A co-worker shared this article from MSNBC about parking woes around the country.
The article basically looks at how parking enforcement turned from a "public policy" into a moneymaker in many cities.
There are lots of interesting tidbits in there. Example: Washington DC has camera-equipped streetsweepers that photograph the cars parked in their way. Another: A woman gets parking tickets for parking too close to her own driveway.
That story links to another, from the New York Times, which did a pretty extensive look at one year of parking tickets in the city. Biggest ticket day? Day after Thanksgiving, they found.
At any rate, it's clear that parking creates issues in many places.
The article basically looks at how parking enforcement turned from a "public policy" into a moneymaker in many cities.
There are lots of interesting tidbits in there. Example: Washington DC has camera-equipped streetsweepers that photograph the cars parked in their way. Another: A woman gets parking tickets for parking too close to her own driveway.
That story links to another, from the New York Times, which did a pretty extensive look at one year of parking tickets in the city. Biggest ticket day? Day after Thanksgiving, they found.
At any rate, it's clear that parking creates issues in many places.
I grew up in a small town where I don't think parking meters
were ever really enforced. But because it was a small town, people weren't
exactly clamoring over the spaces either.
I've gotten several tickets here in York, most my fault. (I argued one because my parking permit was in the window at the time of the ticket.) I've also gotten some much heftier tickets elsewhere.
I parked too close to a fire hydrant in Brooklyn, N.Y., once and received a ticket that was well more than $100. A few years ago, I worked in downtown Annapolis, just off the circle where the statehouse is, and I think I escaped ticket-free. The parking right in front of our building was not metered, but it was limited to two hours. The parking enforcement officers would walk around and chalk the tires of cars in order to track who had been in a spot too long. I had many co-workers who were constantly running outside to see if their tires were marked. To me, it was worth it to either park farther away in the nine-hour spots or take the trolley from the parking lot a mile or two away.
Let me know what you think of the other articles here.
I've gotten several tickets here in York, most my fault. (I argued one because my parking permit was in the window at the time of the ticket.) I've also gotten some much heftier tickets elsewhere.
I parked too close to a fire hydrant in Brooklyn, N.Y., once and received a ticket that was well more than $100. A few years ago, I worked in downtown Annapolis, just off the circle where the statehouse is, and I think I escaped ticket-free. The parking right in front of our building was not metered, but it was limited to two hours. The parking enforcement officers would walk around and chalk the tires of cars in order to track who had been in a spot too long. I had many co-workers who were constantly running outside to see if their tires were marked. To me, it was worth it to either park farther away in the nine-hour spots or take the trolley from the parking lot a mile or two away.
Let me know what you think of the other articles here.
I wish someone would decide if meters require feeding on Saturdays. I've been told yes and no--by people who live and/or work in the city who I would think ought to know for sure. I sometimes go downtown to the Historic Trust on a Saturday and always feed a meter in front to last for two hours which is cheaper than paying a ticket.
Hi Jo -- Saturdays do seem confusing.
According to the stickers on the meters outside my apartment (which is less than a block from the Heritage Trust), meter hours run Monday through Saturday.
But I went back to my notes from my last conversation with the mayor, and he mentioned that the city can enforce on Saturdays but doesn't. (And a trip through our archives tells me there was much controversy a few years ago when they talked about enforcing on Saturdays.)
I haven't given you a great answer. You're definitely safer feeding the meter:)