Imagination

[turil.livejournal.com]

What if the metered parking spaces were opened up to other uses, in addition to parking a car? What would you do if you could rent a space on the side of the street in Davis Square for a dollar an hour (or whatever it's up to these days) to use as a farm stand to sell the veggies you grew in your community garden, or a Bull Market cart to sell your handmade socks, or a space to put your Tarot readings tent, or whatever other legal, private use you can imagine might be appropriate for a bit of temporary business-zoned square footage in the square...

Comments

[tisana.livejournal.com]

Creative though it might be, I'm pretty sure some frustrated motorist who hasn't been able to find parking might "accidentally" run into such a stand because--paid for or not--it's one less space usable for cars.

Though more fairs that have that sort of thing might be welcome, in the space they put the farmers' market, maybe.

[turil.livejournal.com]

Indeed, but lots of frustrated motorists "accidentally" run into all kinds of things, kids, old ladies, dogs, telephone poles, other cars, trees, and pretty much everything else in reach. Fortunately most folks still keep doing things that they want to do, like walk around Davis Square, plant trees next to the road, walk their dogs, make babies, and all kinds of other things that might someday be run over by a car, because, well... if we let cars be the excuse for not doing good, useful, fun things, then the cars win! :-)

[ron_newman]

I like this idea. Anyone who is willing to pay the meter charges should be able to use the space for the time they paid. (But they would also need to move on after 2 hours, and not re-feed the meter.)

[ellf.livejournal.com]

I dislike this idea. There are provisions for this - get a permit from City Hall, etc. - that provide a measure of control for how densely populated an area can be with certain types of businesses and uses. I imagine that opening up parking spaces to -whatever- would increase the burden on the police, fire, and emergency services, as well as crowd the already narrow streets.

Parking spaces for cars. Public spaces (parks, gardens, whatever) for public use. Commercial space for businesses. It isn't Free, but it works.

[firepail.livejournal.com]

What? Rules are for everyone?

I don't see why motorists would be mad for me selling fimo beads out of a metered parking space, or why business owners would be annoyed that I don't have to pay rent or fees to sell my wares at the metered space... in front of their store.

[firepail.livejournal.com]

I would like to see a plywood cut-out of a car that made the front of a lemonade stand. Or maybe someone selling lemonade from their actual car. But somehow things sold out of cars suddenly become shady, dangerous deals.

[turil.livejournal.com]

"Roses 8 oODZ" I've always suspected that those roses were especially shady flowers... :-)

[talonvaki.livejournal.com]

I think this is a brilliant idea. Anything to keep cars out of the Square (why anyone would drive in Davis Square, let alone try to park there, is beyond me, but so are a lot of things people do).

[thetathx1138.livejournal.com]

You are aware that Davis is a major intersection for three major traffic routes in Somerville, right?

[thetathx1138.livejournal.com]

I see this ending in fire.

There's actually an excellent reason they don't do this: lines. People line up at the stall and where does the line have to go but the road?

Now, if they wanted to implement metered stall space in, say, public parks, I think that'd be interesting. Just not parking spaces, people don't need to risk death to get ice cream.

[ukelele.livejournal.com]

The stall could face the sidewalk...

[postrodent.livejournal.com]

That is an absolutely beautiful idea. There's not enough parking, but there's not enough public space either, and I think we're likely to need parking less than we need public space.as time goes on. I'd vote for this in a heartbeat.

Re: I totally agree

[turil.livejournal.com]

What would you do with a space, if you could have it for a while?

[bikergeek.livejournal.com]

(http://imageshack.us)


(wow, I get to use that twice in one week)

FAIL. One reason for parking meters is to help ensure turnover of parking spaces. This is why meter-feeding is illegal. The two-hour (IIRC) time limit applies regardless of whether you've fed the meter or not.

Regardless of your opinion that OMG CARS ARE TEH EVIL, having parking available in the Square helps businesses make money. If there's no place to park, many people will simply opt to go elsewhere.

[ron_newman]

Two hours at street meters, three hours in parking lots (where meters run to 8 pm).

Done and done.

[irinarasp.livejournal.com]

http://www.rebargroup.org/projects/parking/

I saw an photo exhibit about a version of this in Cleveland a couple years ago.
I like the idea of it used for art or demonstration purposes. Not so much for general use.

