Another Parking Post

[thelongtypeface.livejournal.com]

A lot of this has been covered in the many recent posts about parking, but how strictly and quickly do people think the city will implement citywide permit parking that is supposed to go into effect August 1? How will it be enforced? Mass ticketing is my best guess. Should be good for revenue, at least!

Knowing Somerville traffic and parking, I assume many of us who live on non permit streets will wake up on Saturday morning and walk outside to be greeted by a sea of neon orange tickets blanketing car windshields and a lot of pissed off people. I keep up on Somerville news as best as I can, but I haven't received anything in the mail about the new parking regulations, and I wonder how many people have no idea this is happening.

:: insert standard argument about how while something does need to be done about the overabundance of cars in Somerville, the current plan with respect to citywide permit parking seems shortsighted, especially when there are procedures in place to turn problem streets to permitted ones by majority consensus of the people who actually live on those streets ::

What do you think?

Comments

[ifotismeni]

> Knowing Somerville traffic and parking, I assume many of us who live on non permit streets will wake up on Saturday morning and walk outside to be greeted by a sea of neon orange tickets blanketing car windshields and a lot of pissed off people.

yep! :P

[schpahky.livejournal.com]

I live on a permit-free street on the edge of Somerville and haven't heard a peep from the city. I have a permit already, so the main plus is (hopefully) we'll get less out-of-state cars dumped on our street and left for weeks at a time. But it really sucks for closer to Davis.

[thetathx1138.livejournal.com]

I'm just gonna save us all some time here:

(http://www.flickr.com/photos/16889258@N03/3769151981/)

Good one.

[nvidia99999.livejournal.com]

I do wonder if anyone in the past actually got anything useful out of these debates. Perhaps people who are new to the area....

Re: Good one.

[thetathx1138.livejournal.com]

The good mostly comes from people highlighting exactly what laws are on the books locally speaking. That can be incredibly useful.

For the rest, there's the flowchart.

[lbmango.livejournal.com]

MMMmmmmm Burrito.......

[knowthyself.livejournal.com]

I'm starting to see this term "butthurt" pop up--I'm curious where it came from and more precisely the meaning! (I mean, it's somewhat obvious, but you never what random nuance is intended with these things.)

I know I'm late weighing in here...

[djdreilinger.livejournal.com]

but I consider to find this diagram a hilariously perfect encapsulation of, oh, pretty much every internet argument ever.

Re: I know I'm late weighing in here...

[thetathx1138.livejournal.com]

I've got one handy for the next post about airplane noise.

MY STORY

[thelongtypeface.livejournal.com]

that about sums it up

I recently acquired a car after a few years of not having one. I'm in the process of registering it in Somerville but will be moving to a new address and zone on Sept 1 and don't want to needlessly go through the whole process more than once.

It seems like these regulations are reasonable for people with cars registered in Somerville who know about the changes and are able to get over to the Parking office when they're open, but that still leaves certain demographics scrambling...

Re: MY STORY

[pierceheart.livejournal.com]

Whenever I have moved, the city has not required me to change the "zone" on my parking sticker.

I just renew my parking sticker the same time as when I originally got it in 2005, May, whether I live by Davis, Gilman, or now Ten Hills.

Sorry, is this a thread hijack?

[lonelyholiday.livejournal.com]

Here's an only-semi-related question that I was thinking about posting...

I'm moving in a couple weeks to a building right on the Cambridge/Somerville border. As in, I believe the town line goes through the building, and my apt appears to be on the Cambridge side, but the mailing address is Somerville because I assume they just had to assign the building to one or the other.

Anyway. I don't have a car myself, but at my current Somerville address, I have made good use of the visitor's parking pass for visiting friends and family. Since the mailing address is Somerville, I assume I can get another visitor's pass for this new address.

My question is, how strictly do they enforce town borders? Is there a buffer zone directly around the line where Cambridge OR Somerville passes are allowed to park? Or do I need to make sure my visitors are aware of the boundary sign and only park on the Somerville end of the block? (Do you think I could argue that since my apartment is physically on the Cambridge side, despite the mailing address, I could get a Cambridge visitor's pass? And then hand over whichever one to a visitor, depending on the spot they find? Ha.)

I didn't find anything relevant with my quick search, but I'm admittedly not familiar with all the parking regulations and documents as, like I said, I don't have a car myself. :)

Re: Sorry, is this a thread hijack?

[phoenixy.livejournal.com]

Very strictly. In fact, there's some annoyed person on my block, which is bisected by the Cambridge/Somerville city line, who has posted a sign on the telephone pole telling the parking cops that they are in Cambridge, not Somerville, so please stop ticketing them for parking in Somerville without a permit.

And no, they will not give you a Cambridge pass.

Re: Sorry, is this a thread hijack?

[boblothrope.livejournal.com]

There are a few places along the border, such as Line Street near the Cambridge Hospital, where people can get permits for both cities, but the one where they don't live will only be valid for a block or two.

AFAIK, the neighborhood to the south of Davis is not one of these reciprocity zones.

Re: Sorry, is this a thread hijack?

[joylewis.livejournal.com]

I used to live about four houses past the line on the Somerville/Cambridge border. If I parked on the street too far back, I'd get a ticket from Cambridge. (There wasn't a sign to denote where the Cambridge line started, so it was always a guessing game.)

Re: Sorry, is this a thread hijack?

[gothic-hamlet.livejournal.com]

They're generally pretty strict about it. Less drastic than some peoples' situations, but this is a major annoyance for those of us who happen to have the bad luck of falling on the Medford or Cambridge side of things. So long to being able to reasonably park in or use the T to commute from Davis Square, despite actually living a stone's throw away.

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

Here's something I don't know:

Will the visitor parking passes we now have still be valid after August 1? This is the only way my boyfriend can park in Somerville, as he isn't a resident.

[closetalker11.livejournal.com]

I assume so -- why would they change? Your having a resident sticker has nothing to do with a visitor's pass.

[chenoameg.livejournal.com]

I was walking on Chapel St. outside Davis Square and saw a confusingly posted parking instruction.

The spot was marked with the "Two hour parking except Sundays and Holidays except with permit" sign.

And with the "Permit parking only" sign.

Not that that's going to be confusing or anything.

[tt02144.livejournal.com]

I hope I don't have any business to transact in the parking office during the month of August. Although the upside is that you'll probably be able to duck into Starbucks for a coffee while you're in line!!
And by the way, best of luck to anyone who lives in the city and drives a: leased vehicle, rental car, company-owned car, etc. "No permit for you!"