Hey, there! Log in / Register
Space savers continue to take root even as snow disappears
By adamg on Tue, 01/26/2016 - 8:34am
J shows us a space saver on Glen Road in Jamaica Plain.
Meanwhile, over in Dorchester, an outraged citizen filed a 311 complaint last night:
Space savers are all over Thelma and Train. My neighbors were yelling at each other over the saving of spots and it is becoming a personal safety issue. My husband had his tire slashed on Train St for the second time in as many years. I want the city to remove (not just move aside) the space savers. The fights are happening when someone moves someones saver even if it was the city that did it. Get rid of them.
And on Lydon Way in Dorchester, a resident spotted space savers that included bathroom sink, chairs, trash barrels, recycling barrels, orange cones, cardboard boxes.
On M Street in South Boston, one enterprising resident figured to save some time with the next storm: He or she used a snow shovel as a space saver.
Latest 311 complaints about space savers (although for the complete picture, you'll also need to scan the the litter complaints - such as this one about "some jerk" on E. 7 Street in South Boston).
Yesterday:
Person shot in the stomach in argument over Dorchester parking space.
The city has a message for space-saving Facebook users.
Citizen complaint of the day: Temper, temper.
Neighborhoods:
Ad:
Support Universal Hub
Help keep Universal Hub going. If you like what we're up to and want to help out, please consider a (completely non-deductible) contribution.
Comments
what. the. hell.
IT WAS FOUR INCHES.
To be honest by the end of last February, I was waiting and dreading reports of violence. People were at the ends of their ropes, the world was ending in slow motion, the rest of the country was using it as a big joke and the snow piles were bigger than everyone's cars. That was a situation where all this insanity made some kind of demented sense. That's when tire slashing and stabbing and shooting over parking was obviously inexcusable but possibly expected, considering the sheer insanity everyone had been pushed to.
This is four. goddamn. inches. MOST OF IT'S ALREADY MELTED. Did people just never dial down after last year?? I really don't understand.
Its about entitlement
I think after last year, people soon realized how hard it was to get parking and just starting this bad habit right away. Even a few weeks ago when we got a dusting, people were putting out space savers.
Yep, it all all about
Yep, it all all about entitlement. It really has nothing to do with snow. Some spoiled drivers just want to take everything they can. The mayor has only made this worse by giving these thugs everything they want.
I live 2 blocks from the JP photo above. As you can see there is plenty of parking spots. No one ever has to look for parking in that part of JP. The space saver has no use other than making the space saver user feel like a big tough guy for threatening their neighbors. They are overcompensating for something, clearly.
nice projecting
Which part of the street do you usually park in?
I would love to have a space
I could have my own garden plot, a place to grill, maybe have a summer dinner party.
Why not - you seem to get a free piece of land for your private use, I want one too!
I don't drive so I don't park
I don't drive so I don't park anywhere. I also don't leave garbage on the streets and sidewalks like these space saver users do.
Bingo !!!
Doesnt drive or park anywhere
I thought so.
And You Should Be Thankful
Rather than being all smug and trying to make it out like a person without a car is not making a quite valid point...
You should be kissing their ass.
They are paying for that spot you're using.
Their taxes are supporting your ability to park for free while they, themselves are getting nothing out of the money they spent.
Whoopity do
"My" taxes pay for lots of services I don't use, I don't think people should kiss my ass.
That's a bogus statement
Really? Let's make this clear: Everybody pays taxes. And nobody uses all the services that are funded by taxes. Get over it. Please. That is such a lame argument.
An oldie, but a goodie
When has the "MY TAXES PAYS YOUR SALARY" argument ever got you out of a speeding ticket?
You're right, Kinopio!
This business of putting down space savers, especially when there's not that much snow on the ground, has everything to do with the feeling(s) of entitlement that people have. They're like spoiled children who throw temper tantrums when they're told they can't have too many candies, or a new toy that they so badly crave.
There's something about parking...
Basically the instant we moved to JP, we would get passive-aggressive notes from our neighbors when we were parked in one of "their" spots in front of their building. We have friends here whose neighbors take it to the next level and leave out space savers all year round.
And witness the furious response whenever a housing development with fewer than 2 off-street parking spots per unit is proposed. Something about parking (not to mention driving!) just makes people insane. The additional difficulties posed by snow simply amps it up.
