The village we work from
Our address is 13720 S Lowe Ave, so a Riverdale pickup usually starts and ends within a mile. Leaving Lowe, the truck turns onto 138th Street and from there reaches Halsted Street (Illinois Route 1) or Indiana Avenue, the two roads that carry most of the village north to south. Route 1 crosses the Little Calumet twice on its way through the village.
Riverdale is small, 3.75 square miles with 10,663 people at the 2020 Census, and it sits on Chicago’s southern edge. Chicago is north and northeast, Calumet Park is northwest, Blue Island is west, Dixmoor is southwest, and Dolton and Harvey are east and south. All of it is ZIP code 60827. The village shares its name with the Riverdale community area of Chicago next door, which we cover on its own Altgeld Gardens and Riverdale, Chicago page because the rules there are the city’s, not the village’s.
The Metra Electric line runs through town with two stops, Riverdale at 137th Street and Ivanhoe at 144th. “Two blocks from the Ivanhoe station” is the kind of landmark that gets a driver to the right curb on the first try.
What the housing means for a pickup
Roughly half of Riverdale’s homes are single-family houses, by the Census Bureau’s 2020-2024 estimates, and about 38 percent are in buildings with two or more units. So we load cars from three kinds of spots more than any other: house driveways, the alley behind a bungalow, and apartment lots.
Each one has a catch:
- Driveways: the car is usually nose-in. If it can’t be steered or the parking brake is stuck, say so on the call. Our guide to moving a car that won’t roll covers what to check first.
- Alleys: Riverdale doesn’t allow stopping or parking in an alley beyond quick loading and unloading. That suits a tow, which is exactly that, but it means the car shouldn’t be left sitting in the alley waiting for us.
- Apartment lots: ask the manager before the truck comes. We handle apartment and repair-shop pickups regularly; access is the only thing that slows them down.
Low spots matter too. The county’s hazard plan for Riverdale names areas north of 138th Street and east of School Street for flooding, and notes 2008 flooding from the remains of Hurricane Ike. A car that sat in water there is still worth calling about.
Riverdale’s rules on parked and broken-down cars
Riverdale’s code is stricter than many people expect, and most of the calls we get from inside the village start with one of these rules.
Overnight streets. No parking on any public street from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. unless the vehicle displays a current village vehicle license. A dead car without a sticker is in violation the first night.
The village sticker. Residents’ vehicles need the annual village license. The passenger-car fee listed in the code is $45, with a discount if bought in May and $20 for residents 62 and older for one vehicle. It’s due before July 1. If you’re junking the car, there’s no reason to buy a new sticker for it.
Inoperable vehicles. A vehicle that can’t be driven under its own power for at least 7 days in a row counts as inoperable, and keeping one outside, or under a roof that isn’t enclosed, is a public nuisance. The exceptions are narrow: a repair finished within 21 days (no more than twice in 12 months), up to two restoration projects in a back yard behind a 5-foot opaque fence, and lawful vehicle businesses.
Cars on the street. A vehicle left on public property for 72 hours, or one that couldn’t legally be driven, is presumed abandoned. On private property, a wrecked or disabled vehicle in public view, or one unmoved for 7 days, can draw a removal order with 10 days to comply.
Snow streets. When snow passes 2 inches, parking is banned on designated streets from the start of the snowfall until 8 hours after it stops. The list includes Indiana Avenue from 135th to 146th, School Street from 138th to 143rd, 134th Street from Perry to Halsted, and 137th Street. A car that won’t start on one of those streets in January is a towing problem waiting to happen; see junk car removal in snow.
We put these side by side with the rules in neighbouring villages in our guide to inoperable car notices in the south suburbs. If you already have a notice on the windshield, read the date on it and call us before the deadline, not after.
What we take and how you’re paid
We remove cars, pickups, vans and SUVs that you own, running or not running, wrecked, stripped or rusted through. If the car has no title, tell us which papers you do have, such as a registration card or an old insurance card. Illinois rules decide which papers work for a scrap sale, and we’ll tell you on the call whether yours do.
When the truck arrives, the driver checks that the car matches what you described, you sign over the paperwork, and you’re paid on the spot by cash, Zelle or Cash App. Several cars at one address can go in one visit.
Bordering Riverdale
North of the village line is the Riverdale community area of Chicago, including Altgeld Gardens. Calumet Park is northwest across Halsted, and Dolton is east across the Little Calumet. Every place we serve is listed on the towns page.