The discussion about the on the winter parking ban post has some folks defending the winter parking ban on the basis that parking is bad. (Much on-street) parking is bad. Using city-owned property for private, predominantly free, car storage has a bunch of bad consequences. On-street parking prevents that city-owned space from being used for non-car mobility. Probably the number one obstacle to more bike lanes is on-street, residential parking. And, the availability of cheap — actually publicly subsidized — parking is a strong incentive to embrace the driving lifestyle, which causes congestion and contributes to global climate change.
But, the winter parking ban is not a thoughtful effort to reduce parking and, therefore, to promote biking and discourage driving. It’s an arbitrary and seasonal ban that has little justification for its breadth. The narrow aim of the winter parking ban — to remove cars from the streets during periods of plowing and snow storage — would be served by banning parking by City Hall-declared snow emergencies.
And, there are equity issues. There are areas of the city where the residential development has created dependence on on-street parking.
Let’s substantially reduce the amount of city streets dedicated to parking through a thoughtful, sustained evaluation of actual parking need and opportunity for using the space for better uses. But, so long as parking is available during the three other seasons, let’s make it available for all but snow emergencies during the winter.
I have a question about this quote…
“The narrow aim of the winter parking ban — to remove cars from the streets during periods of plowing and snow storage — would be served by banning parking by City Hall-declared snow emergencies.”
Would this approach provide adequate legal notice of a “snow emergency” to drivers parked on-street? I’d be concerned about people having their car towed without proper notice, and incurring substantial fines and towing fees as a result.
Snow emergency parking bans are not a new thing. Presumably drivers could check the city web site.
So many problems with Mr. Roche’s analysis.
Most glaringly, bikes are not an answer for the vast majority of people who have chosen to make Newton their home. Like it or not many/most of us depend on automobiles to lead our daily lives. From where we work and shop to our ability to provide our children with the lives we want for them, the car is essential. The idea that our city government should be working in the ways suggested by Mr Roche to rid our community of cars is not just an inconvenience (like most of the policies coming out of city hall) but rather a fundamental threat.
Now of course, this thread is about the evils of state sponsored parking. It is not evil in the least, at least not in the way Mr. Roche would like us to believe. Rather, the ability to park our cars on the street next to our house is an expectation shared by most of us living in Newton. It is thus viewed as an appropriate use of public resources by far more people than see it as a problem. As such, there is no reason for the city to do anything but make it more useful for us by lifting the silly winter ban and alerting the population of snow emergencies in the same way we are informed of school closings.
Mr. Roche does have a point, as is often the case. It is just his solution that is lacking. Obviously, cars are a source of pollution and it is not unreasonable to seek to limit that problem. Given their centrality to the lives of those not living in an urban setting however the elimination of cars is the last, not the first reform that is needed.
First, we need integrated work/retail/childcare/etc that are located close to, if not part of our living spaces. In Newton at least, this means the D word.
Second, we need more and better public transportation to get us to our jobs and these new and improved spaces. If if public options take many multiple of the time driving, they are not options.
Finally, cars per se are not the problem. Rather gas powered cars are the issue. So finally, we need an electric car infrastructure which includes sufficient environmental remediation for the now few locations where the electricity is generated.
After these are in place, then we can talk about cars.
If we want to reduce the amount of cars on the road, we need to focus on these things: safer sidewalks, improved crosswalks, and reliable public transportation. I can walk or bike to run basic errands and to my kids school, but that’s about it. My husband is able to take the commuter rail to work as long as he doesn’t work odd hours, which he sometimes does, and the CR doesn’t accommodate non-peak hours very well. But without my car, it’s difficult to get my kids to things like doctor/dentist appointments and extracurricular activities. And with young kids, you need to bring car seats and booster on to Lyft or Uber and then you’re stuck carrying them around. I would honestly love to be without a car and just walk, bike, take the T or bus, and use Lyft and Zipcar, but it’s impractical in most of Newton – especially with kids. So….we have a car. A car that I woke up too early, bundled up, and walked down the block to move on this snowless November morning.
@Sean– On a practical level I agree, “drivers could check the city website” for snow emergencies. I’m asking a technical question though, about the legality of towing cars if your suggested methodology were employed. My gut instinct tells me it doesn’t afford proper legal notice to drivers who may end up getting their car towed.
We get robocalls now every time a snow emergency is called in Newton. Other municipalities do the same. This is nothing new.
Mike – when the City declares a snow emergency now, all cars have to be moved off the street or risk being towed. The city sends out robocalls, emails, etc. same as other communities. If they remove the overnight ban, I would assume there would be more snow emergencies declared because they’d need the streets clear of cars for overnight plowing, but the process would be the same, right? How would it be worse for anyone?