What street do you live on?
What street do you live on?
More than 4 inches
But in my front yard in Dorchester, it was 6 inches. Where the plow pushed back the snow next to my car it was 11 inches. Where the plow pushed back 2 lanes of snow on Mass Ave in the South End it was 15 inches pushed up against cars according to a friend who measured it.
I shoveled the 11 inches . It was heavy and a lot of work. In places where it went unshoveled it was frozen the next day, making it very difficult to park even if you smashed into it. I usually use a space saver but I chose not to.
On my street almost everyone used space savers last year. It was necessary and the system worked. My street is located close to the T, so a lot of people park on my street and walk to the T. If I didn't use a space saver I would not only lose the space I shoveled but in many cases I would have no place to park. I am not aware of any threats, vandalism or violence related to space savers anywhere in my neighborhood. None. Space savers do no cause violence or threats. A very small amount of a-holes cause the problems, and cause many other problems in the city too.
My next door neighbor is using a space saver right now. I chose not to, but it's ok with me if she or anyone else chooses to use a space saver.
Most of you who criticize the use of space savers don't have a car, or don't have to park on the street,and have no appreciation for the amount of work it takes to shovel a spot. If you lived on my street you would absolutely use a space saver at some point. I know a lot of you Uhub anti-saver people like to blame the "townies" but on my street it's the old timers and the brand new residents who use the space savers.
Unverified
"everyone used space savers last year. It was necessary and the system worked." -- You mean that it worked for everyone whose car was parked on the street when the storm hit and thus had a spot.
"I would have no place to park." -- You mean you would have had to walk farther to get from your car to your home.
"I am not aware of any threats ... related to space savers anywhere in my neighborhood." -- You mean, except for the implicit threat of vandalism that accompanies each and every space saver.
"Most of you who criticize the use of space savers don't have a car." -- You mean, you have no idea, but this wild assumption does support your position, therefore you will adopt it as true.
Also unverified
None of your suppositions are verified Robo. None. And some of your suppositions are false.
Throwing all this noise around doesn't make your arguments more valid. Move to my street and you will definitely use a space saver. I guarantee it . Not verified of course, but true.
You have three options
1. Grow up and accept that you don't own anything but your car
2. Get a driveway or pay for a space
3. Move to somewhere you have a space of your own
Some of us did this in our twenties. Some people like you need a clue for breakfast.
Irrelevant
1) My age is irrelevant
2) If you want to buy me a driveway or a space, I'll consider your offer. If you wont, your opinion is irrelevant
3) If you want to buy me a new house somewhere else, I'll consider your offer. If you wont, your opinion is irrelevant
Please proceed.
People's opinions of public
People's opinions of public property that they pay for is relevant.
Which ones?
Please, be as specific as possible!
Precisely
Leaving a cardboard box or a broken patio chair in the street only works to reserve a parking space because it carries the message "move this, and your car might be vandalized." It's essentially using a threat to steal a parking space from the community... not very neighborly.
(and before you ask, I own a car, drive every day, carry a snow shovel, and dig out a spot when I have to. I live in Hyde Park, and now have a driveway, but dealt with street parking for years in Somerville, Mission Hill, and Watertown.)
I don't agree
A person who removes a space saver to park their car is the one who is being aggressive and not "neighborly", not the person who shovels a space and marks the space. If you show up on my street and want to park, shovel your own space. I encourage you to mark it with a space saver. I shoveled my space. I didn't use a space saver this time, but I encourage you to use one if you think it's necessary .
Tens of thousands of us use space savers without any violence, real or perceived.
I realize that upsets many of you. But the good news is that the snow is melting. Many of my neighbors removed their space savers today. Now you can all go back to obsessing about bicycle lanes until the next snow storm.
Peace out.
just because
Just because everyone does it, doesn't make it right.
You're not suppose to text and drive, yet I see hundreds of people texting away on their cell phones every day.
Just because everyone does it, doesn't make it the right thing to do.
*runs*
Yeah and...
You're not supposed to smoke marijuana either but I do. There is nothing wrong with space savers. I didn't use one after this storm but I'll use one when I feel the need and everything will be ok, just like when I smoke marijuana.
