Somerville to letter writers, in re parking

[drwex]

I received a response to my email of June 8. Reproduced here in its entirety:

from: Kimberly Ford <kford@somervillema.gov>
to: $ME, Mayor <mayor@somervillema.gov>
date: Thu, Jul 2, 2009 at 5:23 PM
subject: RE: Proposed Somerville parking changes

Dear $MYFIRSTNAME,

Thank you for writing to Mayor Curtatone regarding the recent decision by the Traffic Commission. He has asked me to follow up with you regarding the impact of the recent changes on the community.

On May 25th, the Traffic Commission authorized a move to citywide permit parking effective August 1st. In a separate vote, the Commission also approved an increase in meter rates to one dollar per hour, and the extension of metered parking hours to 8p.m. across the city, and 10p.m. in Davis and Magoun Squares.

Mayor Curtatone understands that residents and business owners have concerns about these changes - and that is why he has established a Parking Solutions Task Force (PSTF) to review the City's plans and ensure that parking remains available and accessible to residents, businesses and visitors alike. The 14-member group includes City officials, elected officials, business owners and residents. The group will work over the next several weeks to explore and address any concerns prior to implementation of any of these new initiatives. There is more information on the task force available here: http://www.somervillema.gov/NewsDetail.cfm?instance_id=1464/. The PSTF will certainly look into solutions for the issues you raised in your email.

As the most densely populated city in New England, Somerville has a shortage of parking for both residents and businesses. This is the reality of living in an urban environment; however, we are always looking for policies and strategies to maximize our parking.

On the residential side, Somerville's taxpayers are current subsidizing parking for many people who don't register their cars here, pay excise tax here, or participate in the permit system. That's not right in the best of times: during a fiscal crisis, it's totally unacceptable. That is why the Traffic Commission voted to move to citywide permit parking - a suggestion that was initially made by the Financial Advisory Committee the Mayor convened earlier this year to examine our existing policies and look at ways to increase efficiencies, save money and generate revenue.

Right now, our business districts need to get more out of their existing parking spaces through better pricing policy and increased turnover. In Davis and other busy squares, we need to take steps to make sure that visitors can find a space when they need one - otherwise they'll stop showing up. Raising rates can actually increase the amount of turnover and the availability of spaces. You can find more information about the issue here: http://www.somervillema.gov/CoS_Content/documents/DavisSquareParkingStudy.pdf.

I hope that this information is helpful. We are confident that by working together, and with the creation of the Parking Solutions Task Force, we can resolve many of the existing concerns before August.

Thank you,

Kimberly
Constituent Services


At least it was a response, and polite. But it basically toes the party line.

Comments

[c1.livejournal.com]

He's got one point right: there does seem to be a lot of out-of-town license plates in MA, and I'm sure Somerville is home to many of them. It might not be the best way to get people to pay their fair share of excise tax, but at least it's a step in that direction.

out of town?

[drwex]

I'm not sure how you'd determine that. Most of the out of state plates I know belong to students. If you can tell out of town MA plates on sight then you're using a cue I'm not familiar with.

Re: out of town?

[c1.livejournal.com]

I was referring to the ones that are obviously out of town-- those from New Jersey, New York, etc. that I see fairly consistently. It's one thing if you see them parked downtown (sure, MA is as much a "destination" as anywhere else), but it's something else when you keep seeing them parked in residential neighbourhoods.

Re: out of town?

[drwex]

I call those "students". Somerville has a lot of them.

Re: out of town?

[c1.livejournal.com]

Fair enough, but at the point where they're summering over and living in off-campus housing (in effect, they've become residents of MA basically), I say that it's time to pony up and pay your fair share. Why should it be up to the townies to pay for road maintenance, police, and fire? Why should the blow-ins get a pass?
Indeed, if Somerville has a disproportionate number of students who aren't paying for upkeep of the city, then it's fair to say the townies should be upset about this, and seek redress for these grievances.