TAMPA, Fla. — Carrie Quevedo didn’t start out letting cars park in front of her West Tampa house when she moved here 45 years ago, but it eventually became a game-day routine.
“I see the stadium from here. I see the fireworks. I see the airplanes. And I enjoy the games from my TV room,” said Quevedo.
She even has a group of regulars — that’s about 12 cars.
“Everybody has their own place. They start from the back all the way to the front and then from here. They know their place. They are like my family.”
Prices for parking around in the neighborhood vary anywhere from $20 to $50.
And when the Super Bowl was here last year, people were getting $100 a car.
Even with the Buccaneer's success and post-season games, Carrie hasn’t raised her prices. She says it’s not about the money.
“It’s to have fun and to support our local team. And now with all these things happening, I never raised up the prices but they raise them themselves and they give it to me,” said Quevedo.
Across the street, a group of twenty-somethings is renting a house and taking advantage of the game day money-making opportunity.
“It’s awesome. Every Sunday morning, everybody is coming up and down the street parking their cars. All the neighbors do it. So we decided to do it as well. And we get to use all the extra money for some pizza, some beers. We even used it to buy some tickets for a game,” said Kevin Bromberg.
The return of a full stadium has been a welcome sight around here after 2020’s COVID restrictions.
Once again the front yards are full, and more playoff games here mean wallets are full too.
“It’s very nice. It’s my shopping for grandchildren and great-grandchildren,” said Quevedo.
