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Citizen complaint of the day: 15 spaces savers in 3 blocks

A fed-up citizen reports that not only did city action fail to dislodge space savers in the area of Sumner and Maverick streets in East Boston, they are multiplying, several days after the last snow emergency ended and people were, you know, supposed to stop saving spaces:

I counted 15 savers across three blocks of Sumner alone after this case was closed. Please address and do not close without adequately resolving.

Note: Complaints about space pigs are also flooding in from JP, Dorchester and, of course, South Boston. Especially South Boston.

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Comments

While I'm not shocked by the amount of space savers after this most recent "storm", I do find the most arrogant part of the space saver culture is the complete lack of actually shoveling out the entire spot.

Talk about a bunch of entitled townies and yuppies, too lazy to shovel out the spot fully but certainly they will jump at the opportunity to slash someones tires, leave a strongly worded note or some other passive aggressive/violent act.

Over/under on this reaching 100+ comments?

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All tha cars loaded up with snow from the last storm, which was over a week ago? This is no different than leaving a cone in a parking spot. If you don't drive your car in over a week, get rid of it. This is why we have a shortage of parking spaces.

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Interesting idea. You don't think it's enough that people who own cars but only infrequently use them have to bear the burden of their costs: maintenance, insurance, depreciation, inspection, the time consumed shoveling them out, moving them for street cleaning, finding places to park in a crowded neighborhood, etc.? What if I use my car several days a week some weeks, and not at all in others: do I get to keep it based on my average usage? Have you considered running for office so you have a shot at getting this batshit idea enacted into law?

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Isn't there a city ordinance on how long a car can be kept in a spot before it is considered abandoned? I know we have to clear the windows within 24 hours so that our parking sticker is visible.

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They ticket for this offense aggressively in the Back Bay and South End, hardly at all in Southie.

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Let us see if you can get spacesaving shoveled out parking spaces banned. That's ludicrous and you know that will never happen in Boston.

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But if your point is that the current crop of Boston politicians lack the backbone to make it happen, I agree.

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I don't think people should get rid of their cars if they don't drive them every week but I think it is a little rude to not at least clean it off, especially if you live in an area with permit parking or somewhere really crowded. It doesn't really bother me that much but I could see why some people look at it as an F U to the neighborhood. I'm more bothered by the people who don't clear the snow off their car and then drive it.

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I'm always amazed when a snowstorm reveals the number of people who don't drive for weeks on end. Sure, some of them might be traveling, but on literally every single block in most parts of Boston you will find 2-3 cars that haven't moved since before last week's storm. Not all of them can be out of town.

One method to discourage people from keeping cars they don't need would be to make it more expensive. You should have to pay at least $50 a year for the first resident parking sticker and significantly more for each additional one. And the city's annual excise tax on cars should be higher in neighborhoods with good transit and bad parking, as well as higher for second or third cars.

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I'd favor a sliding scale for the cost of a parking permit based on your vehicle's length, for one. (Just thought of that this second.) More subsidies and city-provided parking spaces for car-sharing services like Zipcar and bike-sharing services like Hubway. The obvious one is improvements to the overall quality of MBTA service, but I'm not that crazy a dreamer.

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News flash!! You don't get to decide who needs a car and who doesn't or how often people must drive their cars. What will you people bitch about when winter's over? When there are no more space savers to become unraveled about, I'm betting your boring lives will be even more miserable. It's hilarious.

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"What will you people bitch about when winter's over? When there are no more space savers to become unraveled about"

Are you kidding? You think there are no space savers when winter is over? People in my East Boston neighborhood use them year round as a matter of course. They think it is their right.

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when you don't have us to bitch about?

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However, demanding public property for private car storage without paying for that "reserved" parking, is, shall we say, an unfair subsidy to those who drive?

But I'm sure you would be the first to bitch if the city handed out free T passes to low income residents - even though that is probably less of a subsidy than free parking all year.

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Don't worry, the swirlyites of the world will have no trouble finding a new loony non-issue to bitch and moan about.

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To those of us who actually pay for the space that our vehicles take up in Boston.

Gotta love the people who not only space save at home, but have all these mysterious South Boston resident spots in a non-residential area near the $19 a day parking lots that they space save as well.

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here who complain and are obsessed with space savers even live in the City of Boston? When I moved to the City, I was one of the ones who erroneously had reservations about saving parking spots after a snowstorm. But you know what? It works and it works for me. So please, get over it or move to the City and find out for yourself.

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I'll go out on a limb and say 100% of the people filing complaints about this live in Boston, because somebody who's just commuting in isn't going to be worrying about finding a parking space.

Hmm, maybe I should link to some of the complaints from South Boston about people with out-of-state license plates taking up parking spaces. Wonder how many of those are fourth-generation Southie residents trying to save on car insurance?

