In Oregon, the parking restriction signs have a left or right arrow (or double headed arrow) to indicate whether the restriction is to the left or right of the sign. So at a glance, you can quickly note the restriction.

In Washington state (well, at least Seattle), they have signs that say "no parking NORTH of here". Doh! I've been circling the block looking for a spot, and now I'm supposed to figure out which way north is? That's got to be simply for revenue generation for the out-of-towners. They probably provide all the locals with compasses. {grin}

-- Randal L. Schwartz, Perl hacker