Then again, once you put in those quarters, the spot is yours*, so I suppose you can do with it as you darn well please.

*Maybe someone should check the actual regulations before taking my word for that.

Love,
Irka

Re: Done and done.

[joylewis.livejournal.com]

Aw, dang, you beat me to it.

[an-art-worker.livejournal.com]

There have been some fun projects around this idea:

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2005/12/_who_sez_parkin.php
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2006/04/taking_back_the_2.php

[ron_newman]

I saw a short movie about this project at one of the Boston Bicycle Film Festivals.

[nungnung.livejournal.com]

I do love the idea of promoting sales of local goods, but I think the parking spot idea has far too many flaws. There are some basic public safety issues that would require monitoring, and I don't think the city would be equipped to handle it. For instance, I've participated in a number of outdoor markets, and countless times I've seen those giant 10 foot tents go flying into the air during a sudden gust of wind, despite the fact that everyone is "required" to weight their tents. Lax enforcement caused both property damage and bodily harm in these cases. I've also seen a tent weighted with cinderblocks lift-off enough to shimmy into traffic. Certainly not everyone would set up with a tent, but someone would, guaranteed. And if it's difficult to enforce rules in a closed market with more experienced vendor, what are the chances of being able to enforce rules with vendors scattered to any available space?

And from a different perspective, if I were a business owner I'd have a really difficult time NOT being upset about someone setting up directly in front of my shop, preventing people from seeing the merchandise I have displayed in my windows, or - even worse - congesting the sidewalks to the point that my customers couldn't make it inside.

On a positive note, I think it would be a FANTASTIC idea to have metered vendor stalls in a public area. I think this would be great, great, great. First come, first served, low prices for setting up a booth. An area like Davis would be perfect to explore this idea!

[turil.livejournal.com]

My question is what would you do if you could rent a space in Davis? What kind of thing would you, personally, want to bring into that space? What kind of creative thing would you want to use that space for?

[purpless77.livejournal.com]

I like the idea a lot but Davis Square is already a tight squeeze a good portion of the day and there isn't enough parking there as it is. Oh man, the times I've gone there in a car and couldn't find parking. I think it would take away needed space. Otherwise, having a few in Statue Park or the like would be great.

[turil.livejournal.com]

If you could rent a space, what do you imagine you'd want to do in it?

[overstim.livejournal.com]

Come on.. really?

Lets say you work your ass off, 18 hours a day, put your entire savings on the line, go in debt up to your ears, and do all the necessary paperwork, to open your own business.

Then your business goes under, because no one can shop at your store, because no one can GET to your store, because there arent any parking spaces, because now any scmuck that files a $15 fee at town hall can open a stand in front of your shop and take up parking.

Also, no Davis square looks like a fucking Turkish bazaar and no one will go near it except the hippie douchebags who dont have money anyway.

Great idea, really.

[turil.livejournal.com]

So if you could rent a space for your personal use in Davis Square, you'd, perhaps use stick a soap box in it and get creative heckling passers by?

[rmd.livejournal.com]

hmmm. i could get my metered spot, and then open a tiny parking garage of one space and sell parking time to less resourceful motorists at an extremely inflated rate and make a *killing*.

[turil.livejournal.com]

Heh. You a real estate agent or something...

There are reasons this is not allowed...

[http://users.livejournal.com/_mattt/]

...Good reasons.

First and foremost, those spaces are needed for vehicles. That's why they're called parking spaces.

Second, those of us who pay to live here don't want the square looking like some 3rd world bazaar*.

I don't mean to come across as overly harsh, but there are many wonderful street fairs for this purpose in the Camberville area.

* Edit: I see this comment has already been made, but I'll repeat it.

In your imagination?

[turil.livejournal.com]

Imagining isn't allowed?

My question seems to have been lost in a flurry of confusion. I'm simply wondering what you would choose to do if you could rent a small space in Davis Square for your personal use? What sort of activity or installation or business would you, personally, choose to do with that space?

[xuth.livejournal.com]

I don't believe people would be able to sell things very easily. You do need a vendors license to do so. Though there are terms in the laws to handle garage/yard sales, don't know what they are around here but in other areas, you're limited to only so many days per year. As part of the vending license, you need a specific location except in specific circumstances.