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Anti South Boston man

demonize
lampoon
divide
deride
and do it often

J Goebbels 101

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RI car in South Boston

Filed just this morning from Columbia Road (yes, silly, the South Boston end, of course!):

Car with Out of state license plate parked here over night in a visitors 2 hr space. Please enforce residential parking! Not fair to the people that live here.

Sorry if the reality of people complaining about out-of-staters parking in South Boston offends you.

Oh, and Godwin, Godwin, Godwin.

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One single nonresident car taking its chances overnight is much less unfair than the wholesale removal of all the nonresident parking that used to exist in Southie until a few years ago.

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Bravo. Out of state plates are one of my pet-peeves. I figure it costs the City of Boston over $1M in excise tax revenue for illegally registered cars principally garaged in the city. But BTD says it's the RMV's problem and BTD is lazier than detail cop in July.

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.

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Back in ancient history when EFF was still based near the Cambridgeside Galleria and he was the general counsel there.

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It's already pretty expensive to park your car on the streets of greater Boston for the most part. If you can afford to insure a car and pay excise tax and registration and pay to get a parking sticker and then you never drive your car, you aren't the kind of person who would care if they had to pay a little more money.

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Plenty of people regularly work from home and only occasionally have to go into the office. That's a good thing. Less pollution from the auto commuters. Don't knock it.

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Why don't all you whine bags park in the spot you were in before the storm?

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If you want a spot to call your own, pay for one.

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Here's an idea. Stop preaching to us urban apartment dwellers, driveway owning suburbanite.

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And ... you know why people with cars move outside Boston, right?

Really. Is it that hard to imagine that IF you have a car in Boston you shouldn't bitch about parking?

Quite simple: you want to own a space then PAY FOR IT OR MOVE!

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You don't have to move all the way to the burbs if having a driveway is your deciding factor on where to live.

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So if I was in a pay garage before the storm, you want me to forgo parking on the street for how long, exactly?

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Why is it that everyone from South Boston is derogatorily referred to as either a townie or a yuppie? Don't any regular 'people' live there? Maybe that term has lost favor here because it's not mean spirited enough for the oh so superior U-Hub crowd?

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it's not mean spirited enough for the oh so superior U-Hub crowd

did you just hear what the Pot called you?

But, I guess launching sociopathically obsessive random ad-hominem attacks on other posters, even where they have not posted anything, isn't "mean spirited", eh?

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"Sociopathically, obsessive, random, ad-hominem attacks..." Wow Swirly, you really do need a hobby. Your ranting posts say it all. A valium might help

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Maybe you haven't noticed the incessant personal attacks by mr. "not mean" in nearly _every_ single goddamn thread?

Sounds sociopathic and obsessive to me.

And, no, pointing out the irony of a petty little stalker doesn't mean that I need a Valium ... my vacuum is quite happy with me, thanks ... although a bike ride would be nice. However, I'd love to offer you some thorazine for your paranoid delusions and bizarre incoherent outbursts.

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to set it off

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.. non-troll ones?

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If they are looking for a large scale change in policy (by the city) then I can see the validity of the complaint. If they just want the city to remove them, why not do it? At least this would save city resources. This is like seeing citizens connect complaints for small pieces of trash, trash that could be picked up and deposited in the nearest trash can. Simply absurd. If everyone does a little, it adds up to a lot.

And maybe it could send the appropriate message to the offenders that space saving is not acceptable.

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Because the job of removing space savers, which should be done by the city at all times even right after a storm, should be reserved for well armed and armored personnel. The reason citizens should not do this on their own is because if the person who placed the space saver there spots or finds out who moved it, the person who moved it and anyone who parks in said spot could be in mortal danger. Thus the city should move such space savers themselves while at the same time engaging in detective work to locate and arrest the offender so that they can not perform any acts of revenge or violence. In fact the city could likely save money on range training of the bomb squad by allowing them to use such items as practice for detonating in place.

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Nuke it from orbit just to be sure.

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I'm pretty anti-drone but this might be a good use for them and all their pilots.

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Great idea...... Maybe we could see what the Guardian angels are up to these days!?!

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Pressure pots full of Folgers Crystals!

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And take retaliatory action against people who either move their space saver AFTER 48 hours or park an an open spot and unbeknownst to the driver, was "saved". I think it's better in this case for the city to follow up on action. Especially on trash day. It's easy to just throw space savers on the regular trash pick up routes.

One woman in the area of the complaint simply parked in an open spot this weekend and had her car vandalized and an expletive laced note left for her.

And, it's not yuppies and such I see as the worst offenders. It's a mix of everyone. Douchebaggery knows no social class.

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but please don't block the sidewalk as a result.

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Residents in East Boston are getting hammered with $25.00 violation tickets on their cars for no reason at all, legally parked with residential stickers on them wtf is going on here, where should we park. I will write a letter to the mayor tomorrow, because neighbors of my neighborhood who dont speak english and pay rent and taxes and need a space to park are waking up with tickets on their cars!!!

