Memo to newcomers: Residential parking permits
Contrary to what you might read elsewhere, not "every car owner" in Boston has a residential parking permit, nor has every car owner:
probably been towed, maybe more than once, and certainly faced the wrath of those roaming parking cops.
If you've never ventured past the Fenway cineplex, you might find it hard to believe, but there are large sections of the city where people live in single- or two-family homes, where parking is reasonably plentiful and nobody has a residential sticker (then there's Southie, where nobody has stickers because, well, that's just the way it is).
I have lived in Roslindale (yes, Roslindale is part of the city of Boston) going on 12 years now, don't have a sticker, have never been towed and have never seen anybody get a ticket.
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Relax
We get it man, they're new and you know more about the area. Your king hat is on the way.
No, it's not quite that
It's really the know-it-all tone of the writing that bugs me, not that they're new - if you're going to be a know-it-all, you should, well, know it all (so maybe I should be writing "Memo to know-it-alls ...").
I hope that hat comes in extra large for my swelled head. ...
Rozzie
Aren't there residential parking signs on the two streets that lead from the Rozzie Village commuter rail station to the back of the Arboretum? Or is my memory playing tricks on me? (I haven't walked those streets since last fall.)
I think you're right
There's also residential-permit parking near one of the commuter-rail stations in West Roxbury (it's on LaGrange, not sure if the stop is called that). But almost all of Roslindale and West Roxbury is permit-free. This isn't to say there are no parking issues here (especially in winter when the parking cones and chairs come out), but when it comes to parking, this really is a different world from, say, Allston/Brighton.
Well, in fairness . . .
. . . maybe I'm biased, since I'm a regular contributor to bostonist (though not the author of the piece that raised your ire), but I think it's not such an exaggeration to say that everyone who drives has faced the dilemma of city parking. For example, although parking is easy in my neighborhood in Somerville, I have had run-ins with the long arm (and tow truck) of the law in various parts of neighboring cities (to which one must inevitably travel from time to time). And that's really the problem - it's functionally one big metropolis, but there's a confusing patchwork of different city governments and even varying rules within cities (case in point, parking-friendly Roslindale vs. tow-happy Fenway (which I learned the hard way, on Easter Sunday, of all days!)). So even Roslindale residents are likely, from time to time, to confront the parking problem in other parts of Boston. The fact is, most folks who don't live in Boston are unlikely to "venture past the Fenway cineplex" because, well, as you say, it's largely residential neighborhoods and if you don't know someone there, you won't go there. I know plenty of long-time Boston/Somerville/Cambridge residents who have never (or almost never) been to Roslindale, Roxbury, Dorchester, or Mattapan (to say nothing of the less exciting and commercial parts of Cambridge). I don't think any slight was meant toward Roslindale, nor any implication that it's any less a part of Boston. Parking is just complicated in the Boston area generally.
All good points, but ...
Yes, parking sucks in many areas (former Brighton resident here), and yes, the Boston area is a confusing quilt of jurisdictions. What set me off (again, I need to relax) is Bostonist's use of the absolute statements. The item in question said "all" Bostonians have faced the ire of the parking enforcement officer in their neighborhoods and have parking permits. Just not true. Don't assume that the problems faced by 20-something BU grads living in Brighton or the Fenway are the same as those faced by homeowners in Dorchester, Mattapan or West Roxbury - who I realize do not make up the demographic Bostonist is going after but who do make up the majority of Boston's population.
Agreed
You are inarguably right, if not terribly forgiving. I, for my part, will endeavor to avoid needless generalization in my bostonist posts.
Sorry, but...
Well, I suppose I understand what you're saying about the use of over-general statements in my Bostonist post, but really, gimme' a break here! I was writing about a simple contest that the City of Cambridge is sponsoring -- not making some profound statement about the state of humanity in the Boston area. You really shouldn't take such issue with a statement made in something that's really nothing more than a "fluff" piece.
And, BTW, I'm NOT a BU grad living in Brighton or the Fenway. Though I am *not* originally from Boston, I have lived in JP (parts with AND without parking permit requirements), Cambridge, and am intimately involved in SOmerville politics. I take issue with YOUR absolute statement there.
Hey, Bostonist writers:
Hey, Bostonist writers: please stop copping out and making excuses. Acknowledge what was said and move on. Take some resposibility for what you wrote if you were wrong.
If you did it in a funny way and in keeping with the Bostonist persona or style or whatever you guys call it, that would go a long way, too.
ok, so let me get this straight...
Ok, Ward, so let me get this straight...
It's ok for people here to do what we're accused of (making "absolute statements") but as soon as we call it, we're the poor sports.
Why's that?
I live right at the
I live right at the Somerville-Cambridge line. Whenever I give a visitor a parking permit, I also have to go outside and make sure she has parked in Somerville rather than Cambridge. The two cities' permit-parking-only signs look very slightly different, but only someone who lived here would tell them apart.
A good trick . . .
. . . for knowing which city you're in is to check the resident permits of the cars already on the street (round = S'ville, rectangular = C'bridge) - residents are the most likely to know where the line is on any given block, since they know, at a minimum, which city their house is in (most times, anyway). It's a pity the cities don't post where the line is everywhere, instead of just on the main thoroughfares. (By the way, does anyone else notice those spots, like on Hampshire/Beacon Street, where one city has recently re-paved while the other hasn't? Just outside Inman Sq., Cambridge appears to have given Somerville a gift of three feet of new asphalt.)
[yawn]then there's Southie...
[yawn]then there's Southie, where nobody has stickers because, well, that's just the way it is[/yawn]
in reality there are plenty of parking stickers in South Boston. People who live here but have never visited half the city might not realize you are joking.