A disgusted citizen filed a 311 complaint about BTD's callous disregard for Beacon Hill residents by refusing to send in a squadron of ticket writers to ding people parking illegally on Brimmer Street to attend Sunday services at an unspecified church on Mt. Vernon Street (Church of the Advent?):
Called in illegal parking violations to be told by parking enforcement officers, that because the church is open on Mount Vernon street, they will not ticket. Why do I get a ticket for parking illegally but if you want to go to church you don’t. This nonsense is taking parking away from beacon hill residents in favor of those coming from outside of beacon hill to park at church. If they need to park, they can pay at a garage or park at a meter.
Ed. note: Boston meters are free on Sunday.
Like the job UHub is doing? Consider a contribution. Thanks!
Ad:
Comments
wow
By W.C. Plains
Sun, 07/07/2024 - 1:00pm
Put this person next to "asshole" in the dictionary. People in Beacon Hill. Provincialism at its worst. Which in Boston is saying something
Am I missing something here?
By Bob Leponge
Sun, 07/07/2024 - 1:52pm
You could argue either in favor of or against resident parking, but without taking a position on that, why does asking the city to enforce its own laws fairly and equitably make one an asshole?
Beacon Hill has, if I recall correctly, about 1,600 parking spaces on public streets. Mass General Hospital, at one end of the neighborhood, has around 8,000-10,000 employees. The state house, at the other end of the neighborhood, has a few thousand more employees. There are over 5,000 valid parking stickers issued to Beacon Hill residents. The resident parking permit system by no means gives anyone a reserved space; it gives the people who live in the neighborhood a fighting chance of finding a space occasionally.
Because W.C. (OP)
By robo
Sun, 07/07/2024 - 4:05pm
Assumes everyone in Beacon Hill is rich and W.C. is not. Haters always gonna hate.
Beacon Hill Demos
By Liz
Mon, 07/08/2024 - 6:07am
For those who mock the folks on Beacon Hill for being “rich”, you really don’t know how diverse that neighborhood is. As some have mentioned, the hill is full of apartments and condos and subsidized housing. It is way more than the “pearl clutchers” that some of you like to mention when you react to some post about the area. The rich do not need to park on the street. They have garages and they use Acorn. Really, folks, it’s full of schmoes and working stiffs. Give us a break. I don’t know who dialed in the complaint. Who are these inner city church goers that need to drive to a downtown church? Commons Parking garage is pretty affordable.
Nothing clashes more with the …
By Lee
Sun, 07/07/2024 - 5:33pm
… architectural beauty of an historic neighborhood like Beacon Hill than hundreds of garish ugly cars jammed up all over the sides of the roads.
The sidewalks should be widened and all on street parking should be banned on Beacon Hill.
There are conflicting policy objectives
By Bob Leponge
Sun, 07/07/2024 - 6:46pm
There are conflicting policy objectives in play. I’d love us to turn away from automobile culture, automobile-centric civic planning, and automobile-centric urban streetscapes. I also like that Boston is trying to preserve its downtown neighborhoods as places that a variety of kinds of people actually live, as opposed to it being all airBnB and rich empty-nesters’ pieds-a-terre.
Much as I wish it were otherwise, the broader society has not yet migrated away from automobile dependency enough that most families can easily live car-free. If you want to make downtown attractive to people who are living broadly within the mainstream, there needs to be some concession to cars.
I think the resident parking programs are a reasonable set of compromises.
beacon hill is too wealthy for residential parking
By cinnamngrl
Sun, 07/07/2024 - 7:46pm
If you can afford to live there AND own a car then afford a parking space. No residential parking would not take away anyone's car. The people that actually need a parking space in beacon hill are the service workers. The idea that this system prevents workers from parking in Boston during the day is stupid. It really should not apply to neighborhoods above a median income. But no politician has the courage to change it.
