from the desk of stinkpot

woohoo, i’ve actually received some responses from city council members concerning the private reservation of public parking spots following a snow storm.

council member craig kelly wrote:

Lawrence-

I forwarded your email to Lisa Peterson of DPW (Lpeterson@Cambridgema.gov). In the past there’s been talk about picking ‘street furniture’ up when it’s saving spaces, but I’m not sure how aggressively it’s done.

For what it’s worth, as a guy with off-street parking and who pretty much bikes everywhere anyway, I think we ought to be picking that stuff up. I let Ms. Peterson know that as well.

A larger underlying point is how are we going to handle more and more cars trying to park on our streets as we build more and more condos without enough off-street parking. My thoughts are we want the people and the density, but we don’t want the cars. So we could allow added density to developments where the residents are not given on-street parking stickers. And we could set up an overlay district for the whole city requiring two off-street spaces for each new residential unit. We’ll see how far I can go with these ideas.

Anyway, thanks for bringing this up and stay in touch.

Craig Kelley
Cambridge City Council

council member tim toomey was more taciturn:

Lawrence,
The city does not allow parking spaces to be saved and the DPW does remove any objects placed on the street. If not, please call 617-349-4800 or let me know at 616-576-XXXX.
tim

[i looked up the first phone number: it's public works. i've omitted the last 4 digits of the second phone number because i suspect it's a private line.]

so there we go. i’ve been mollified by a pair of really non-committal e-mails. since at least my voice was heard, i can delude myself into believing that i’ve gained a modicum of traction over a phenomenon that i have no power to change. then again, i could indeed take real action and begin a campaign of dibsarchy here on berkshire st.

oh, and here’s the original letter i wrote:

Dear City Council,

I’d like to request that something be done to prevent the practice of saving parking spaces here in Cambridge after a snowstorm. I think it’s ridiculous that some residents here feel it within their right to claim a portion of the road simply because they’ve invested some hard-work in it; no amount of effort by any individual should translate into domain over a piece of public property.

I would like to suggest actively encouraging city sanitation and transportation workers to remove objects saving parking spaces. By doing so, it will become clear that Cambridge does not condone the vandalism of vehicles that do not “respect dibs.” Removing these objects will also benefit local local businesses – residents are less likely to run even short errands if they know that each time they leave their neighborhoods, they risk a potential confrontation upon returning and trying to find a new parking space. Finally, clearing the street of the folding chairs and other bric-a-brac I’ve seen strewn across the road today will help reduce our streets’ resemblance to a garbage dump.

Respectfully,
Lawrence David

114 1/2 Berkshire St.

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