The Avenger discusses her neighbors, one of whom had "Asshole" keyed into her car when she parked in a shoveled, but unclaimed spot, another of whom refuses to shovel his walk:
... After the snow packs down due to foot traffic it turns to ice. I nearly died there one day so I took it upon myself. I wrote on an envelope " Shovel please" and strategically placed it. I should have known, the note never disappeared and no shoveling happened. How people can be so ignorant stuns me. They take the time to shovel a spot and leave their sidewalk shear ice. ...
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Have the city write 'em a ticket
By anon
Mon, 01/12/2009 - 9:53am
About the unshoveled sidewalks: notify the city to have an inspector write them a ticket (code enforcement). Either: (1) 617-635-4500; or (2) http://www.cityofboston.gov/mayor/24/ .
An orange ticket taped to their front door often results in improved shoveling. Some people are so clueless that they don't realize that they are required to shovel the sidewalks along their property.
I read some of the Avengers
By ShadyMilkMan
Mon, 01/12/2009 - 9:57am
I read some of the Avengers other posts, house C (renters as he calls them) seems to be a continous problem in his life. He should realize that he needs to talk to the person who owns the building, not the renters...
I also think, maybe its just the lifelong Bostonian in me talking, that its hilarious he wrote a note thinking that was the best way to handle the snow situation lol.
re: Note
By Kaz
Mon, 01/12/2009 - 10:52am
I have often found that simply knocking on someone's door and talking to them is the best approach. Most people who seem like complete asses are not bad people with the exception of their complete lack of consideration for their fellow man. When you break their cozy personal shell of selfishness, you'll often get an appropriate response (like their begrudging acceptance to clean their sidewalk, etc).
My dad has often made this same comment about the kids that he teaches in middle school. It seems a lot of people for the past decade or two have been raised without learning/internalizing the lesson of "the rest of us live here too".
Talking to the person makes
By ShadyMilkMan
Mon, 01/12/2009 - 11:14am
Talking to the person makes much more sense then leaving a note in his snow. Note writers are seen as little jerks by most people who recieve the notes. At least if you go up and talk to the person they can respect you for doing that.
Speak softly, but carry a snow shovel
By SwirlyGrrl
Mon, 01/12/2009 - 12:48pm
When I lived in Arlington, there was one house where the walks were always dangerous, in a section where the road was narrow and walking in the road was dangerous.
I happened upon the person who was apparently responsible one day, and asked her (as she piled snow on the sidewalk from in front of her garage) if she realized that she was supposed to shovel the walk and not put her driveway snow there.
Imperious Special Queen Snowflake immediately denied that there "was any such law anywhere" and said "you are making that up. Making up laws just to make trouble". While this has to be the single most odd response to such things ever, I calmly handed her a copy of the local paper (I had intended to put it in her mailbox) where the entire law and what it meant was covered in depth, and suggested she read it sometime soon.
That night, Queen Specialness had, indeed, piled up snow to block the sidewalk again and not cleared her sidewalk as the law demanded. Knowing the official response might take a while (and still being quite young and not having kids and not being due into work until 10am), I decided to come back late at night and do something about it.
About 11:30 pm I grabbed my shovel, headed over, and went to work. It really didn't take long, but I managed to completely clear and deice the walk and pile all of it back in front of the garage doors by 12:30, leaving the sidewalk clear.
About 12:15, the guy who had been plowing the parking lot across the street swung by and asked me if I lived there. I told him that I didn't, I was just sick of Queen Specialness dumping her snow on the sidewalk in a dangerous area. He laughed, and got a wicked grin on his face.
The next morning, I walked by and Queen Specialness wasn't too happy. In fact, she was gesturing to a note-taking cop and whining very loudly about the crime. I put on my best pokerface as I approached, but quickly noticed something very interesting - not only was there the snow I had removed from her walk and driveway in front of her garage doors, but a good deal more seemed to have showed up after I left. Not only that, but it was totally packed (with plow blade indents), iced up, and stacked about 7 feet high, as only a plow could manage.
As I walked by, I said "Hey - I see you must have read the article about your legal responsibilities - good work", and walked on. I may have owned a shovel, but I've never owned a plow. Besides, shoveling a walk for free ain't a crime.
To this day, I have to wonder: What the heck did Queen Specialness do to that guy who plows the parking lot across the way????
But did it help?
By bph
Mon, 01/12/2009 - 1:15pm
I'm sure it was satisfying to do that - and I've been tempted to do something similar - but what happened after later storms? Did she mend her ways?
We need some way to get people to shovel without getting into neighborhood fights. Have you seen those "Clean it or lien it" signs the city puts on vacant lots that are full of trash or are overgrown? Maybe they should do the same for unshoveled walks, especially on main streets, bus routes, etc.
