Shootings/Crime in Boston reach historic low in 2023 - in addition to significant drop in homicides (Cambridge: credit, home)

[lrfox]

Originally Posted by msRB311

Well I don't live in the city. When I did live in the city I had a house with a driveway as well so i never had to deal with that crap. I just empathize with people who struggle to find parking on a daily basis. Obviously you can't attack the ticket giver but it must be a struggle.

There's zero excuse for this type of behavior and if you're even a little lenient about it, you'll have an even harder time recruiting/retaining municipal employees. The person deserves the book thrown at them.

To be clear, I sympathize with the challenges of city parking. Prior to my last place which had off-street parking, I was parking on city streets (Boston and Somerville) for a long time. Learning the local rules and tracking the street cleaning days/hours is a challenge (even with automated alerts). I wasn't perfect, and I probably had fewer challenges than others (no kids, standard work schedule, no mobility issues, etc.). So I get the frustration and would even support a one or two strike system on certain offenses to cut residents some slack. But beating someone who is just doing their job? No patience or sympathy for that. Absolutely zero.

I will say this, as crappy as parking in Boston can be, the parking enforcement people outside of downtown are actually fairly lenient about some things in my experience. Lots of technically illegal parking is allowed to slide. Specifically, the space between a car and the corner, car and driveway entrance, space between a car and a fire hydrant, etc. are almost never actually enforced unless it's super egregious (car in the crosswalk, literally blocking the fire hydrant or driveway, etc.). They're not particular sticklers about the unmetered 2hr parking limits. I don't even think resident stickers are enforced with an iron fist in some outer neighborhoods (Eastie social media groups were full of complaints about "illegally parked" out-of-state cars in resident only areas). Generally, the parking enforcement folks are just decent people doing their jobs. As a resident, it's your job to make sure you're following the rules.

[GeePee]

These aren't new laws. Throwing a fit when you are reprimanded for your ***** behavior seems to be the norm these days. This is what we get for telling a whole generation that they do nothing wrong.

[msRB311]

Yep. I am again not saying it's ok to attack anyone...but i do think parking situations can suck. Dorchester is not exactly Boston proper either...it's a neighborhood type area where people who live there shouldn't be punished for parking their cars. I don't make rules though.

[lrfox]

Originally Posted by msRB311

Yep. I am again not saying it's ok to attack anyone...but i do think parking situations can suck. Dorchester is not exactly Boston proper either...it's a neighborhood type area where people who live there shouldn't be punished for parking their cars. I don't make rules though.

Except that it is quite literally a neighborhood within Boston proper and has a critical mass of cars (more cars than spaces) which is why the rules exist. The rules aren't new and if you follow them, you're not going to be punished. Nobody's entitled to store their private property in public spaces. And that's essentially what parking your car on a public street amounts to. The fact that the city doesn't charge for residential permits (like other cities do) is something to appreciate. The rules are quite reasonable and should be expected considering the circumstances in my opinion.

[GeePee]

The automobile entitlement inside the city is one of the reasons you can blame your gridlock traffic at most times of the day too.

[msRB311]

Originally Posted by lrfox

Except that it is quite literally a neighborhood within Boston proper and has a critical mass of cars (more cars than spaces) which is why the rules exist. The rules aren't new and if you follow them, you're not going to be punished. Nobody's entitled to store their private property in public spaces. And that's essentially what parking your car on a public street amounts to. The fact that the city doesn't charge for residential permits (like other cities do) is something to appreciate. The rules are quite reasonable and should be expected considering the circumstances in my opinion.

I lived in Dorchester from 2010-2013 and I didn't experience those parking issues there thankfully. There was a garage behind the house with a few spots but even the street parking was not bad.

I guess this is another reason I'm glad I no longer live in the city. The city might not charge for permits but there are many residential parking only signs up.

When I said Boston proper I was thinking of people who live in beacon hill, back bay, places that are extremely busy. Again I'm an old 45 year old woman here but to me Dorchester is not Boston proper.

[massnative71]

Another day in the ghetto...



2 teens wanted for stealing food from pizza delivery driver at gunpoint in Hyde Park

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hcozfwYdJxU

[redplum33]

^ one of them was caught in the Fairmount housing projects.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/gjArmGYGaZMixWmd9


One of two teens arrested for Hyde Park armed pizza heist, police say

[ormari]

Originally Posted by lrfox

There's zero excuse for this type of behavior and if you're even a little lenient about it, you'll have an even harder time recruiting/retaining municipal employees. The person deserves the book thrown at them.

To be clear, I sympathize with the challenges of city parking. Prior to my last place which had off-street parking, I was parking on city streets (Boston and Somerville) for a long time. Learning the local rules and tracking the street cleaning days/hours is a challenge (even with automated alerts). I wasn't perfect, and I probably had fewer challenges than others (no kids, standard work schedule, no mobility issues, etc.). So I get the frustration and would even support a one or two strike system on certain offenses to cut residents some slack. But beating someone who is just doing their job? No patience or sympathy for that. Absolutely zero.

I will say this, as crappy as parking in Boston can be, the parking enforcement people outside of downtown are actually fairly lenient about some things in my experience. Lots of technically illegal parking is allowed to slide. Specifically, the space between a car and the corner, car and driveway entrance, space between a car and a fire hydrant, etc. are almost never actually enforced unless it's super egregious (car in the crosswalk, literally blocking the fire hydrant or driveway, etc.). They're not particular sticklers about the unmetered 2hr parking limits. I don't even think resident stickers are enforced with an iron fist in some outer neighborhoods (Eastie social media groups were full of complaints about "illegally parked" out-of-state cars in resident only areas). Generally, the parking enforcement folks are just decent people doing their jobs. As a resident, it's your job to make sure you're following the rules.

When I lived up there, I found the Boston police to be fairly reasonable when it came to the challenges of parking in Boston, like you say. Somerville/Cambridge policies were a different story. When it came to parking, I always felt like parking in Somerville was a little slice of hell. The city institutionalized a hatred of students by way of its parking policy, and it oozed from the city employees in interactions with them. They made little accommodation for those who weren’t townies. Parking policies penalized students, but were also punitive toward the yuppie (non-townie) residents in my neighborhood as well. That trickled down into citizen behavior toward one another. I remember watching a fist fight over a parking space in the aftermath of a snow storm. Coming from elsewhere, it was a little surreal, and totally off-putting.

I’ll always look back somewhat fondly at the time I lived in Somerville because of the friends I made during that time, but the complete animus toward residents was unforgivable. I wouldn’t live there again.

[massnative71]

Originally Posted by ormari

When I lived up there, I found the Boston police to be fairly reasonable when it came to the challenges of parking in Boston, like you say. Somerville/Cambridge policies were a different story. When it came to parking, I always felt like parking in Somerville was a little slice of hell. The city institutionalized a hatred of students by way of its parking policy, and it oozed from the city employees in interactions with them. They made little accommodation for those who weren’t townies. Parking policies penalized students, but were also punitive toward the yuppie (non-townie) residents in my neighborhood as well. That trickled down into citizen behavior toward one another. I remember watching a fist fight over a parking space in the aftermath of a snow storm. Coming from elsewhere, it was a little surreal, and totally off-putting.

I’ll always look back somewhat fondly at the time I lived in Somerville because of the friends I made during that time, but the complete animus toward residents was unforgivable. I wouldn’t live there again.

Yeah they totally keep that checklist of vehicles/license plates owned by townies vs. students and yuppies "let's ticket that Kia...you know, the transplant from Oregon!".