As for texting a driving, I think that is a genuine problem.
Smoking weed
Smoking weed = no impact on neighbors
Space saving = impact on neighbors
There's your difference Cheech
No impact on neighbors, huh?
No impact on neighbors, huh? I'm looking forward to upcoming retirement to my childhood home in far northern New Hampshire—OK, mainly so I can have horses in my backyard again, but also so that I don't have another summer like the last one drenched in the stench of neighbors' various smoking materials.
(I'll admit I'm inconsistent—I do like woodsmoke in the winter.)
Wrong
My space saver does not impact my neighbors . They all have space savers too.
My weed smoking probably impacts them more. I can smell when my neighbor smokes his clove cigarettes and I hate the smell. I assume some of my neighbors smell my burning weed and the non-smokers especially may not appreciate it.
And I always liked Chong better anyway.
A person who removes a space
Excuse me? Parking your car in a public parking space is "aggressive"? But prohibiting your neighbors from parking in a public parking space is "neighborly"?
What's the weather like on the Bizarro World, anyway?
Thanks for asking
The weather is fine today. Warming up. Snow melting. Neighbors starting to remove space savers. Birds chirping. Life is good.
Three of my four immediately
Three of my four immediately surrounding neighbors are a cop, a nurse, and a firefighter. They work odd hours, often including third shift. I work days. If I shovel out my car before leaving for work in the morning and use a space saver, that parking space is off the market until I come home again, right? So where are the cop, the nurse, and the firefighter supposed to park when they come home from serving the community? If they shovel out their space in the mid-afternoon while I'm at work, where am I supposed to park when I come home? My crappy broken chair is sitting out there like a giant middle finger to the neighborhood, just because I happened to be home and awake when the snow fell.
If everyone shovels out the spot they're in when the snow comes down, there will be enough spaces for all those cars when they move around to other parts of the city. Once people start saving spaces, it automatically results in a parking shortage, because all those spaces are off the market to people who care about not getting their windows smashed and tires slashed. This shortage then makes the problem worse, as you then have no chance at all of finding an unsaved space.
When I lived in Mission Hill, street parking was pretty much at or over capacity. Nobody used space savers, and it was pretty rare that I would have to shovel out a second space. The number of cars magically matches the number of clear spaces, if everyone clears their initial space and nobody saves anything.
That all being said, I don't move space savers, because I can't afford the repairs if someone gets mad. But they are an un-neighborly system, and they only make parking problems worse.
Poor analogy
So, you leave for work at 8 AM, leaving the space you spent a half hour shoveling out for anyone to take. At 8:30 the nurse comes home from the overnight shift and parks in the space. The cop and firefighter work until 10. Where do they park when they get home?
In one of the other spaces
In one of the other spaces vacated by day shift workers?
But, but, but
What if every other day shift worker puts out chairs or whatnot?
And what happens when there is overlap?
(that said, it was a good comeback.)
That's the trick with space
That's the trick with space savers... Once one person on the block uses them, the whole system goes to hell.
It's definitely an example of
It's definitely an example of one of those logic/psych games they cover in Psychology 100. Prisoner's Dilemma maybe? Anybody?
2 of my immediate neighbors are cops too
They or their families shovel snow like the rest of us. The one that parks on the street uses space savers as does his entire family. The one with a driveway does not use a space saver.
I use a space saver.
There you go. I have a cop story just like you.
You don't get to decide the
You don't get to decide the law. Just because you have said its ok for your neighbor to break the law and use a space saver when there isn't a snow emergency doesn't make it legal, any more than if my neighbor says its ok for me to build a pig farm in my backyard, its still against the law.
What "law" exactly are you talking about?
It may be an ordinance, maybe a policy, probably just a statement by this mayor and the previous mayor. Please cite the law if there is one.
Regardless it's hardly ever enforced and for good reason. The current and previous mayors respect the reality of why people use space savers and don't see a problem with them. And what is the enforcement? Removal of the space saver. Most users of space savers don't mind if you take their broken old chair and put it in the trash truck. They will just find another one.
The exception is trash barrels and recycling containers which are used extensively as space savers and are never removed by the city, so far as I am aware.
I don't understand why so many Uhubbers work themselves into such a lather on this issue.
