New snow shovelling policy
Jan. 21st, 2010 10:09 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
pjmorgan.livejournal.com posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
davis_squareI'm going to pick a fight in a passive aggressive way, if that is possible.
So Somerville fines if you shovel snow into the street??!!!
http://www.wickedlocal.com/somerville/news/x1689216222/Fines-set-for-Somervilles-non-shovelers
This is bogus on so many ways.
First of all, during the last storm, right after I shoveled my sidewalk and "shoveled" snow onto my sidewalk. Not just into my driveway (which I've come to expect). Can I fine the city for that?
So is this defined as into the middle of the street, or along the edges? Sometimes you have to shovel just a little bit into the first couple feet of the street. If someone shovels out their car, will that trigger it?
In general, I find it annoying that my real estate taxes go to clearing the roads (which I don't even use since I'm doing my part by not driving) so I guess I have a chip on my shoulder.
And hopefully I just don't understand the regulation. What is the definition of shoveling into the street that they are going off of?
So Somerville fines if you shovel snow into the street??!!!
http://www.wickedlocal.com/somerville/news/x1689216222/Fines-set-for-Somervilles-non-shovelers
This is bogus on so many ways.
First of all, during the last storm, right after I shoveled my sidewalk and "shoveled" snow onto my sidewalk. Not just into my driveway (which I've come to expect). Can I fine the city for that?
So is this defined as into the middle of the street, or along the edges? Sometimes you have to shovel just a little bit into the first couple feet of the street. If someone shovels out their car, will that trigger it?
In general, I find it annoying that my real estate taxes go to clearing the roads (which I don't even use since I'm doing my part by not driving) so I guess I have a chip on my shoulder.
And hopefully I just don't understand the regulation. What is the definition of shoveling into the street that they are going off of?
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Re: While I think it's lame to shovel snow into the road...
Date: 2010-01-22 07:43 pm (UTC)Right now, not in some sparkly happy future where no private citizen has a car, and emergency vehicles in the us are equipped like armored vehicles.
Re: While I think it's lame to shovel snow into the road...
Date: 2010-01-22 08:02 pm (UTC)Precisely my point. I'm willing to invest some of my time and energy trying to take care of the people who do want to have emergency vehicles come to their rescue even when the streets aren't all pristine.
And I imagine that the city, with it's lust for big machines, would actually love to have some real ATV type emergency vehicles like they do in places like Vermont.
Re: While I think it's lame to shovel snow into the road...
Date: 2010-01-23 03:06 am (UTC)I'm oh so sure that the people whose cars end up buried in the snow kicked up by said ATV-type vehicles will just shrug their shoulders. (Now, instead of shovelers having space holders, they'll have portable walls!) Same for when the vehicles go flying around corners in neighborhoods with really tight streets, lose control and cause damage.
Vermont may have some ATV-style rescue vehicles but they also have far fewer people spread out over a far larger area than are found in the Boston metro area. They can get away with a lot of things that can't be done around here. Also, some people in VT are in really remote areas that flat-out require such enhanced vehicles. Sorry, but snow doesn't demand the same solution in every case.
When hovercars and hoverboots become ubiquitous, I'll certainly consider leaving Boston's streets untouched. Until then, I'll pay a few extra bucks to the city and state to make sure I can get to the hospital in less than three hours.