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Disturbing comments from the City of Somerville on Boston.com
Was anyone disturbed by City of Somerville spokeswoman, Jackie Rosetti's, comments about the city's parking policy on Boston.com? I found this comment particularly disturbing: "...the ban discourages commuters from leaving their cars on city streets for several days while they turn to public transportation."
I understand the need for an enforceable parking policy that discourages residents from using city streets as their own parking lots/driveways--oh wait, don't residents already do that by throwing trash in the street to save spaces? That any city, let alone "The Model City", discourages residents from using public transportation in any way is a crime. In fact, it should be a crime for a city not to encourage the use of public transportation.
I think the 48-hr parking policy is unreasonable for residential streets. Instead, I'd like to see something like a 7-day policy, whereby residents that use public transportation to commute, but still own a car, have the weekend to use, and therefore move, their car to avoid being ticketed or towed. Am I way off base here? I'm new to the community and have lived in a city without a car for years. I share my current car with my partner, who also commutes via the T. I know that it's a privilege, not a right, to park on a public, city street. That said I don't think the current parking policy is benefiting our community. There are healthier ways for the city to generate income.
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But I couldn't believe that the city would want to create such an odd incentive, so I tried to come up with an alternative that might make sense. The only thing I could think of was that they're not trying to encourage people to drive to work--instead, they're trying to discourage people that take the T from owning a car/parking it on the street. Basically, it's a way to make owning a car a PITA, so that you only own a car if you really want/need it. Of course, they could probably accomplish the same thing by charging more for resident permits...
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the garages would probably bring in more revenue than the various levels of tickets that get foisted on the unfortunate street parkers, and it would eliminate at least some of the need for ticket givers. two birds...
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When I moved here in 1994, the fine was $2, so it wasn't that much of a motivator.