General Laws of The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
G.L. c.270, s.16-16A. Whoever places, throws, deposits or discharges or whoever causes to be placed, thrown, deposited or discharged, trash, bottles or cans, refuse, rubbish, garbage, debris, scrap, waste or other material of any kind on a public highway or within 20 yards of a public highway, or on any other public land, or in or upon coastal or inland waters, as defined in section 1 of chapter 131, or within 20 yards of such waters, or on property of another, or on lands dedicated for open space purposes, including lands subject to conservation restrictions and agricultural preservation restrictions as defined in chapter 184, shall be punished by a fine of not more than $5,500 for the first offense and a fine not to exceed $15,000 for each subsequent offense; provided, however, that 50 per cent of the fine imposed shall be deposited in the conservation trust established in section 1 of chapter 132A and the court may also require that the violator remove, at his own expense, the trash, refuse, rubbish, debris or materials. The permission of the owner of land to place, throw, deposit or discharge trash, refuse, rubbish, garbage, debris, scrap, waste or other material on the owner's land shall constitute a defense in any trial for such offense.
Interesting
But this law is never, has never, and never will be used in the case of space savers. So as I suspected there is no law about space savers.
Boo hoo!
Boo hoo!
Rule is for snow emergencies only. End of story. Dont like it? Get rid of your car. Ride a bike. Uber everywhere you go. Problem solved!
End of story, you say?
I have a car. I park on the street. I don't care about the 48 hour or snow emergency rule. It doesn't matter. Enforcement is either non existent or (rarely) removal of the space saver. I used a broken chair one year. It didn't matter to me if it was removed or not.
Here is the end of the story. Sometimes I use a space saver.
The End
Boo hoo to you too!
You don't seem to realize that the rule doesn't matter. People always have and always will use space savers. It's not a criminal offense and the only enforcement, if at all, is removal of the space saver.
So the joke is on you . Boo hoo.
I had no idea...
Sometimes I think I'm the only one who got a place with a driveway because not having to deal with street parking is important to me. I had no idea I could've just vandalized cars who dared park on whatever public space I deemed "mine" or left trash in the street to prevent others from parking there.
You're 0-fer...
I own a car, park on the street, and fully appreciate how much work it takes to shovel a spot. I also understand the notion of public property and the rule of law.
Are all you space-saver folks cool with the goings-on at the Malheur Refuge in Oregon? Because that group of clowns is taking your twisted logic to the Nth degree. Just because you want something to be yours, does not make it so. Abide by the snow emergency regulations around space-saving or pay for a private parking spot. It's pretty damn simple.
Sad tree
:-(
Memo to Charlie Brown
Christmas was last month
I'm not really one to call
I'm not really one to call things "manly" or "un-manly", but putting out a space saver 4 days after 4 inches of snow is definitely NOT manly.
Just checking
My neighbor, a woman, used a space saver after this storm.
I, a man, did not , but sometimes I do.
Any good sexist observations you want to share?
City and cars
I often consider moving back to Boston after I retire (currently in a burb). One of the reasons I find this plan so appealing is if I moved back to Boston proper, I WOULD NO LONGER NEED A CAR.
Everything in town is within walking distance, including South Station where I can get a train to go on vacation, or get to the airport. And I can pick up a rental car at the end of my journey if I need it.
Sheesh.
I WOULD NO LONGER NEED A CAR.
This is AMERICA!! The U, S of A!! And it's our God-given right to own as many cars as we want, regardless of whether or not we own enough property to store them!! If you don't like it, go back to Russia, you commie!!!1!1one
.... do you think?
Not to be overtly contrary, but what if you spontaneously decide that you want to take a trip to.... Maine? It's 9:00AM on a Saturday? In town, then you have to jump on a bus or train, figure out a train schedule, and hope that your destination also has decent transport... but probably just cabs.
If you have a car, you just get in, and drive :P
I really don't understand that mentality. That seems... overly-complicated.
Oh the horror
You might as well slash your wrists, amirite?
C'mon people really, REALLY!
C'mon people really, REALLY! Who actually needed to shovel to move their car? 6 inches in eastie, dusted off the car and bam good to go. If you have bald tires maybe shoveling was necessary, in that case you shouldn't be on the road unless you want to commit murder/suicide.