Yep, it worked
By SwirlyGrrl
Mon, 01/12/2009 - 1:29pm
However, I don't know if it would have worked had someone not embellished my handiwork. I suspect that she had to hire someone to clear her garage door area of the ice, meaning she actually had to (gasp, horror) walk or take a bus that day and possibly the day after.
Had she not felt so upset as to contact the cops (who had several complaints on her property already)and be told directly by them that she had to shovel by law, things might have dragged on through the winter. The pile of snow that I left was doable with a shovel, and repeated treatments might have been necessary to get the point across.
I agree that the cities and towns should allow for town clearing of dangerous properties and bill the owners. If you can't shovel and won't or can't hire somebody, it is clearly time to make new living arrangements for your own sake. Where I live now, though, the city would have to get its own act together as the city is one of the very worst offenders - like at a busy intersection where the sidewalk is not only plowed up, but you can't reach the buttons for the walk light (that doesn't work) either.
What a city could do is have
By ShadyMilkMan
Mon, 01/12/2009 - 1:39pm
What a city could do is have the option of putting snow removal into your tax bill for the year (if you so wish) and hat would just get folded into your mortgage. Then send people out to shovel your walkway for you if you dont want to do it. The city would make a few bucks on this proposal and make it feasible to keep many of the people many citys have on staff during he summer for parks on staff in the winter to handle the snow shoveling.
Yes!
By banky
Mon, 01/12/2009 - 9:55pm
I proposed a similar scheme to my building super this weekend (said super, btw, is *fanatical* about shoveling - he's out there with the first flake and doesn't rest until the storm, and all the snow it left behind, is long gone). My idea was to make it an Urban Jobs/City Budget Rescue program. 8 hours or so after a storm, the city would scoop up as many able-bodied people as could be assembled. They would then descend on every un-shoveled stretch of sidewalk and start clearing. The shovelers would be paid $20/hr., while property owners whose sidewalks are cleared would be billed $40/hr. for the service. Bingo - city residents make some quick cash, the city itself raises some extra revenue, and property owners (hopefully) learn that they'd better keep their property clear, or at least pay some willing shovelers to do the work.
The process of calling the city to complain and hoping they might come around and issue a ticket (which happens so rarely as to be meaningless, and completely fails to correct the original problem in any case) is essentially pointless.
probably cheaper and more dependable
By Pete Nice
Mon, 01/12/2009 - 10:17pm
to just hire someone to do it.
It works in aggregate
By Jay Levitt
Mon, 01/12/2009 - 5:04pm
Recycling one can doesn't work, either, but if people start doing it, and word spreads, and other people start doing it, then we all end up using the same shampoo.
I'd pay good money to see a Snow Angels branch of the Guardian Angels that went around shoveling people's walks, dumping the snow on their doorstep, and posting it on Youtube.
Someone else here had a saner idea: Have DPW shovel any unshoveled walks, and bill the homeowners.
Did Queen Specialness learn her lesson?
By independentminded
Mon, 01/12/2009 - 3:53pm
Was Queen Specialness also aware of the real possibility of getting involved in an expensive lawsuit that no homestead could protect her against if somebody walking along her unshoveled, unsalted stretch of sidewalk slipped, fell, and got injured?
You are my hero
By Jay Levitt
Mon, 01/12/2009 - 5:02pm
and are now automatically right about anything we may disagree on in the future...
I always wanted to do that to somebody, but you actually did it.
Seconded
By Michael
Mon, 01/12/2009 - 5:15pm
A couple of blizzards ago, I was borrowing a car for the weekend. When it was time to bring it back, I shoveled it out, returned it to its owner, and upon T'ing it home, found that someone had stuck a cone in the spot I shoveled out.
I dreamed of coming back in the wee hours that night and burying the spot (assuming there was a car there) under all the snow and ice I could lift, but never did actually do it. So kudos on doing what you did.
shoveling
By thepassenger
Mon, 01/12/2009 - 9:58am
We have one neighbor whose property sits on a corner. They regularly use a plow to clear the sidewalk on the side street, but only from their driveway up to the walk to their side door. The front, where myself and probably a couple hundred other people need to walk to get to the bus stop every day, goes uncleared storm after storm.
After the storm on New Year's Eve, I decided to take it upon myself to go and shovel the walk in front of their house. Granted, that day's snow was fluffy and we only got a few inches, but I thought perhaps I could send a not-so-subtle message. And what do you know, after the past two storms, the front walk has been cleared.
Of course, there's no gurarantee this would work in every situation. Sometimes people can be shamed into doing what they are supposed to, but not always.
The guy probaly just didnt
By ShadyMilkMan
Mon, 01/12/2009 - 10:49am
The guy probaly just didnt have a clue , people can be pretty clueless sometimes. Your clearing it yourself that one time most likely gave his head a kick start "of course people need to walk down this sidewalk too!"
