Note wars erupt in Somerville

unless it's an emergency - don't park your car in a f-ing travel lane (and travel lanes include bike lanes, btw). I was on mass ave across from the christian science center yesterday and it was down to one lane because people were parked in one of the lanes - someone in a giant mercedes SUV parked in front of the bus stop - which someone had gone through the trouble of shoveling out. People were squeezing between that car and snow banks to get to the bus. I'm serious - the city really needs to crack down on people who feel entitled to park their damn car wherever they please - people need to get places - whether you're also in a car, on a bike, walking, taking the T... don't be an asshole.

There have been 3 really big storms. Unless you've left your car unmoved far longer than the city legally allows (48 hours) or started using a space saver weeks ago, chances are that the spot you're trying to save was partially shoveled out by other people. Which means that Somerville police should crack down on these space savers. The other day, somebody had a space saver in a spot that I had shoveled out in the first (and largest) storm.

I, too, have spent hours shoveling out a car on numerous occasions this winter. And then I drive away without leaving a space saver because it's PUBLIC SPACE. It's the price we all pay for 1. Living in New England 2. Owning a car in the city 3. Parking in public space. Try taking the MBTA (hahaha) to work. If you have to drive to work, consider getting a private parking spot or moving somewhere on public transit. People can make a million excuses for why they need a space saver but parking in a public space was your choice.

I mainly don't like space savers for the hostility it breeds among neighbors. Terrible system.

There would be plenty of spots for everyone to park in if people weren't "reserving" empty, unused spaces for hours at a time.

Space savers tend to be a problem only in neighborhoods where the City has issued more on-street parking permits than there are spaces, and that have parking issues to begin with. In Dorchester, Roxbury, Roslindale, Hyde Park, etc. people regularly use space savers (as it has been customary to do so in Boston for as long as I can remember) but it is never an issue because there are enough spaces to begin with. The "saver" is just a customary token. The real issue is that in other neighborhoods (South Boston and the South End to name the most prominent), the City has issued far, far more parking permits than there are street spaces. Space savers just make this problem visible. The solution is to reduce the number of permits to the greater of the number of available street spaces, or the number of units of housing in the neighborhood (i.e. a tripple-decker = 3 permits) and to limit them to one permit per unit. Whether people feel its their god given right to own a car or not, the fact is that our denser neighborhoods were not built with cars in mind at all, and if your family needs more than 1 car to operate (which some do) you should probably consider moving to a neighborhood that can physically accommodate your needs. Likewise, three people sharing a unit just can't expect to be able to each have a car, and should either consider getting rid of the car in favor of public transit or, again, if they really need a car should consider a neighborhood that can accommodate that desire.

I think the more important question is why someone thinks vandalism is of personal property is a rational and justified response to someone parking in a publicly available parking space?

It was never your spot to save. Get over it you big baby.