’s not disappearing anytime soon.
Ah, winter in Chicago. The time of year when the temperature drops, the lake-effect snow rolls in, and the most sacred of unspoken laws takes effect: DIBS. For the uninitiated, DIBS is the time-honored Chicago tradition of reserving a freshly shoveled parking spot with whatever household junk is lying around—lawn chairs, old crates, a broken fan, or, in some cases, an inexplicably placed…













