The Davis Square Community

He's being level-headed and frankly he's got some good points. I feel zero sympathy for a person who has a car here and complains about parking. Unless you rented your apartment/bought your condo sight unseen you knew EXACTLY what you were getting into. About my only objection to the process was they could have made it more public.

Then again, they probably just assumed people would freak out about this even with a year's notice and Tom Champion making robocalls every day.

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smammy

Right on. But how do you feel about DARBI's concerns about customer/employee (non-resident) parking?

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Yes, I realized after I posted that tomorrow was Bunker Hill day and that everything would be closed :)

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Possibly. I don't particularly feel it was a well written piece (it seemed like he simply typed a few words into google and went from there..), and it often went from light-hearted to condescending at several points. But I agree on the over/long suffered part of it :)

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I've never had an issue with the residential parking side of this, as I've always lived in permit areas. I do feel that he made too lightly of the impact on businesses, which has always been my concern.

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rmd.livejournal.com

having been a small-time trades worker with a single vehicle that was also my work truck, the fact that commercial vehicles can't get resident permits (even if it's the only vehicle owned by a resident) strikes me as discouraging for small businesses.

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clevernonsense.livejournal.com

Um, you also get tax benefits for having a commercial vehicle (or the owner of the vehicle does) so I really don't see an issue with that at all.

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Is there an alternative, like a commercial permit? Being a tradeperson often means there is no place of business that the vehicle can be stored at, the vehicle IS the business location, that said I'm curious if there are commercial permits or other alternatives for people (plumbers, electricians, etc) with this kind of business, or is it assumed that they should have driveways available?

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bryant

Well, tax benefits don't offset a pure inability to park. If I recall the regulation correctly (which I do, cause I just looked it up), you're not allowed to park on the street at all between midnight and 6 AM if you have commercial plates or are insured for commercial use.

If you're an independent contractor and you have to insure your sole vehicle for commercial use, that's kind of tough.

Note that this is the policy for permit and non-permit parking, as far as I can tell. Dunno how long it's been that way.

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qwrrty.livejournal.com

He's being level-headed and frankly he's got some good points.

Which "he" -- Curtatone or the author of the Bostonist piece?

Curtatone's quotes in that article sound unbelievably sensible to me, and I speak as one of those damned suburbanites who usually drives in to Davis Square from out of town. Hey, guys, I know math is hard, but a dollar an hour for parking meters is REALLY GOOD when you compare it to, say, Alewife. Or a parking ticket.

Geekpixie does have a good point -- a two-hour limit on all meters is kind of crazy if you're going to see a two-and-a-half hour movie at the Somerville Theater. I wonder if the theater could work out a validated parking arrangement with the city.

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dent42.livejournal.com

You seem to think that everyone is capable of your awesome powers of prediction, know exactly what the future holds. Because that does seem to be the crux of half of your responses to issues. When someone bought their house/condo they were supposed to expect that the long standing parking policies would completely change overnight, with no citizen input. Or that traffic from Logan flying directly over the city would go from 6% to nearly 20? I know I wish I had your powers to predict the future!!!

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No. I think they're capable of looking at a side street and seeing all the cars lined up on it, and realizing "Oh! Parking here may be difficult!"

Come on, that was one of the first things I noticed when I was scouting apartments here, and I don't even own a car.

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Curtatone was being levelheaded. As for a two and a half hour movie, I would agree if there weren't a T station next door. A T station that's on the route of at least FIVE bus routes.

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I think it's a valid concern but let's see what happens when we use all the available options first. I don't mean to sound exasperated here or like a broken record, but Davis IS a minor transit hub for the surrounding area.

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There's a reason, that "OMG IT'LL HURT LOCAL BUSINESS!" argument is trotted out for everything on the local level.

To be totally honest, I disagree with you. You can't park in Davis now, anyway, and, not to sound exasperated here, but it's not like we've got a furniture store in the area. The vast majority of retail business in the area sells food, and it's right near a T stop.

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dent42.livejournal.com

I did look, and one of the first things I noticed about my neighborhood was that there was a mix of permitted and non-permitted parking. These changes eliminate that; and given that the process before involved citizen action, and not government fiat, I think I have a right to be annoyed.

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svilletheatre.livejournal.com

The thing is that on weekends (or Friday and Saturday nights) you are right, parking is rough, limited. However, on your average Monday-thru-Thursday, there's plenty of metered parking that remains open. When I left work today at 7pm, almost all of the metered spots on Meacham, for example, were wide open. I have been polling audiences on weeknights and find, on average, that at least 50-60% of my weeknight (Mon-Thu) audience drives because parking is available and free (or at least only require city-lot meters until 8pm.) Should they suddenly have to pay until 10pm, and indeed have to run out in the middle of the movie to feed a 2-hr meter to do so, I am sure my weeknight numbers would decline substantially. Remember these are also people who buy coffee, dinner, ice cream, browse retail, etc., so that would effect other businesses too. It may not seem like a lot, but losing 50% (or even 25%) of my weeknight business is going to entirely eliminate our small profit margin, and I am sure the same goes for symbiotic businesses. Trust me, I am not being hyperbolic here.