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Where is this happening? First off, their language is not a reason for special treatment. If they are in violation of posted signs, the law is the law. If it's a resident parking violation, which is $10 in Eastie...they need to comply with the rules. So the question is, WHY are the ticketed?..well, it says WHY right on the ticket. If it's incorrect fight it. If it's correct...PAY IT!

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I just counted at least a dozen on Paul Gore St. in JP. Again...48 hours kind of makes sense but this is ridiculous.

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They are for the valet from Triple D's............

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over to the Hi-Lo.

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Thank you for counting those space savers; most people have better things to do with their time.

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space savers? And it's this crazy talent I have--I can actually walk AND count trash cans (and TVs and baby car seats and chairs) at the same time. I know--it's pretty special.

Honest to God...you guys are too much.

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These people are obsessive compulsive and too preoccupied with whining about space savers. There's a lot worse going on in this world, but it makes the reading humorous.

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To hell with anyone who uses space savers. Ooohhh ur such a tough Bostonian better not get in ur way u tough space saver he-men.

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My guess is as soon as someone spends 45 minutes shoveling their car out, down to bare pavement and all the snow piled at the curb, then pulls away, you wipe a 4 inch peep-hole in the windshield of your Prius, pull out into the street, brush off whatever you can reach with minimal effort in 30 seconds, and slide your car into the center of their spot, where it sits until the next Babson alumni pub crawl. But that's OK, after thae guy that cleared your spot spends a day driving all over Metro=Boston doing service calls as an IT technician, and goes grocery shopping for his family of 4, hand can come back and shovel out another spot.

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Where the practice is rare and very strongly discouraged.

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Yes the lovely South End where they also removed the large recycling bins from my entire neighborhood last year. The city told me a constituent who is very vocal did not like their "aesthetics." Now we have less recycling and more loose trash, much more pleasing!

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I spent a fair amount of time and energy clearing out a spot down to bare pavement last week (and have many times previously, and will again)- and I have absolutely zero issue whatsoever with that spot being taken 10 minutes after we leave- I don't own the street so them's the breaks. It is frustrating that everyone else around us has a SUV and can plow in and out of unshoveled spots while our small car gets stuck- but again, them's the breaks. Shoveling sucks, but I fully support our neighborhood's decision to heavily frown on space savers. Flame away, but it's nice to feel like you live in an actual society.

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Sorry, Boston is not unique.

This is a huge thing in Chicago, too, but their space savers are more imaginative than ours.

http://chicagodibs.tumblr.com/

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OMG!! I love the bike rack space saver. That person deserves to keep the space

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Lots of space saving scum around Brookside in JP and as I had suspected would happen this morning I think I saw the first casualty. A gray station wagon with every window smashed, spray painted, gas tank pried open. My guess would be retaliation for someone "stealing" a spot.

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So says the Facebook page of Caught In Southie, at least.

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I think these space-saver threads have passed the biker versus car threads as my morning light reading. Hilarious stuff.

I've lived in JP for over a decade and have always managed to find a spot just fine, even after the biggest storms. It might be a matter of luck, who knows. I did see some unhinged ranting about people "stealing spots" a block from my house over the weekend so maybe it is a matter of timing.

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Space savers should be fine for 48 hours after a parking ban. Street cleaning schedule should be in effect year round, winter time rather than a sweeper, it's a major heavy weight snowplow. If your car isn't moved, isn't cleared of snow...it's towed. All the snow is cleared from the street and abutters have 24 hours to clear the sidewalks to as close to the curb, but not into the street as possible. Small side streets will have one side designated as the snow-catch side. Trash removal will include all space savers after 24 hours from storm. Anyone caught putting a space saver out 48 hours after a storm is subject to a $250 fine. BTD will start looking for cars throughout the city with out of state plates. Any vehicle with a principle garaging in the city with out of state plates will be ticketed and towed and not released until all back excise tax, sales tax, and registration fees are paid in full; if not paid in 30 days vehicle is to be auctioned for recovery of fines. Pig parking to become a ticketable violation of $100. Resident parking permits go to $200/yr.

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The truth is that in Southie, hardly anybody actually shovels the spot. They clear just enough to pull their car out and then put whatever cone they've stolen or large piece of garbage they can find to save "their" spot, which is not only illegal but trashy. You don't own that spot and you don't deserve that spot. It's public parking. When you bully other drivers, you force employees and potential costumers of the local businesses to circle around and around looking for parking while they pass one empty spot after another. You, my selfish Southie neighbors, are discouraging a healthy business community. You have only yourselves to blame when your little local grocery store or pizza place shuts down because nobody can get to it. So give it up and if you have to come home at night and look for a spot, that's the price you pay for NOT paying for a spot.

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