Rules

What is LV2? The Chicago parking zone that tows your car in minutes.

If you live, work, or drive in Lakeview, this affects you.

If you're parked in the LV2 zone and a Cubs game starts before 5 PM, your car will be towed by 5:01 PM. Not 5:30. Not 5:10. 5:01.

What LV2 actually is

LV2 is a special event parking restriction zone established under Chicago Municipal Code 9-68-023. It covers a large chunk of Lakeview west of Wrigley Field, roughly bounded by Irving Park Road to the north, Roscoe Street to the south, Ravenswood Avenue to the west, and Ashland Avenue to the east.

When LV2 is in effect, only vehicles with a valid LV2 permit can park on the affected streets. Everyone else gets towed. Immediately.

When is it in effect?

LV2 is active from 5:00 PM to 10:00 PM on days when there is a Cubs home game or a major event at Wrigley Field. That's the window. Before 5 PM you're fine. After 10 PM you're fine. But if your car is on an LV2 street at 5:00:01 PM on a game day, it's gone.

In 2023, the rules changed. LV2 now applies to ALL Cubs home games, including day games. Previously it only applied to night games. If you haven't updated your habits since 2023, this matters.

The zone boundaries

The core LV2 zone runs from Irving Park Road (north) to Roscoe Street (south), and from Ravenswood Avenue (west) to Ashland Avenue (east). There are also extensions on specific streets including Eddy Street, Greenview Avenue, and Sunnyside Avenue.

The interactive map on the LV2 Park homepage shows the exact boundaries.

How to get an LV2 permit

If you live in the LV2 zone, you can get a free permit from the City of Chicago Comptroller's office. The process:

Contact the 44th Ward office (alderman44thward.org) or the City Comptroller
Prove residency in the zone (utility bill, lease, or driver's license)
Permits are free and tied to your address
Zone 383 permits do NOT work in LV2. They are different zones.

What if you don't have a permit?

Your car will be towed to Auto Pound #6. To retrieve it, call 773-265-7605 or dial 311. The tow fee is typically $150–$200 plus any ticket fines. It takes 1–2 hours to process a release, and the pound closes at night.

The Cubs game day tow hotline is 866-4-CPD-TOW. They can tell you where your car is.

Why enforcement is so fast

We analyzed 9,434 LV2 tickets issued from 2018 to 2023 and the pattern is striking. The moment 5:00 PM hits, enforcement officers (who are staged and ready) start writing tickets in real time. By 5:01 PM, 40+ tickets have already been written on a game day. By 5:05 PM, the rate reaches 60–70 tickets per minute.

This is not a situation where you can "quickly run out and move it." The window is zero.

Read the full FOIA data analysis →

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