The IDEAL would be if the city bought 'smart' meters that were capable of, say, charging high prices till 10pm (or even midnight) on Friday and Saturday nights, but charged less $ for less time on weeknights. And, I might add, that can take credit cards so people don't have to carry 16 quarters with them. To encourage turnover, you price the top spots (like those on Elm or Holland) higher than the less desirable ones (like those on Meacham) rather than place time limits. Transportation planner and all-around awesome Somerville guy Mark Chase has suggested exactly this at meetings, but given the budgetary issues, the city isn't looking to buy hundreds of new expensive meters, so a short term resolution of the issues remains to be seen.

So anyway, I'm just saying that the perception of 'no parking being available' is based on peak times like Friday nights, and that a blanket statement of such, much like a blanket parking policy, is not effective.

:)

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I can respect the annoyance but honestly, the clock was always ticking on non-permitted parking in this area, and the annoyance went from sane and rational to shrill "I WANT EVERYTHING MY WAY NOW!" whining, like it always does on here.

Seriously, it boggles my mind that people are freaking out about how they might have to, horror of horrors, actually plan ahead fifteen minutes before they leave the house to go to an area that serves as a minor transportation hub for a pretty wide area.

I agree Curtatone could have been more transparent, but the thing is: he's right. There's not a lot of parking in the city, and both people who live here and people who don't have been abusing the parking laws around here. There's literally no space for more parking and the city has to use what it has the most effective way possible. I don't blame him for not putting it to a vote, because people would vote against inconvenience, and then complain when they had to walk fifty feet to their house instead of parking right in front of it.

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icecreamempress.livejournal.com

The tax benefits wouldn't pay for an off-street leased parking space.

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can respect the annoyance but honestly, the clock was always ticking on non-permitted parking in this area

No, it wasn't - there was a process already in place for residents on non permit streets to request it be made a permit street.

Those residents who live on non permit street and haven't asked to have it changed just got it sideways up their fourth point of contact.

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But you don't float in the middle of a strip mall. You're right next door to a T station which is one stop away from a parking garage that drains like a sink at 5pm. Just as important, you generally offer films that are difficult to see elsewhere in the area (Harvard Square and Brookline aren't joyous parking experiences either), you also function as a music venue, and the mainstream films you do offer, you're two bucks cheaper than your nearest competitor.

Honestly I'd object more to the policy if I thought the Somerville would be hurt, but to be frank, there's a huge gap between what people say they'll do in these situations, and what they'll wind up doing. I used to work at a theater and people threw a fit when my town changed the parking rules. My boss was terrified.

Turns out what people do is just park farther away and walk.

But, hell, I'm happy to write an email to the mayor about your concerns. I don't have a special in or anything, of course, but every little bit helps.

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dent42.livejournal.com

I don't understand why "the clock was always ticking", since I haven't noticed it get that much worse. Its not like we're expecting car ownership to jump noticably anytime soon, so I don't get why its so important to force permits everywhere. Its a pure money grab, under the guise of 'ZOMG WE ARE BEING OVERRUN WITH TEH FOREIGN CARS!'

On a more personal note, there is enough non-permitted parking in my area that I can invite some friends over for an impromptu bbq on a saturday, and not have to worry about where they're going to park. And before you get on the public transit horse, the folks I refer to live in Foxboro, Reading, Tewksbury, and Acton. So they could spend 3-4 hours travelling here, or just not come now (or I could find time to go down to the parking office to get party passes, except oops, I have a job, and can't actually get there during business hours). I guess I could just go get different friends though, right?

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Ten bucks says they got a dozen calls a week from people living on those non-permit streets about how they couldn't park on their street and how there oughta be a law.

Surprise!

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zard.livejournal.com

I live in Medford, which originally seemed to be on a great bus route to Davis. During the day, the bus shows up every 20 minutes, no problem. But in the last couple years, the evening buses changed from every 45 minutes to every hour. I'm not interested in waiting an hour to go home after a movie that ends at 10:15. It's a 10-minute car ride. No, I'd rather not drive, but I'm up past my bedtime enough.

I think that the parking changes would be better received if the public transportation were reasonable. And all signs point to even more cuts in evening public transportation.

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A dozen calls per week isn't what the law calls for, however.

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I don't understand why "the clock was always ticking"

Because

thetathx1138 says so.

They've placed a wager for a specific number of residential calls per week complaining - when the residents should have followed:

In order for a street to become designated as a permit parking street, the residents of the street must petition the Traffic Commission to pass a traffic regulation. The Traffic Commission will consider a petition only after 51% of the street’s residents approve of the request. Each petition will be verified with City records to validate the residency status of the petitioners.

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svilletheatre.livejournal.com

No letter needed, thanks! I think the Mayor is aware of everyone's concerns and is trying to work with everyone.

