Three hour parking

[somjournal.livejournal.com]

You can now park for three hours at lots in Davis Square. Weigh in on the change on our blog.

Comments

[mamajoan.livejournal.com]

No offense intended, but does the Somerville Journal have any editorial standards as far as the proper use of English grammar? The article you linked to uses the word "effect" where it should be "affect." I know that correcting grammar on the internet is kind of a cliche, but this is a newspaper, for pete's sake.

[watchamacallit.livejournal.com]

This change does not effect street meters, which stop charging for parking at 6 p.m. Metered spots are free after 8 p.m.

Holy crap is that a confusing sentence.

So the lots require coins until 8pm and you can park for 3 hours but meters are free after 6pm and you can only park for 2 hrs? I wish the city would just stop changing the rules already.

[mamajoan.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I think the sentences you quoted are meant to convey that meters in parking lots operate differently from meters on the streets. Street meters are still limited to 2 hours, and free after 6pm; meters in lots are newly limited to 3 hours and free after 8pm.

I agree that it's confusing. I also feel that it could have been made slightly less confusing if it had been phrased better. And "effect" is just plain wrong.

[turil.livejournal.com]

Heh, you beat me to it!

[turil.livejournal.com]

I'd be happy to be a copy editor or proofreader for the paper, for a small fee...

I'd also have caught the confusing paragraph that surrounds the effect/affect gaffe: "This change does not effect street meters, which stop charging for parking at 6 p.m. Metered spots are free after 8 p.m." I'm guessing that they mean that the metered spots on the streets are free after 6, while the metered spots in the parking lots aren't free until 8, but that's not clear.