If you can afford to live
By Bob Leponge
Sun, 07/07/2024 - 8:46pm
You understand that parking spaces in the neighborhood sell for over $500K, right? Not everyone who lives there is that kind of rich And that the waiting list for rental spaces is many years, in part due to Mass General’s insatiable appetite for parking; they have outcompeted us for the available rental spaces and has gobbled them all up.
That sounds a lot like “if you live in a high income neighborhood but don’t yourself happen to be rich, screw you.”
not being rich doesn't entitle you to reserved parking.
By cinnamngrl
Mon, 07/08/2024 - 1:30pm
If you live in Beacon Hill, you have many options. There is plenty of transportation available. Shops and services are within walking distance and there is a subway.
No residential parking doesn't take your car away. Residential parking also hurts small businesses. It seems like you are saying I am entitled to this privilege because of my zip code, but screw all the people that work to make my neighborhood walkable.
How about this. Only cars worth less than 20K get stickers?
Pathetic
By merlinmurph
Mon, 07/08/2024 - 6:21pm
This is right up there with "the roads weren't built for cars".
So, you want to allocate city resources (parking spots) in one section of Boston (Beacon Hill) based on a supposed ability to provide themselves with other means of transportation. Wow.
What other resources do you want to deny them, just because they have more money than you?
FWIW, if your $20k idea were implemented, I would just buy some car worth <$20k. There, that was easy.
Pathetic.
That would be a smart choice
By cinnamngrl
Tue, 07/09/2024 - 9:02am
Cars are a terrible investment. The city allocates many resources by income. Stop making it weird.
It is pretty obvious that beacon hill wasn't made for cars.
Other cars
By merlinmurph
Tue, 07/09/2024 - 5:05pm
Of course, they have 2+ other cars worth >$100k parked in garages elsewhere for trips to Chatham and Stowe. The junker is for local trips to Costco, Whole Foods and Home Depot.
Except for the rare collector, nobody ever buys a car as a financial investment. They are very well aware of that, but thanks for stating the obvious.
That's too funny. You're the one proposing ridiculous rules and I'm the weird one. Got it.
What is ridiculous is your
By cinnamngrl
Tue, 07/09/2024 - 7:30pm
What is ridiculous is your entitlement.
Reserved parking?
By Bob Leponge
Mon, 07/08/2024 - 8:04pm
What is this “reserved parking” of which you speak? The ratio of stickers issued to available street spaces is over 5:1. A sticker isn’t a reserved space, it’s merely a lottery ticket: on any given day you might or might not get a space.
5 to 1
By cinnamngrl
Tue, 07/09/2024 - 9:03am
Please show your source on that.
Here’s one source
By Bob Leponge
Tue, 07/09/2024 - 4:54pm
It was over 4:1 in 2000. I don’t have a more recent report at hand, but I have heard city officials say 5:1 pretty often
https://www.cityofboston.gov/transportation/access...
Seriously?
By merlinmurph
Sun, 07/07/2024 - 8:56pm
Are you still pushing that crap? You forgot the part where the residents can afford car services to drive them. Totally delusional.
what is so wrong with asking
By cinnamngrl
Tue, 07/09/2024 - 9:04am
what is so wrong with asking you to be responsible for your belongings?
How am I being irresponsible?
By merlinmurph
Thu, 07/11/2024 - 9:59pm
.
You are making the city of
By cinnamngrl
Fri, 07/12/2024 - 7:22am
You are making the city of boston responsible for storage for your car by reserving public property.
Pathetic once again
By merlinmurph
Fri, 07/12/2024 - 8:30am
That's just a whacko statement of yours.
I don't even live in Boston.
For those that do, providing parking is a service the city decides it wants to provide. People taking advantage of that service are not irresponsible, they are merely using that resource provided by the city. If you don't like the city providing that service, write a letter saying so stating your alternatives.
That's 3 letters you need to write now. Need some paper?
free reserved parking is not
By cinnamngrl
Fri, 07/12/2024 - 2:35pm
free reserved parking is not helpful to small business. Does the city want to provide free reserved parking or is the administration afraid to change it?
