Today's globe article about pahking

[smoterh.livejournal.com]

You can read it here.  Reading the Globe reader's comments is especially fun.

Comments

[pierceheart.livejournal.com]

Would be nice to see the city increase the duration you can use a visitor pass for.

'Cause, no one ever has any situation where relatives might show up for more than two days in a week.

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

Problem is, that becomes a real balancing act. How long can it get before it starts to become a non-legitimate use (ie, not truly a visitor)?

I think there are temporary permits available currently for situations like that. Probably worth investigating further...

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

Which isn't to say I disagree with (what I take to be) your point that the current situation is fairly ludicrous, though.

[cden4.livejournal.com]

You can buy guest passes if you have someone visiting for more than 2 day. However, you can only buy them in person at the moment. I'm hoping they will eventually allow you to buy them online.

* Extended Visitor
o (7 days) $15
o (21 days) $25

These passes are for a guest visiting from out of Somerville.

See: http://www.somervillema.gov/section.cfm?org=traffic&page=916

[pierceheart.livejournal.com]

Thanks, not something of which I was aware.

Is it something well publicised?

[cden4.livejournal.com]

I think the city has been trying to make people more aware of these, as well the $1 party permits you can get for a particular day. Unfortunately, most of the newspapers haven't been including this kind of useful information in their articles.

[blinkidybah.livejournal.com]

Note your visitor needs to have their registration/insurance/etc info with them to pick these up - I was behind a lady at the parking office who was screwed because her friend's information had been left in Jersey and the office wouldn't give her a pass. Huge PITA for her, I guess.

[rethcir.livejournal.com]

I'm not voting for Curatone, that's for sure.. maybe I'll write in Rebekah

[ron_newman]

Next election is in 2011.

[bikergeek.livejournal.com]

Doesn't your car have to be registered in Somerville to get a parking sticker? I bet one motivation for this is forcing people who live in Somerville to register their cars in Somerville, and pay excise tax there, rather than registering them to a parent's address out in the 'burbs.

[xuth.livejournal.com]

according to the article referenced, you can get out of town parking passes for people who spend lots of time in somerville. Quoth the article: "The city offers 12-month realtor permits for $50, which allow brokers to park their cars anywhere in the city while showing properties. General business permits are available for $150, and the city offers stickers for other groups including non-resident artists, worshippers, and landlords." I don't know what the city could offer for a friend who just visited more than 3 times in any given week.

[bikergeek.livejournal.com]

Answer: bupkis. You don't live there, you don't pay taxes there, you don't vote there, they don't care about you. Pony up and pay the tickets, and welcome to the big city.
Balancing the budget by taxing non-constituents has a long and storied history. It's why taxes on things like rental cars, hotel rooms, and so forth always seem to go through--because they're mostly paid by people from outside the jurisdiction.

[serious-noir.livejournal.com]

+1

[serious-noir.livejournal.com]

Thing is - it is *property & business taxes and other fees* which should be raised if the city needs $$$ (assuming the city has cut it's own pork/payola - don't know if that is the case) but our elected officials are taking the politically safe way out. It is lame but business as usual.

[trtls.livejournal.com]

+2

[ron_newman]

I disagree -- this may be a good short-term way of raising revenue, but in the medium to long-term it is bad for local businesses who lose out-of-town customers due to harrassive ticketing policies.

[canongrrl.livejournal.com]

exactly Ron - I'm really afraid of the long term ramifications. I'm also thinking this will be the final straw that drives me out of the city

[bikergeek.livejournal.com]

You're right, it's really short-sighted and parochial, but that seems to be the way things are done around here. :-(

[afty.livejournal.com]

"On Monday and Tuesday, parking officers wrote 606 tickets, according to city records, compared to 189 on Dec. 21 and 22, when the warnings started. Violators pay a $50 fine for each offense."

That's over $30k in tickets in 2 days!

[smoterh.livejournal.com]

ka-chiiing

[anyee.livejournal.com]

How is Somerville more restrictive than the Fenway? There were plenty of places that I could park an out-of-town car overnight or over a weekend. There's not one place in Somerville that I've seen that allows such parking. And really? More people visit the Fenway than Somerville, there's more population density (census be damned), more cars, and fewer overall spots.

[boblothrope.livejournal.com]

I *think* nonresidents can still park at Somerville meters for free from 8 pm to 8 am, and all day Sundays.

This is the only way a nonresident without a visitor permit can park for more than 2 hours. So if you're seeing a movie or show in Davis, you'd better hope all the metered spots aren't taken.

[slinkr.livejournal.com]

If the city really wanted to make some money, they'd divide the city into parking permit zones like Boston's so you could only park for free near where you actually live.

[boblothrope.livejournal.com]

Or they'd put pay-and-display machines on every block, and let nonresidents pay to park.

http://www.somervillema.gov/CoS_Content/documents/DavisSquareParkingStudy.pdf recommends that they remove restrictions like time limits, and instead set the price of parking high enough so that people who really need to drive can find a space.

Well, when parking was free on the outskirts of Union Square, I could always find a space. Under the new rules, I'm not allowed to park there for any price.

[jovianconsensus.livejournal.com]

Lines have been out the door at the Holland St. office every day this week. Hopefully it clears up by the end of the month so I can pick up new visitor permits.

[on-reserve.livejournal.com]

You know what is super frustrating?

My resident parking sticker is Zone 1. So I need to renew before the end of the month. I've gone twice now (yes, I realize people have gone more often than this) and the line's been out the door. I am self-centeredly frustrated that due to when my resident sticker renewal date falls, I am being affected by everyone who delayed on getting their initial permit. So, my commiseration to all of the other Zone 1'ers out there.

Personally, my recommendation is that the city use some of this influx of ticket revenue to fund an inexpensive webcam to be aimed at the line at the T&P. Again, so I can self-centeredly know when to go to renew and not waste another trip.