A shocked South End resident cannot believe this sort of sign is now popping up on places like West Brookline Street:
This is a highly disturbing sign. South End Neighborhood Associations do not support space savers. Please have DPW begin removing these items.
Neighborhoods:
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Perhaps the best fix
By Will LaTulippe
Wed, 02/13/2013 - 5:19pm
Would be for the Mayor to call for a citywide shoveling initiative. Call It "City Shoveling Hour." Make it 6 PM on a weeknight after a big storm. Encourage all residents to grab a shovel and clear snow from streets and sidewalks for one hour after work. Like other manual tasks, it's a lot less of a chore if everyone is doing it.
My home has a lot, but it doesn't have marked spaces. I shoveled a spot when I came back from a weekend business trip on Sunday night, and I will continue to mark it with a chair when I leave until somebody shovels the rest of my lot or it melts to the point where I will comfortably drive over it.
Perhaps a better fix
By BlackKat
Wed, 02/13/2013 - 6:57pm
The best fix is a car ban for everyone in the city without a driveway. In many cities if you park on the street, legal spot or not, come a snowstorm and they just take your car away.
But snow emergencies aside, we need to reduce the number of cars in the city by roughly 80-90%. This could be accomplished by the method applied here:
http://swns.com/news/mayor-runs-over-illegally-par...
What frickin' reality do you live in?
By Will LaTulippe
Thu, 02/14/2013 - 3:02am
Do you know how many people live in the average Boston home? A car ban if you don't have a driveway? First of all, consider how many households don't have a garage or driveway in the first place.
Second, consider that the feds won't let Boston have more garages. Frankly, I don't see how that's a thing. We founded the modern manifestation of this country, for (expletive's) sake. When did we stop making the rules? There's nothing at the corner of Harvard/Comm where Kelly's was most recently. Put a garage on top of it. Tell the EPA to screw and get it done.
Real Solution to parking and cars
By anon²
Thu, 02/14/2013 - 9:26am
Time for the city to charge residents the real costs of keeping a car in the city. It’s nice that it’s “free” or assumed to be part of your property tax, but that’s not really the case. The tens of thousands of miles of roads, bridges, tunnels and public transit the city supplies cost a hell of a lot more. The economic damage clogged streets cause, and the damage to health caused by exhaust in the air is also large. Either way you slice it, Residents getting free parking are getting heavily subsidized rates. Especially when demand for personal transportation is so high.
Start charging $300 year per car for a pass. Doing so we could probably allow a city wide pass system, then the horrible neighborhood one going on now. Don’t like it? Don’t pay it and use public transit. Dump the money back into infrastructure, and the MBTA. Peg increases to inflation.
When something is free, demand for it is unlimited. It’s why when dunks has free coffee days, or the bakery on the corner is giving out cupcakes there’s a line down two blocks and around the corner (which always amused me, since waiting an hour for a free $2 cupcake is not time well spent for someone making $20/hr+, unless they really need that extra util of happiness). It would end both the space saver problem, and the issue where 4800 stickers are given for 1200 spaces.
We like to breathe
By Matthew
Thu, 02/14/2013 - 12:59pm
More parking spaces = more cars = more smog.
The Clean Air Act has been extremely effective. And I'm thankful for that. The pertinent regulation under that law used in Boston only applies to downtown and some nearby areas though, not Allston.
As for your suggestion that we tear apart Allston some more, how about no. It's not 1963, Will. We now know that bulldozing our neighborhood to build more parking lots will only produce more problems and cause more decay. Allston has too many parking lots as it is.
The corner of Harvard and Comm is a heavily foot-trafficked intersection next to one of the busiest surface T stations. It's empty right now because Kelly's made the stupid move of signing a 10 year lease and then completely sucked at running a restaurant. Despite that, the Bon Chon restaurant is looking to take up their lease and expand in that location, last I heard.
The registration requirement is extremely effective in densely populated cities you may have heard about, such as Tokyo. There is very little on-street parking and vehicle owners are required to present proof of parking when they register a vehicle.
Boston is different than Tokyo to be sure, but different neighborhoods of Boston are different from each other. In Southie, there is a culture of car owner entitlement. In Allston, about half the people don't even have a car. In the North End it's closer to two-thirds.
You claim to have a libertarian bent, so you ought to understand the concept of paying for the land that you use to store a car, and of not receiving subsidies for it.