Policy change
By merlinmurph
Fri, 07/12/2024 - 5:09pm
There you go again making bullshit claims.
No city councilor would touch that policy change. None. If they did, they'd lose their next election.
But really, write your letter to your rep. That's the only way they'll know.
So you agree they are afraid
By cinnamngrl
Sat, 07/13/2024 - 1:59pm
So you agree they are afraid to do what is best for city.
What Beacon Hill needs ….
By Lee
Mon, 07/08/2024 - 8:36am
… is a public shuttle van service to help people with mobility issues or just lugging groceries up the hill. Lack of that is a reasonable excuse for some residents to drive a car up Beacon Hill.
Same with Mission Hill and other hilly neighborhoods of Boston not yet served by adequate public transportation.
Mission Hill has that
By Ron Newman
Mon, 07/08/2024 - 8:43am
Mission Hill Link
Thanks.
By Lee
Mon, 07/08/2024 - 4:18pm
That’s news to me.
What a great idea!
LMFAO
By LarryW
Tue, 07/09/2024 - 8:47am
What about the poor babies with rental cars and the millions of mythical traveling nurses!?! You are so pathetic. You should be banned.
No, they are actually an a-hole
By BostonEd
Sun, 07/07/2024 - 9:24pm
I’ve lived on the hill for many years. Parking on Sunday mornings is as easy as it gets. Anyone complaining about churchgoers taking parking spaces is a douche.
we have an elected city council
By Bob Leponge
Sun, 07/07/2024 - 11:15pm
We have an elected city council. If you and other like-minded neighbors believe that street parking shouldn't be limited to cars with resident stickers on Sundays, by all means lobby to get the rules changed. In the meantime, asking the city to enforce its own laws does not an asshole make. Arguably it was slightly dickish to bring the church into it; for my taste the complainer should have left the church out of it altogether, and simply, without editorializing, asked BTD to step up enforcement.
You are spot on
By Plen-T-Pak
Mon, 07/08/2024 - 11:39am
Rules are rules and all this classist judgement is BS. Yes complaining about churchgoers was a poor decision.
The same thing happens on
By Don't Panic
Mon, 07/08/2024 - 2:42am
The same thing happens on Blue HIll Avenue every Sunday starting near Simco's.
I'd like to believe it is because of services at St. Angela Merici Catholic Church but I'm pretty sure it may be spill over from Jubilee Christian Church International which, even though it is surrounded by parking, is largest Protestant church in Eastern Massachusetts with a congregation of over 6800 people.
That the city doesn't have
By Ben
Sun, 07/07/2024 - 1:00pm
That the city doesn't have their attendants out on Sundays is a weird anachronism that costs the city $$$ (fines) and hurts businesses because spaces don't turn.
Lovely Rita
By SupGup
Sun, 07/07/2024 - 3:20pm
I spotted a BTD employee walking my residential street in Roslindale checking for inspection stickers/registration. (I happen to live in a neighborhood that does not have Resident stickers and plenty of on-street parking - so not much else they could be checking for.)
residential parking hurts
By cinnamngrl
Sun, 07/07/2024 - 7:47pm
residential parking hurts businesses.
Sound policymaking
By Bob Leponge
Sun, 07/07/2024 - 11:33pm
And free-for-all parking, in a neighborhood whose major employers have many more commuting employees than there are residents living there, hurts residents.
It's a finite resource. Allocating it between businesses and residents is a zero-sum game.
Sound policymaking examines the interests of multiple constituencies and reflects the particulars of the local situation. It seldom pleases everyone.
metered parking can fix that
By cinnamngrl
Mon, 07/08/2024 - 1:32pm
Charge a low price for parking during business hours.