I'll bet their the same folks who drive igloos
By anon
Mon, 01/12/2009 - 10:19am
You know who I mean. Those vehicles covered in snow, with merely a porthole looking forward out of the vehicle for the driver. Or whose license, head, and taillights are still covered in snow, so even if you wanted to report them, you'd be explaining to the police "yeah it was a dirty white, snow covered something, about this tall, looked a bit like an igloo but with very faint white lights as it came toward you and dingy red ones facing you as it left. I don't think it had a license plate, but there was some yellow writing on it near the tire. It said 'Clean Me Off Asomething'."
This is no joke.
By independentminded
Mon, 01/12/2009 - 3:58pm
Not long ago I read of an incident in which a guy driving along some big state highway ( I forget which highway) was injured because some idiot who hadn't bothered to remove the big, hard mound of snow off of their car roof whizzed by, passed him and then got into the same lane. The snow blew off the offender's car roof, straight onto and through the other driver's windshield, shattering the glass and injuring him.
People....clean the snow off of your car roofs before starting out!! Some people clearly don't, and there should probably be a law requiring people to do that, too, frankly.
Last year the state police
By anon
Tue, 01/13/2009 - 9:50am
Last year the state police had initiative to go out and ticket these guys after the storm, as it's becoming a bigger and bigger problem.
Good on them!
Yup, esp. if it causes an accident.
By jchristian
Tue, 01/13/2009 - 11:17am
It really does happen - guy I work with had a sheet of ice from SUV in front of him slide onto his hood, thereby bringing traffic to a halt and denting his hood. The SUV's insurance paid for everything & she was fined.
cambridge lets you report em online
By anon
Mon, 01/12/2009 - 12:51pm
http://www.cambridgema.gov/TheWorks/services/snow/...
At least make it look like you did some work
By adamg
Mon, 01/12/2009 - 1:26pm
Jason surveys his Southie block, is very disappointed in losers putting out cones for what looks like 30 seconds of work. My favorite is the second one, which looks sort of like a slip at a marina.
What kills me about this
By ShadyMilkMan
Mon, 01/12/2009 - 1:43pm
What kills me about this stuff is that it makes it impossible to park in a situation where it shouldnt be a huge problem. When you reserve a space your using it all the time, 24 hours a day. That means people cant just pull in and go etc. It creates this circus atmosphere where everyone has to reserve spots or otherwise they wont have a spot to park in when they get home (because everyone else has already reserved the spots.) I even know people in some areas that pull their cars out of the driveways to park in spots on the street and save those spots so they can keep the driveway open in case visitors come over and need a place to park. That just shouldnt be an issue when there is less then 6 inches of snow on the ground.
But all the local yokels in
By anon
Mon, 01/12/2009 - 1:56pm
But all the local yokels in Southie threatened to riot and burn the place down if they took away this illegal "tradition", and Mumbles conceded.
So whats a person to do?
I'd much rather not deal with this but us people living in Southie are pretty much forced to do so, less we lose out.
Why in gods name doesn't the city enact even, odd parking bans and plow to the curb? From what I've heard we're the only northern metropolitan city/state that somehow doesn't get how this benefits EVERYONE, for the minor inconvenience it causes during the storm.
Somerville
By independentminded
Mon, 01/12/2009 - 3:10pm
Somerville has this:
kind of policy.
What the city does is also notify people by phone in advance when a snow emergency will be in affect, giving residents 4 hours to move their cars off of that side of the street and warning them that parking will be banned on the even-numbered side of the streets, and that residents who're unable to find any space on the odd-numbered side of the street are allowed to park in designated municipal and school parking lots until the snow emergency is lifted, at which time there's a 2-4 hour time frame to move their cars out, or be ticketed and/or towed.
Some people...
By FightingEM
Mon, 01/12/2009 - 1:49pm
I came back from a friends early, early Sunday morning, and some masshole had a space saver in, get this, 6 inches of un-shoveled snow. I kid you not, not once ounce of shoveling had taken place in this spot since the storm started.
Who ever it was, they decided they were just going to save their space period, without bothering to shovel it.
Sorry buddy, but that's not even the point of using one to save a shoveled space. The idea is you did work, so you are loosely entitle to it for a small amount of time. Saving a space you did no work for on a public street? Tough luck man if you decide your gone for the night.
His milk crate was properly and promptly disposed of.
Amazed
By david_yamada
Mon, 01/12/2009 - 3:00pm
The interest expressed here about snow and snow removal -- with some great tales to boot -- is very telling.
This is a hugely unaddressed problem, perhaps because most of our elected officials don't have to worry about it as a part of their daily lives.
If ANY of these folks had to deal with skating across the ice, navigating mountains of snow, or risking nasty falls, would they be neglecting this problem?
You kidding?