Honestly even last year with all the snow we got I think I shoveled out once maybe twice due to how dry and fluffy the snow was( I did help an elderly neighbor and shoveled a handicap spot out as well). Literally I kicked the snow around with my boots.
I can understand the frustration after spending 2 hours of digging out of 20+ inches of snow, it's not fun. Maybe then a space saver is ok ONLY a day or 2, but that's it. This is just unexcusable and childish. GROW UP PEOPLE!
P.S. Yes I do drive on a daily basis and no I don't have snow tires or 4wd!
Even in space saver applications
JP residents are environmentally sensitive while saving their Subaru space. They really ought to sell those trees at Whole Foods.
Have fun with all your 311 space saver removal requests
Usually, not always, space savers are removed on trash day. But many of us use blue recycling containers as space savers. Public works or their contractors obviously dont remove them on trash day. And they wont be removing them any other day either, because they would have to replace them later. They're not that stupid. And many people use trash barrels which obviously wont be removed on trash day either. And if they are removed on another day, a new one is available for $9.99 at the hardware store.
So all you space saver haters go crazy. Take your photos. Send them to the Mayor. Have fun.
I will continue to use my space saver as needed. The rest of you need to just chill.
I get it
Since you never recycle, it won't matter if it just vanishes one day.
Wrong itchy
I recycle a lot and was recycling long before Boston had a program when it was a challenge to find places to recycle. Your snarky comment doesn't even make any sense.
You are not from JP!
You seen too angry and cynical to be allowed to "coexist"..
Someone illegally using a
Someone illegally using a space saver tells others they need to "just chill". That is rich coming from someone who is going out of their way to steal public property and threaten others if they try to use said public property. A guy was shot over a parking space yesterday proving how dumb and wrong your "system" is.
"As needed"?!? There is no "need" to use a space saver. It snowed 4 inches. How lazy and selfish can you be.
Thanks Kinopio
You admitted today in another post that you don't own a car and don't park a car. That's all we need to know about your opinion on the matter.
Wrong on all counts
Illegal? Steal? Threaten? Wow, you need to chill even more than I previously thought.
Take a deep breath
So let me understand your remark. I am responsible because I use a space saver. Another poster said Mayor Walsh was responsible for murder because he allowed space savers.
Some critics of space savers are becoming unhinged. That wont make me stop using a space saver after I shovel my spot. If you had a car , you might understand.
Interestingly
No one, at least in this corner of the Internets, is blaming this shooting on an over abundance of guns in Boston, sadly ending up in the hands of people who would resort to shooting someone over a parking dispute.
Guns don't kill people,
Guns don't kill people, entitled rednecks kill people.
Space savers are a threat.
Space savers are a threat. That's how they work. Pretending that people who are now following through on that threat is some unhinged weirdo who has nothing to do with the systematic method of threatening their neighbors is disingenuous.
I disagree
I don't see space savers as a threat at all. I see them as an indicator that someone shoveled the space. I respect the value of their work. If I am looking for a parking spot, I don't work myself into a frenzy like so many of you apparently do. I just look for a spot elsewhere.
I don't see them as an indicator that someone shoveled the space
A space WITH NO SNOW ON THE PAVEMENT is an indicator that someone shoveled the space.
A pace saver is an indicator that the person who put it there is a entitled asshole.
And that makes you
And that makes you disingenuous. This is fucking Boston, home of the masshole -- if the system relied on "respecting the value of work", it wouldn't work at all. It's a threat that if you move it, your car may get vandalized, and that's why people in general don't move them and the accomplishes what it does. Even if you know you would never do something so petty and criminal, you're relying on a culture created by others.... like that asshole from eastie a few days ago. Everyone knows it, and if you're going to pretend otherwise then this is clearly a pointless discussion.
I don't know...It seems to me that space savers are unhinged.
It's the space savers that seem to be getting totally hinged, not the critics of space savers.
you gotta understand
The type of people who don't drive but will still whine endlessly about space savers aren't likely to make that connection. In their eyes, everyone who uses a space saver is an unhinged lunatic or townie thug, because the parts equal the whole.
