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

[kimberlogic.livejournal.com]

That's exactly what I received.

[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.

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

What was the crux of your complaint on the matter?

PSTF?

[fordprfct.livejournal.com]

So, if I am understanding correctly, they have heard that there are a number of people complaining, and so they have formed a group whose name could be pronounced "pissed off" to deal with said complaints?

I rather suspect that there is a tech, somewhere, giggling his fool head off, after his suggested group name was used.

[ringrose.livejournal.com]

I don't know about his complaint, but I can talk about mine. My complaint is that as far as I can tell, they tried to enact these changes without consulting the people affected. Now they've made a task force, but nowhere in a quick read of this letter does it say the task force's conclusions might affect the new parking regulations.

For starters, the extension of metered hours mean that people can't readily park to go to the Somerville theater.

People on a street should be able to decide if their street should be permit-only. I enjoy having a non-permit street on one side of my house. I believe other people on my street want it to be permit-only, but that should be a decision among the people on the street. Not a blanket decision by people who aren't affected.

The increase in parking costs also create problems for people eating in Davis Square, if they didn't take the T.

[mangosteen]

One of the edge cases in Somerville is that there are several places where residential parking gets used as auxiliary business parking (e.g. Willow Ave. for Ball Square). If that parking suddenly went permit only, I'd just take my business someplace else, like Watertown or Brighton (i.e. closer to home).

Excise Taxes and "take the T" are both figleaves for the way that they'd actually make money, that being parking tickets.

[cos]

I received exactly the same response. I didn't find it "polite", I found it stupid and patronizing and devoid of thought. It actually rather angered me. Here's what I wrote in reply:

> As the most densely populated city in New England, Somerville has a
> shortage of parking for both residents and businesses. This is the

However, the rule change would extend permit-only parking to various
streets in Somerville that do *not* have a shortage of parking, and
would do so regardless of residents' wishes. If the residents of a
particular area feel that there's not enough parking they can ask for
permit parking restrictions to be added. Imposing these restrictions
all over the city, where residents haven't asked, cannot be justified
by making generic, handwavey comments about a shortage of 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

Whoah there! What you're saying is that there should be no non-permit
parking *anywhere at all* in the whole country! Because everywhere
that has non-permit parking "subdsidizes parking for people who don't
live there" - including Somerville residents. This justification
sounds insane at first glance.
-- Cos

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.

That's close

[drwex]

My main complaint is that I come to Somerville to do three things: spend time at cafes (primarily Diesel), eat at restaurants, and see movies or live shows. The reduction in available spaces (by making larger areas resident-only) and the restriction on number of hours one can stay parked is contrary to all three of those activities.

I pointed out that I'm almost always coming to Somerville from work and that the T is therefore not an option.

And finally I pointed out that I could do all three of those things in Cambridge, but the easier availability of parking in Somerville is a major factor in where I choose to spend my business and entertainment dollars. If they make Somerville parking just like Cambridge (which is to say hard to find and annoying) then they've removed the incentive for me to come and spend money.

I also noted that the extension of meter hours and the increase in meter fares seemed like reasonable responses and ways to generate additional revenue without cutting into core commercial activities.

I generally agree

[drwex]

See my response above to surrealestate

Interesting view

[drwex]

I felt that the form letter was more polite than the original pronouncement. I'll be interested to hear if you get any further response.

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.