A block of Columbia Road NW near the Ace Hardware. A block of M Street NW in Georgetown. And a block of Chinatown near Capital One Arena.
More parking tickets were recently issued in these areas than anywhere else in Washington, D.C.
NBC Washington took a deep dive into the District's data on parking tickets and found that within a six-month period, most tickets were issued downtown and in Chinatown, Penn Quarter, Mount Vernon Square and Dupont Circle.
From January to June 2019, officers issued more than 734,000 parking tickets, hitting drivers with more than $39 million in fines.
Street View - 3200 Block of M Street NW
Source: Google Maps Street View / Credit: Anisa Holmes / NBC Washington
Here's a map of the data, neighborhood by neighborhood.
DC Parking Ticket Hot Spots
Parking citations issued by the Metropolitan Police Department and partner agencies from January to June 2019.
Source: Open Data DC / Credit: Anisa Holmes / NBC Washington
Street View - 1400 Block of K Street NW
Source: Google Maps Street View / Credit: Anisa Holmes / NBC Washington
These five blocks were the top five parking ticket hot spots.
1. 1700 Block of Columbia Road NW
More tickets were issued in the 1700 block of Columbia Road NW than any other place in the District. That's near the Ace Hardware, Solidcore and several big apartment buildings. Drivers received 2,250 citations.
Street View - 700 Block of 7th Street NW
Source: Google Maps Street View / Credit: Anisa Holmes / NBC Washington
2. 3200 Block of M Street NW
The second-most-ticketed block was the 3200 block of M Street NW, in the stretch of Georgetown that includes Clyde's, J.Crew and Anthropologie. Drivers received 2,161 tickets.
3. The 700 Block of 7th Street NW
The block just west of Capital One Arena and close to the National Portrait Gallery came in third place. A total of 1,910 tickets were issued there.
Street View - 1300 Block of F Street NW
Source: Google Maps Street View / Credit: Anisa Holmes / NBC Washington
4. The 1300 Block of F Street NW
The 1300 block of F Street NW came in fourth place, with 1,855 tickets. The block near the Metro Center station has a Marshalls store and a number of restaurants.
5. The 1400 Block of K Street NW
The 1400 block of K Street NW came in fifth place, with 1,824 tickets. The block of office buildings also has an Eagle Bank, PNC Bank, Corner Bakery Cafe and Pret A Manger.
So, why were so many parking tickets issued on these blocks?
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"Because there's illegal parking there," Christopher Geldart deadpanned. He's the acting director of the D.C. Department of Public Works (DPW), which enforces parking regulations.
Parking control officers patrol the whole city but focus on areas where there are higher numbers of violations, Geldart said. They don't receive any incentives for issuing high numbers of tickets. And they're often targets of abuse.
"You name it — from getting yelled at, pushed down, spit at," he said.
Geldart asked anyone who parks in D.C. to respect the officers and follow parking regulations. For every driver who complains about tickets, there's a driver who can't find a spot or a resident who says officers don't enforce the rules, he said.
"We don't target anybody. We patrol our beats and we enforce the law," Geldart said.
Life happens, so parking tickets sometimes happen too, the DPW director said. He said he recently got a ticket himself, near the Wilson Building.