By Kaz
Mon, 01/12/2009 - 3:46pm
One of those folks ("what do you mean 'you people'?") neglected this problem at his own home in defiance of the law, even *after* it was pointed out to him and put in the news!
Exactly, david_yamada.
By independentminded
Mon, 01/12/2009 - 3:52pm
Often enough, I also notice that, while people have definitely shoveled off their sidewalks, they haven't bothered to salt them down, so they're still quite slippery. Imho, not only should people be required to shovel their stretch of sidewalk after a big snowfall, but they should be required to salt them down with "ICE MELT" or whatever.
Lots of sand can do too
By Neal
Mon, 01/12/2009 - 7:00pm
As many communities ban the private use and sale of chlorides because it is terrible for the local water supplies. Burlington does this (and, according to my father who was on the Conservation Commission in the early 70s when it was enacted, was the first town ever to do so) and for the first few years, that ban even extended to the Town sand trucks. The law was later amended to allow for a very low salt to sand ratio on the public ways that are not in the aquifer zone. The Burlington Mall does not use salt in its lots nor do any of the shopping centers or office parks in that area.
tons of salt
By Anonymous
Tue, 01/13/2009 - 4:06am
City of Boston uses tons of salt. Sometimes, they pre-salt before the storm to create a thick slurry of slush which is readily plowed and doesn't ice. It all goes into the Charles. Makes you wonder what wildlife could survive in there and how salty the water is in the Winter.
At least you have the law
By David
Mon, 01/12/2009 - 11:42pm
At least you have the law behind you. Here in Andover only specific streets are required to have sidewalks cleared by residents or tenants, but not the one I walk on to work every day. Grrr.
Snow brings out the worst in people
By Anonymous
Tue, 01/13/2009 - 4:02am
Not necessarily. Early this snow season I noticed my neighbor, a single mom, was digging her car out. I gave her a hand and helped her clear out the snow between the curb and the sidewalk so she and her eight-year-old could easily access their car. Then we dug out her landlords car. The neighbor across the street had a big job and so the two us went over and helped him. We pay all pay it forward. Now, when it snows, we help each other and it makes the work go by fast.
We also have taken to moving our cars off the street. After a few phone calls to DPW they'll actually plow to the curb. It makes SUCH a big difference not shoveling all the snow on the street.
how to always have a parking spot
By bostnkid
Tue, 01/13/2009 - 7:49am
move out of city, buy house with driveway.
Or ...
By adamg
Tue, 01/13/2009 - 8:37am
Move out of the more crowded neighborhoods and buy a house in Roslindale, West Roxbury or Hyde Park with a driveway ...
Or if you don't want to live in the boonies
By eekanotloggedin
Tue, 01/13/2009 - 4:39pm
Buy a house in Dorchester, Roxbury, Jamaica Plain, Charlestown, East Boston, or Cambridge with a driveway.
Or buy/rent a parking space in an alley or garage near your house. Or live in one of the highrises with a garage.
Anyway, there's a way to have dedicated parking damn near anywhere, but it involves you actually owning or renting the space. Not just being an asshole and thinking that public property is somehow yours.
I've always thought it might be a good idea
By Neal
Tue, 01/13/2009 - 10:36am
to have cars park on the sidewalks on some of the streets that have wide sidewalks (IE: Boylston St, Tremont St, Columbus Av etc) during snow emergencies. That way the the plows can make it to the curb and sidewalk clearing will be much easier, since they will be covered by the cars. When the snow emergency is over, the cars can move back to the street and the sidewalks will (generally) have much less snow and be much easier to clear.
Many times sidewalks have
By ShadyMilkMan
Tue, 01/13/2009 - 10:45am
Many times sidewalks have things like pipes and wires under them and can not handle the weight of an SUV or large car for very long without negative consequences.
I also am reluctant to encourage cars being on a surface normally resverved for people , especially in cold slippery conditions with low visibility.
Like the dreaded hollow sidewalks along Tremont Street?
By adamg
Tue, 01/13/2009 - 11:12am
I always picture them opening up late at night to let the gremlins out.
An even better solution:
By independentminded
Tue, 01/13/2009 - 4:24pm
The city(ie) and/or towns should issue parking bans one side of the street during a declared snow emergency in the event that a major winter storm is in the forecast, designate municipal and school parking lots and/or garages for residents who can't find parking spaces due to the temporary on-street, snow emergency-related parking bans, and then enforce it firmly, by ticketing and towing any car(s) that are still on the street after the 2-4 hour time frame for moving one's vehicle during that snow emergency. That way, streets would be better plowed, and people would be happier, and feel less of a need to reserve parking spaces for themselves.
The same thing can be said for the rules requiring people to shovel and salt down their sidewalks, walkways, porches and doorsteps. That rule should be enforced, and the people who're either unaware of the rules or are just willfully stupid should be made to buckle down and comply, or be fined. People's safety really is at stake here.