How do you feel about permit parking? (leases, neighborhoods)

[Rosabel]

Residents in my neighborhood are currently petitioning for permit parking. If they get enough signatures from people on each street, the city will institute permit parking on a street-by-street basis.

Personally, I hate the idea. I completely appreciate that residents can be inconvenienced when outsiders park on their street, but I also appreciate the flip side, which is that it can be damn inconvenient to find anywhere to park in a strange neighborhood that has permit parking. I like the egalitarian nature of non-permit parking, and I hate the bureaucratic ridiculousness of having to provide the city with leases and utility bills and proof of residency for the privilege of parking on my own street.

Some people support permit parking because people who work in nearby businesses will park their cars in non-permit areas, or even park their cars there and then catch a bus elsewhere, in effect using the street as a makeshift Park 'n Ride. I can't fault those people for doing that--I'd do the same myself if it was difficult or inconvenient or expensive to park elsewhere.

I can see why people find permit parking useful, particularly in residential areas with large numbers of non-residents parking there--but on the whole, I'm opposed to permit parking.

What about you? Permit parking: love it or hate it, and do you live in a neighborhood with it or without it?

[FreightTrainRunning]

Personally I love it for my neighborhood but we've got so many huge attractions within walking distance that we'd never be able to park without the permits. We've got AGH, PNC Park, Heinz Field, Stage AE, CCAC and the stupid casino all within a few blocks of here. Steeler's games would be intolerable if people were allowed to park in front of my house, the whole neighborhood would turn into a giant tailgate.

Other neighborhoods without 60,000 seat stadiums next door might be different.

[MeinGlanzendMotorrad]

**** permit parking. It's a public street.

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by MeinGlanzendMotorrad

**** permit parking. It's a public street.

Do I smell a revival of another "Great Debate" about "The Chair?"

[ditchdigger]

Do I smell a revival of another "Great Debate" about "The Chair?"

You beat me to it. The chair eliminates the need for the city to get involved.

(My apologies to the OP. I know it was a sincere question, and we don't want to get into the chair discussion again, at least not so soon.)

In the recent chair debate though, I did bring up the example of areas with permit parking to illustrate that there exists a precedent, with the strength of law, for protection of the parking privileges of local residents over those from outside the neighborhood. If I still lived where I grew up in Shadyside, I could see myself being in favor of it.

[Craziaskowboi]

If people keep bitching about parking chairs, then I want the city to mandate permits just to shut 'em up.

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by SteelCityRising

Do I smell a revival of another "Great Debate" about "The Chair?"

Originally Posted by ditchdigger

You beat me to it. The chair eliminates the need for the city to get involved.

Originally Posted by Gnutella

If people keep bitching about parking chairs, then I want the city to mandate permits just to shut 'em up.

^ And so it begins!

[ditchdigger]

Originally Posted by SteelCityRising

^ And so it begins!

Yeah, but I was the only one who made an attempt to get back on topic.

[Craziaskowboi]

Originally Posted by SteelCityRising

^ And so it begins!

I was gonna say it regardless.

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by ditchdigger

Yeah, but I was the only one who made an attempt to get back on topic.

(Deflating). Awwww, shucks! Fine.

Back on topic we go. I'm all for permit parking as long as visitor parking is still permitted on a limited basis. For example, in my partner's section of Shadyside on-street parking is available on a permit-only basis, yet visitors can still park there freely for up to two hours.