I think that peoples habits are based on convenience, i.e., someone who might drive from Medford and find parking easily for free will not drive to Alewife, pay for parking, pay for a 2-way subway ride, etc. to see "The Hangover"; they'll just drive to Revere. And while we do run specialty films, it's things like "The Hangover" that pay the bills. I think concert audiences or weekend crowds will adapt to a degree, but there will be a % on weeknights who will not. And they will not have the option of parking farther away, as all meters will be late/need to be fed, or it will be permit only. Even imagining a small loss of business is difficult for us.

I don't see our reduced admission as being enough an incentive, especially if what is now free (6-10pm on a Tuesday) becomes a $4 charge that requires you leave your movie to pay in the middle. As it is, our reduced admission stands as an incentive and the Harvard Square Theatre still out-grosses us by thousands of dollars 90% of the time. I think people would pay $4 or more for garage parking, but not meters that require 2-hr feeding and quarters. The thing in Harvard Square is that there are many paid parking options where you don't have to run out and feed the meters. We just don't have that level of convenience (or perceived level) right in Davis.

I hope you are right about it not effecting us, but we honestly feel that it is going to cause a decline. From 2001-2004 the theater never turned a profit and was heavily subsidized by ownership; the small profits we have made in the last few years have been less than we've spent on over $250,000 in renovations, and indeed we are spending another $200,000 this summer on new seats and digital sound to remain competitive.

I know tone is hard to gather online, so please understand I am not trying to be argumentatively negative; just sharing our thoughts/concerns.

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hrafn.livejournal.com

I'm not sure it's 51% any more, if this letter writer is correct (http://www.wickedlocal.com/somerville/news/opinions/x1549045089/Letter-An-All-American-City-wouldn-t-have-such-confusing-parking-regulations):

I looked up the bylaws for parking regulations for the city. This search led me to understand that if 51 percent of the legal residents of a street did not want sticker parking, signatures by at least that majority would result in the removal of posting for the given neighborhood.

Summary: he surveyed the neighborhood, got the 51% plus signatures, and went to Parking:

I brought the petition to James Kotzuba and he expressed surprise that we wanted the regulation removed. Said he, “All neighborhoods want it.” I’m not sure where he got that idea: my own queries around town have reached a very different conclusion. And, finally,

Shortly after I came home after my visit with Kotzuba came a phone call from him telling me that the city ordinance had been changed so that, “At least 100 percent of the residents had to want sticker parking removed.” Wow.

This was linked to from within the Bostonist article, in the "mild and retiring" link. And no, I haven't gone digging through the city's ordinances to see if it is now "at least 100 percent," because that doesn't even make sense.

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alexdw.livejournal.com

The great thing about this new policy is that soon no one will visit Davis Square. That means plenty of empty parking spots! THE PARKING PROBLEM HAS BEEN SOLVED.

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bryant

What's up with those cards I saw advertised in Traffic and Parking when I was there? I was kind of hopeful about those, since I figured they might come along with some smarter meters, but I can't find any info online.

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leko.livejournal.com

I think next time I renew my leases for my property in davis I should separate out the parking and charge $200/mo for it, because the people with commercial or out of state plates will have no ability park on the street. If I widen my driveway a little I can probably fit 6 cars. cha-ching!

Honestly though, I'd feel like a complete dick doing that. I really think having non-permit streets available is important. longer-than-2-day visitors, students with out of state plates, those with commercial vehicles, and people who occasionally have people come over without having planned enough in advance to get party permits are all screwed by that.

Note that it's probably only a benefit to me personally, but I'm still against it.

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Actually, isn't Bowl and Board a furniture store? And the logic that just because we have bus's and a train people SHOULD take them only applies if people are logical, or don't have kids with strollers, wheelchairs, aren't getting groceries at McKinnons (where honestly I spend almost an hour getting THROUGH the store on a good Saturday :) ) etc, etc etc. I'm sorry that the "excuse" of hurting businesses is paraded constantly. That doesn't make it any less valid here.

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rethcir.livejournal.com

What if you rented your apartment because it was on a nice street with ample non permit parking?

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ron_newman

The best commentary I've seen in print so far is Bill Shelton's column in the current Somerville News

Edited Date: 2009-06-17 05:45 pm (UTC)

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winterhill.livejournal.com

I'm concerned about other businesses that will be affected. Highland Kitchen comes to mind. If that street becomes resident parking, or meters until 10 I bet my friends from JP will drive over a lot less.

And yes, they can take the bus. But man, that will suck for them.

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boblothrope.livejournal.com

Cities with permit parking on some but not all streets always have a well-documented procedure for expanding the permit zone, but never for shrinking it.

I sometimes wondered what would happen in the odd chance that a neighborhood wanted permit parking removed. This answers my question: a bureaucratic run-around by the city.

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Highland kitchen was one of the main places I thought of. They have...3 parking spaces behind them? Unless people carpool clowncar style that's not going to cut it :) I have heard that metered parking has been suggested in these areas so that there is customer parking, but it's all speculatory at the moment.

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