A guy was shot over a parking space,
so in the minds of some, that means that "illegal" use of space savers is to blame. My neighbors have been known to have "illegal" loud parties after 11pm. If I decided to shoot my neighbors, would their loud party be to blame?
The answer is that the person shooting the gun is to blame. Yup.
Which is exactly why gun control is necessary.
When there are too many guns around, things are bound to get out of control, and people are more likely to be killed or permanently maimed over a loud party, a parking space in the winter, or tons of other stuff.
Mini-squatters' rights:
Mini-squatters' rights: maintain it and it's yours (temporarily).
All joking aside, I'm 5'5 and 110 lbs. At my most fit, with 6" of snow on the ground, it takes me 2 hours to shovel a space. Some people don't have the luxury of shoveling every half hour, due to things like sleep and work. I use space savers because if I didn't, some jackass who DIDN'T SHOVEL will take my space and I'll have to spend another two hours teasing an asthma attack.
Please note I'm generalizing, I don't necessary support using space savers when it's 4" and only snowed one day.
To the person who said that space savers state, "Don't take my spot or I'll slash your tires," you have a really dark view of the world and that's unfortunate. A saver means, "I worked really hard for it and I'm going to need it back *soon,* PLEASE don't take my spot!!!!"
Think of me next time you move a saver and pull your Bimmer into a space. "Public property! Nar nar nar...." And realize you're f'ng over someone much smaller than yourself.
Finally, dear saver-haters, it could be worse. In Worcester they use space savers year round, and there it *does* mean "move this & I'll slash your tires."
Thank you
While I disagree with almost everything you've written, this is helpful for me to understand how space savers justify their behavior. (No sarcasm).
some jackass who DIDN'T
Um, it's the PUBLIC's space - not yours. But thanks for playing.
I will definitely think of
I will definitely think of you next time I move a space saver. I move or throw them out when I am out for my walks. How does a space saver mean something different all the way in Worcester where it doesn't mean that here in Boston, where tires are slashed, violent threats are written to people who move space savers, and a person was shot over one the other day? People were using space savers well before the mighty 4 inches of snow in Boston, and there are many areas where people enforce "my space" rules year round in front of their house.There are plenty of these government services moochers in Boston.
Mini-squatters' rights:
Mini-squatters' rights: maintain it and it's yours (temporarily).
All joking aside, I'm 5'5 and 110 lbs. At my most fit, with 6" of snow on the ground, it takes me 2 hours to shovel a space. Some people don't have the luxury of shoveling every half hour, due to things like sleep and work. I use space savers because if I didn't, some jackass who DIDN'T SHOVEL will take my space and I'll have to spend another two hours teasing an asthma attack.
Please note I'm generalizing, I don't necessary support using space savers when it's 4" and only snowed one day.
To the person who said that space savers state, "Don't take my spot or I'll slash your tires," you have a really dark view of the world and that's unfortunate. A saver means, "I worked really hard for it and I'm going to need it back *soon,* PLEASE don't take my spot!!!!"
Think of me next time you move a saver and pull your Bimmer into a space. "Public property! Nar nar nar...." And realize you're f'ng over someone much smaller than yourself.
Finally, dear saver-haters, it could be worse. In Worcester they use space savers year round, and there it *does* mean "move this & I'll slash your tires."
Great!
Great! Since we're disregarding the conventions of civil society, you can indeed retrieve your recycling bin after I move it. You'll just have to fish it out of the harbor.
Nope
I'll just order a new one and your taxes will pay for it.
Have you been fined yet?
Doesn't Boston write citations for putting your bin out when it isn't trash day?
Nope
Never fined. Maybe if some 311 do-gooder reports me, but my neighbors have better things to do with their time, plus they're using the same space savers that I do.
Are public works crews
Are public works crews removing space savers when out collecting trash, or not?
not on my street.
not on my street.
This is just absolutely asinine!
People getting their cars vandalized, people getting beat up, or even shot over parking spaces, and ending p in the hospital, over parking spaces?!? One doesn't have to be a Boston resident to realize that this whole "You shovel it, you own it" attitude towards parking spaces is not only immature and selfish, but has totally gotten out of bounds, and reached dangerous levels. Next thing everybody knows, somebody's going to get killed over a parking space...and then it'll really be too late!
