Parking in Bar Harbor, which gets millions of tourists and their vehicles every summer, has become a spectator sport.
And with the advent of social media over the past decade, the internet is now where locals go to rib offenders for mistaken or boneheaded maneuvers.
The digital destination of choice for the commentary is Facebook, in a group called “Welcome to Bar Harbor’s Parking Show.” The group usually displays multiple fresh photos a day for its more than 14,000 members — a number larger than Mount Desert Island’s year-round population.
“Wasn’t this a Seinfeld episode?” one contributor posted this week above a photo of two cars — one pulling forward and another backing up — competing for a parallel parking spot on Cottage Street.
“Update: green car ‘won’ the spot to applause all around,” she added a few minutes later.
The growing audience for the Facebook group reflects the fact that for decades there has been a consistent seasonal crunch of cars and people in Bar Harbor’s scenic downtown village. That situation is made worse by parking and traffic schemes that have changed, and temporary measures during holidays or road construction projects. The crunch persists despite the additions of the Island Explorer bus service and the town’s paid parking system.
On busy summer days, parking spaces are in high demand, and even the simple act of driving through town can take several minutes of waiting for throngs of pedestrians to cross the street or for vehicles to turn or get out of the way. Delivery truck drivers are especially put to the test by having to navigate tightly packed streets, then find a place to offload cargo.
The photos, most of which are taken in downtown Bar Harbor, show cars straddling lines between spaces, parked where they shouldn’t be or spaced too far from the curb. They may also capture the more serious offense (to some) of an RV overfilling a smaller spot meant for a car.
Less frequently, they show drivers trying to do U-turns in the middle of crowded streets, vehicles parked in front of private driveways or stuck on the sand bar that gives the town its name — and being slowly submerged by the incoming tide.
Despite the shame and the shade, the tone of the griping tends to be light. Those who post photos usually are just venting, knowing there will be plenty of free downtown parking come November. At times people even confess to their own bad parking on the page, poking fun at themselves in the process.
“Calling myself out before someone else does, but when there’s no other parking and you have to work you make your own spot,” one group member posted in June. Below the comment, a photo showed the woman’s car distinctly parked over the words “no parking” and a square of slanted yellow lines on the pavement next the rear entrance to Walgreens.
The group’s administrators have a specific set of rules and guidelines that aim to keep it fun. Respectful comments are encouraged. Bullying and politics are not allowed. Photos taken while driving are highly discouraged. And complaints about parking enforcement and crowds in general are likely to be deleted.
“Audience participation is requested and required,” the page description says. “While you should feel free to have a good giggle at the ‘attempted parking,’ there’s no need to be overly mean about it. Have fun, and let the Parking Show begin.”
