A Quick Rockford Poll. What Do YOU Call This Little Strip Of Grass?

To be honest this has been a source of confusion for me for a while. 

While we were talking to Alderman Chad Tuneberg the other day (listen to that one here) about homeowner responsibility for cleaning up fallen trees and branches after Monday's storm, he referenced trees and limbs coming from the right-of-way.

I had never heard of the "right-of-way" outside of the Rules of the Road. Quick refresher here, because I know some of you need it.

He explained to me that it was the strip of grass that separates the sidewalk from the street. I learned from a young age that was called "the parking." Then I started asking other people what they called it and no one had the same answer. Some said boulevard, others said easement, some had no idea what it was called.

I did some googling and found out that it's technical name is a "road verge" but the number of different things it's called based on where you live is astounding. Look at this list:

There are some doozies in there including:

• Besidewalk
• Devil Strip
• Furniture Zone
• Hellstrip
• Snow Shelf
• "That Narrow Strip Of Grass Between The Sidewalk And The Street"
• Tree Belt
• Yard Sample

Who knew there were so many options?

I'm still sticking with parking, but am open to changing my mind if the rest of the city wants to go with something else.