I can see reserving a space for 24-48 hours after a large snowfall, but for only 4 inches or less, and keeping them on pretty much all year around....this is totally asinine. The city of Boston should crack down on space-savers before someone actually gets killed over a parking space. Otherwise, it'll be too late.
While I agree that the whole space-saver idea is ludicrous,
I think that the city could/should step up to the plate and do a better job of snow removal after a heavy snowfall. That, imho, would go a long way towards alleviating the problems that all too often occur with parking on Boston's streets in the winter.
Better snow removal by the
Better snow removal by the city makes parking worse, not better, because snow removed from the street goes into parking spaces. The snow has to go somewhere.
I have to disagree, Refugee.
Better snow removal by the city would make parking better, because of Boston (and other cities and towns in the Commonwealth should also follow suit here!) should ban parking on the even numbered sides of streets the first night so then can plow that particular side, and then the next night, ban parking on the odd-numbered sides of the streets so they can plow the odd-numbered side(s) of the street(s) That would ease the parking situation a great deal, as opposed to making it worse.
Agreed
I grew up in Buffalo, where alternate-side parking is in effect year-round. When it snows, they plow the empty side of the street to the curb. The next night, they do the other. Some cities institute a parking ban, open up all local lots temporarily and then re-open parking as the streets get plowed. For the last 7 years I've been living in Cambridge, and even if they did this one parking zone at a time, it would make a hell of a lot more sense than having to have this argument every year.
I like the idea....but....
Buffalo isn't exactly bursting at the seems population-wise, is it?
Why not go all out like Brookline and ban overnight parking altogether!
Buffalo, NY has the right idea, then.
Buffalo and many other places here in the United States, who know they tend to get lots and lots of snow in the winter, are far better prepared than New England, and lots of other parts of the United States regarding snow removal. I sincerely wish they'd do the same thing here in Somerville, Boston and Cambridge and Brookline that they do in Buffalo, NY, regarding snow removal after a large snowstorm. It would go a long way towards alleviating the problems with parking and the tensions that go along with them, imho.
Here's the problem
We have a lot more density that Buffalo, Rochester, or any of the cities in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. That means more cars and the need to find places to put those cars. The reality is that as far as snow removal goes, Boston goofed "back in the day" (maybe the 1950s) when other municipalities in the area banned overnight parking from November to March. Yes, there is a chance that Boston might have developed in a different, perhaps undesirable way, but the snow issue would have been more easily resolved.
Of course, that said, Brookline was horrible last winter, and they ban overnight parking. Even with that, last winter was not an indication of any norm.
Nothing seems to get people madder than space savers...
Although how about bicycles in snow storms. Thoughts? Bicycle space savers. Bicycles used as space savers. Space savers turned into bicycles? Which combination will result in the biggest flame war between the two sides?
Bicycles as space savers?
If you notice I've stopped posting here, check the news for a story of a guy whose head exploded. That could be me pondering this.
Of course, if there is a rash of head exploding deaths, the guilt is with you.
BTW I like the tree. If I
BTW I like the tree. If I were in charge of these sorts of things I would have the DPW remove the tree , plant it and leave a note thanking the person for their donation.
DEAR MAYOR
Please look at how so many people feel absolutely entitled to the particular "spacesaver" conventions they imagine. I hope you decide that spacesavers have to be ENDED, ENTIRELY, OFFICIALLY, with significant penalties, or people simply won't get it.
Dear Anon
I summarily reject your request. Please don't bother me with this petty stuff. I am lucky enough to finally have a driveway for the first time in my life. When I lived on Taft and Tuttle Streets pretty much everyone that didn't have a driveway used space savers.
Sincerely
Hizzonah Mistah Mayah
We may need UN peace keepers to intervene in
this JP civil war. "Make Love not War" and "Save the Whales" bumper stickers have been supplanted by angry social media outbursts and hostage note type written threats. What has happened to this progressive bastion of all that is right with this World? Not even Bernie sanders would be safe parking on Centre Street this morning..
Maybe the bike people are right.
Happy Days Are Here Again
I woke up this morning and looked out my window. Lo and behold, there were no more space savers on my street.
Happiness abounds (until the next snow storm)
I'm so looking forward to resuming this dialog the next time it snows.