RPP benefits residents
By LarryW
Mon, 07/08/2024 - 8:17am
non-residents can fuck right off
It does not benefit residents…
By Lee
Mon, 07/08/2024 - 4:24pm
… that do not own cars because they are too conscientious and/or too low income to own one. But who occasionally need to rent or borrow one and have just as valid as reason to want to park near their home.
These residents are disadvantaged by resident permit parking only.
Residents who require visiting nurses are also disadvantaged by this restriction as many nurses need to come to them by car because of their schedule or the equipment they carry with them.
I rent cars from time to time
By Bob Leponge
Mon, 07/08/2024 - 8:09pm
I rent cars from time to time. Getting a temporary resident parking permit for a rental car has never taken me longer than about 10 minutes at City Hall.
10 min at city hall plus time just getting there and back.
By Lee
Mon, 07/08/2024 - 9:39pm
Not that easy for anyone who doesn’t live next door on Beacon Hill.
And if you can’t use a rental permit for a borrowed car or a visiting nurse’s car.
Boston doesn’t give out visitor parking permits.
Any street that lacks RPP
By LarryW
Mon, 07/08/2024 - 8:40pm
inevitably becomes a haven for commuters and car dumpers that don't live there. RPP has 2 hour visitor spaces that make your fake pleas moot.
What’s so great about 2 hours in a rare visitor parking space?
By Lee
Mon, 07/08/2024 - 9:36pm
Just because you live in a neighborhood does not mean you have rights to public property.
Get over yourself.
aCkShUaLlY it does
By LarryW
Tue, 07/09/2024 - 8:50am
Cry harder baby
Streets with RPP are havens
By cinnamngrl
Tue, 07/09/2024 - 10:57am
Streets with RPP are havens for car storage. The cars on beacon hill sit all week until they have to rush off to their ferry reservation to Nantucket.
Ok...but...
By lbb
Tue, 07/09/2024 - 11:52am
...if YOU don't own a car, why do you care? Because it means that the city is not totally car-free? Is your goal to create as many disincentives as possible to remove all motor vehicles from Boston?
If you don’t have a car …
By Lee
Tue, 07/09/2024 - 2:16pm
…. you still have an incentive to care. For many reasons. You may want to park a borrowed car or a rental car or have home health care aides coming to your home. You may have visitors coming that cannot park on the street. Even a resident with a residential parking permit for their own vehicle might have need of parking for any of the above.
Agreed...
By lbb
Tue, 07/09/2024 - 2:36pm
...with all of the above. So how do you reconcile that with the following statement?
I didn’t make the second statement.
By Lee
Tue, 07/09/2024 - 2:49pm
.
But...
By lbb
Wed, 07/10/2024 - 11:40am
...that was the statement that my comment was responding to. So shouldn't you have taken that into account in your response?
No.
By Lee
Wed, 07/10/2024 - 5:01pm
.
Lol
By robo
Tue, 07/09/2024 - 2:51pm
Your soap box just broke from under you while everyone was watching.
lol
By lbb
Wed, 07/10/2024 - 11:41am
You're SUCH a dummy. All that flew right over your head.
No one really needs a car to
By cinnamngrl
Tue, 07/09/2024 - 7:34pm
No one really needs a car to live in beacon hill. But because of the free reserved parking ownership is cheaper. All the while it hurts the small businesses working on beacon hill.
Who says?
By merlinmurph
Tue, 07/09/2024 - 9:16pm
Who are you to tell someone what they do and don't need? Talk about entitlement. And what is this fixation on Beacon Hill?
Once again, a totally ridiculous statement.
The article is about beacon hill
By cinnamngrl
Wed, 07/10/2024 - 1:03am
and someone being mad about resident parking not being enforced during a church service. It's like you have no concept of irony.
It's like you have no concept of reality
By merlinmurph
Wed, 07/10/2024 - 9:13am
.
The real world is holding
By cinnamngrl
Wed, 07/10/2024 - 10:15am
The real world is holding safety and local economy hostage because voters would murder anyone that tried to remove their reserved parking on city streets?
Cite, please?