A better fix
By anon
Thu, 02/14/2013 - 2:57am
would be to round up the kind of sociopaths who think they own the fucking street and are willing to use violence to protect their "ownership" and stuff them in some cage somewhere.
Street-cleaning days, maybe?
By erik g
Thu, 02/14/2013 - 9:21am
They could also change street-cleaning days into snow-removal days, and keep street-cleaning parking rules in effect between November and March. That way, you can send a plow rather than a sweeper down the even/odd side of the street a couple of times over the course of the winter, and clear most of the big snow piles out to reclaim parking spaces. It would also get rid of parking savers in a big hurry.
I've always wondered why they stop the street-cleaning days going year-round, since so many people get so irritated by the contortions you have to go through during winter in the city if you own a car
It is the city's
By anon
Wed, 02/13/2013 - 7:48pm
It is the city's responsibility to clear the public streets (the whole street, travel lanes as well as bike lanes and parking "lanes". Practically, that is an impossible task. So anyone shoveling out a city space is actually spending time and effort doing for the city what the city is supposed to do.
So for performing this public service the shoveler gets some personel benefit (their car is dug out) but the city also reaps a benefit. Therefore, it is reasonable to for the city to compensate the shoveler by allowing them for a few days to have priority to the space they cleared. It isn't the way it ought to be but it is a best fit solution.
Best fit solution?
By FranklinRider
Wed, 02/13/2013 - 8:27pm
They can't plow to the curb because your car is there. Therefore, you are hindering the public service plowing is supposed to provide to ALL citizens of Boston.
The best fit solution would be for you to move your car before a storm hits, wait for plows to clear the street and then you can find a spot again on the street with everyone else.
There are not enough
By anon
Wed, 02/13/2013 - 8:46pm
There are not enough offstreet spaces to allow everyone to move their cars. And what offstreet places there are need to be reserved for the snow emergency route parkers. Take South Boston as an example, do you really think there are sufficient offstreet spaces for everyone.
Sure do.
By FranklinRider
Wed, 02/13/2013 - 11:59pm
Yep. You just might have to take the T back from the parking lot. If you want a car in the city without a dedicated parking spot then you have to take responsibility for the consequences.
How could you enforce a rule
By anon
Thu, 02/14/2013 - 1:46am
How could you enforce a rule that snow emergency off-street parking is only for people who normally park on a snow emergency street?
I know of a lot of people in Cambridge who used the free garages, even though they usually park in their driveway or on a non-emergency street with plenty of spaces.
They did it so they could come and go at will as soon as the driving ban was over, without even having to dust off the windows, let alone shovel or wait for a plow service for their driveway.
"The City" vs "The Residents"
By anon²
Thu, 02/14/2013 - 9:38am
Honestly, aren't they the same damn thing?
Government is only the things we do collectively that we can’t do ourselves. Paying for and plowing the roads is one of those things, but smaller things like removing snow from in front of your house, catch basins, fire hydrants and street spaces isn’t an unreasonable effort for one to do on their own.
Paying taxes isn’t an excuse to say you don’t have any other civic responsibilities. Although as of late more and more people seem to think so.
We’re all An Rand, ain’t we.
if you want to save "your"
By anon
Wed, 02/13/2013 - 9:38pm
if you want to save "your" spot, then don't move your car from the area you shoveled. I've shoveled out several spots and not expected that they were "mine" when I returned hours later, it's just plain inconsiderate to think you've developed "rights" in a public street by shoveling out your car and then driving it away, leaving trash and debris behind as a warning to others who have just as much right to that space as you do.
Boo crappping hoo...
By Boston_res
Wed, 02/13/2013 - 10:11pm
Raise your hand if you DIDN'T find out about parking before moving here with your car.
ok. Now take that hand, swing it around towards your back and shove it straight up your ass! That's the only warm feeling you'll get from me on this issue.
CJ, seriously man, get some schooling.
That's really beyond disgusting!
By anon
Thu, 02/14/2013 - 12:49am
I've heard of some rather nasty stuff going on regarding people saving parking spaces after a huge winter storm, but this, imho, really takes the cake! It's also quite sneaky, to boot!
Hi Miki!
By Mollynotloggedin
Thu, 02/14/2013 - 6:40am
Hi Miki!
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