As to using a metered space at all, Somerville laws seem to imply that only "vehicles" can use metered spaces. The term vehicle is fairly lax but requires that the device in question to either be motorized or a bicycle/tricycle (which is defined rather narrowly) so it would not include a small park or a push cart unless the push cart could move under it's own power or could qualify as a bicycle or tricycle.

On the other side of the coin, maybe I'll start parking my bicycle in some of the metered parking spaces. Davis is getting to the point where it's often easier to find a metered space than a legal bicycle parking space, especially for a long bicycle.

[turil.livejournal.com]

Of course this idea is only an imaginary one. The people who run Somerville's government aren't likely to think this is an idea worth making happen.

But I'm asking what people would do if it were possible to rent a street space.

For example, parking your parkcycle:



Even if it was just an 8 foot long one, made out of a trailer... :-)

[laryu.livejournal.com]

A parking space is a public good so the uses would have to be restricted to those that directly (thought not necessarily entirely) serve a public need, and not be entirely commerce-based.

So, I'd setup an outdoor stall to convince at least some of the local denizen hippies to take a shower every once in awhile. A quarter a minute, with free towel service. I suppose it would have to be a solar-heated, gravity-fed, greywater shower.

[firepail.livejournal.com]

I don't think it is helpful to plant the seed of "let's use metered spaces for something other than their assigned purpose". But, if people want to take the idea of a semi-regular non-daily bazaar and run with it, great. Maybe set something up like the farmer's market, and do it in the spring [after the snow stops] for a few weeks on Wednesdays noon-6 in the farmer's market location until the farmer's market starts up. Or whatever. But brainstorm a way to do it in a protected area [not in the street or sidewalk] in an organized way.

[shana-lyons.livejournal.com]

So, kind of like the South End Open Markets, but in Davis? That's an excellent idea.

http://www.southendopenmarket.com/

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

In the NaNoWriMo novel I wrote, the protagonist, who is homeless, sets up a living room in a parking space for an afternoon using trashpicked furniture.

I thought it was a fun idea.

[teele-sq.livejournal.com]

I wish there was a place I could play table tennis that wasn't Good Times Emporium in Assembly Square. If someone had metered ping pong on holland st outside of Anna's I'd pay to play.

[ron_newman]

Especially since Good Time closed at the end of June.

[redcolumbine.livejournal.com]

It's a great idea in theory (I'm not particularly phobic about public markets) but in practice, monumentally unsafe. HOWEVER, if one could rent spaces by the half-day in the lot where the Farmer's Market is normally held, that would satisfy the "affordable sales space" idea without exposing vendors or customers to traffic, blocking access to businesses, or exposing the more delicate among us to less-than-elite aesthetics.

It would, however, have to be done by reservation, so that you wouldn't have people camping out or using little kids as placeholders. And it would have to be possible to X someone permanently off the list for lawbreaking, messmaking, or noise. And no rebates for weather - you can bump your reservation to one in the future, but only with 24 hours' notice. And the rent would have to be enough to cover the pay of whomever had to keep track of all this!

[tt02144.livejournal.com]

Lots of clever and creative responses to this somewhat absurd idea! I'd like to weigh in on the comments about the 'evil cars' and why cars and their drivers shouldn't even be allowed in the square (although I'm not going to touch the vicious comment about how a motorist would most certainly intentionally hit one of these vendor stands, since they intentionally hit people and things all the time. Too absurd to deserve a comment). What I don't get is why people don't seem able to look beyond themselves. If you have ever known anyone who is disabled or elderly, perhaps you could understand how some people need to travel in a motorized vehicle. Walking and biking is great for those of us lucky enough to be able to do it, but there are many people who are not. These people do not always look disabled, some are relatively young but have conditions which are not visible. What about the family with several young children? They may find it impossible to shop in the square if walking. I just wish that people could think just a little bit beyond their own circumstance and realize that Davis Square is made up many people, of many types, and all should be welcome.

[turil.livejournal.com]

I wonder what these sorts of people do in other places where cars around allowed, such as in malls, or museums, or Venice... :-)