By Bob Leponge
Tue, 07/09/2024 - 5:11pm
Please show your data. You think the people living in Beacon House, in 45 Myrtle, in the Faneuil School, in 250 Cambridge, in the SROs on Bowdoin and Hancock, on the upper floors on Charles St, in the old tenements on Irving, Garden, Phillips, and Joy streets are heading off to Nantucket on the weekend?
You can't prove any of your wild claims
By cinnamngrl
Tue, 07/09/2024 - 7:34pm
Just count the island stickers.
You don’t seem to understand
By Bob Leponge
Wed, 07/10/2024 - 9:03am
You don’t seem to understand that wealth follows a power law distribution rather than a Gaussian distribution. A group of 1000 people, 1 of whom is a billionaire and the remaining 999 are impoverished with zero wealth… the average wealth of that group is $1 million, but any policy that treats that group as a bunch of millionaires is ridiculous.
There are of course rich people in on Beacon Hill who live in big single family houses on the south slope, and who have Nantucket or vineyard stickers on their cars. In the overall demographics, they are a small minority. Walk around, look at the housing density. Comparatively, hardly anyone lives on Chestnut Street. The large majority of Beacon Hill residents live in small apartments. They aren't masters of the universe. They are things like nurses, medical residents, graduate students, college faculty, midlevel professionals. You seem to have a lot of hostility toward them, perhaps arising out of a misunderstanding of the demographics.
Nailed it
By merlinmurph
Wed, 07/10/2024 - 9:11am
That pretty much sums up c'girl.
It definitely sums up the
By cinnamngrl
Wed, 07/10/2024 - 10:16am
It definitely sums up the dishonesty of saying that beacon hill is a poor neighborhood.
Nobody said that
By Bob Leponge
Wed, 07/10/2024 - 10:43am
Nobody said that Beacon Hill is a poor neighborhood.
Beacon Hill has some very rich people in it. It also has some poor people in it. And it has a lot of people who are neither rich nor poor. Arguing that the person who owns an $8 million single family house and a second home on Nantucket is somehow representative of the neighborhood is no more reasonable than arguing that the guy living in SRO housing for the formerly homeless is representative of the neighborhood.
Median household income is $121K, compared with $94K for Massachusetts as a whole. So the neighborhood is well off, but not grossly so. 10% of people 18-64 years old are in poverty. 22% of people over 65 are in poverty.
https://data.census.gov/profile/02114?g=860XX00US0...
So you understand that is
By cinnamngrl
Wed, 07/10/2024 - 7:17pm
So you understand that is rich neighborhood that is located in the center of the all of the services. You are in walking distance of everything. You also feel entitled to reserved parking to the exclusion of all others.
People in Hyde Park walk a mile or 2 to public transportation. Why should the city reserve you a parking space to the detriment of the local economy?
Ignoring the data
By merlinmurph
Wed, 07/10/2024 - 10:05pm
So, Bob gives you the data and you ignore it. Classic c'girl.
Detriment of the local economy? Total bullshit claim. Typical.
I can't ignore data that isn
By cinnamngrl
Thu, 07/11/2024 - 7:24am
I can't ignore data that isn't provided.
We have ourselves a Trumper!
By merlinmurph
Thu, 07/11/2024 - 9:28am
You must be a Trumper.
You make up your own facts
Use totally irrelevant facts
Refuse to acknowledge facts when presented to you.
Congrats!
What facts were provided?
By cinnamngrl
Thu, 07/11/2024 - 9:31am
What facts were provided? not Bob's pronouncements, and not this 10 year link to something that doesn't really connect.
Exactly what a Trumper would say!!
By merlinmurph
Thu, 07/11/2024 - 10:02pm
Congrats, I can tell you've been studying hard. Send Steven Cheung your resume and your portfolio of alternative facts, you're just what they're looking for.
And 10 years old? The data is current, 2020-2022.
Pathetic.
Pages
Add comment