I can tell you that when you call the police during a snow emergency, the offending cars do NOT get towed. We live near the green line, and we have been told that these commuters don’t know when the snow emergency goes into effect so they don’t tow and our street isn’t plowed because the plow doesn’t fit. What would be nice is if the commuters don’t use my street as free parking. They choose not to park in the lot. They take the risk. Most commuters know the risks of parking on the street on a day it *might* snow. Tow the offenders. They won’t do it again, or they might not do it again. But to have residents NOT be able to drive up their street because the commuters didn’t know about the parking pan doesn’t fly with me.
Yes, we do get robocalls for snow emergencies now. But we also still have a winter parking ban in place. So the robocalls are effectively a courtesy, not a legal notification that your car is subject to towing. That legal notification is currently covered by the seasonal ban, and [if I’m not mistaken] reflected in signage when you enter the city. I don’t think the city can simply change those signs to reflect Sean’s [very worthy] suggestion. I do not believe replacing the wording on those signs would constitute sufficient legal notice to tow a car. I suspect this proposal would require new signage throughout the city. That doesn’t mean I don’t support the idea of eliminating the seasonal parking ban. I would like to see it eliminated. But I also want to make sure that drivers are given proper legal notification before their cars are towed.
But a snow emergency could be declared at any time of day – if Newton declares a snow emergency effective as of 5pm today, all cars are supposed to be off the street by 5pm today. How does the overnight ban serve as notice of that? I think the big issue is that currently, the city rarely seems to tow during snow emergencies. A few winters ago they plowed around a car in my neighborhood that was on the street for a several day snow emergency; eventually the car was moved (not by the city) but there was a huge frozen mound of snow in the street for weeks so only a single car could get by – annoying during the day, dangerous at night.
I wish this post had started with the elimination of the arbitrary parking ban and instituting a snow emergency ban in its place because currently that’s the most prescient problem. It needs to go. There must be an effective way to alert residents since snow parking bans are common in other municipalities.
Sean isn’t necessarily promoting removing parked cars from streets as the first changes before all of the priorities listed in Elmo’s comment. If he is then I disagree.
@Mike Striar – other cities and towns seem to manage this issue without blanket overnight parking bans. If you are so concerned about this, why not just look at what Boston, Cambridge, Watertown, etc. do?
Very true, cars rarely get towed during a snow emergency. In fact, I’ve noticed that cars parked on my street seldom even get ticketed for parking overnight during the parking ban…but they do when there’s no snow! Since people can’t park in the municipal lots during snow emergencies, people often risk parking on our street overnight during a snow emergency. And they don’t get towed and usually don’t get a ticket. We have an arrangement for our car during snow emergencies, so luckily we usually don’t have to make that choice, but a lot of people do.
I’m not against removing the parking ban especially in areas where people do not have off street parking however I do wonder exactly how things would work. How effective the snow plowing will be? How quickly are cars moved off the streets and towed if they are not? And how much snow would require a “snow emergency”? I would guess not every snow fall would require cars to be moved but then due the streets get messy with reduced clearance? Also where do people put their cars on those occasions if they don’t have a regular parking spot. I lived in Brighton during a few snowy winters and remember many times of jamming my car into an on st spot due to limited areas to park due to snow banks. I don’t ever remember having to move it completely off the roadway. The residents on my current street are lucky enough to have off st parking however we have had occasions where our street was not effectively cleared and then the sometimes heavy day parking caused it to become effectively a one way street. It became very difficult for the elementary school bus to get down our street. It was scary at times the little lee way there was for the bus. There was also a lot of chicken fighting going on between cars coming from different directions sometimes to standstills.
Very frustrating people have a hard time understanding the ridiculous seasonal ban is ONLY for the hours of 0200 AM thru 0600 AM. Has nothing to do with when a true snow emergency is declared. There is no need for this ban 90% of the nights (my estimate though real stats were cited on another thread) and it needs to go. So unfair and inconvenient.
@NewtonHighlandsMom – But that’s not necessarily related to the parking ban. People aren’t supposed to be parking on the street during a snow emergency at all which isn’t the same as the overnight ban. Plus, the ban = one hour parking between 2 and 6 AM, meaning someone could legally park on the street from, say, 3-4 AM which would be legal if there’s no snow emergency in place. So I don’t think the ban is even that effective in terms of snow removal.
Watertown has a similar ban to ours, Meredith. I think it’s a little shorter, though. I would consider looking at Waltham which got rid of their ban recently and I would say that the neighborhoods most affected by this ban are similar to parts of Waltham in terms of density.
@Mary Mary Quite Contrary – I made a mistake including Watertown, but the other cities I mentioned don’t have overnight parking bans as far as I know. And I was only referring to Mike Striar’s concerns about how people will know when there’s a snow emergency.
I’m very much in favor of getting rid of the overnight parking ban and just having parking bans during snow emergencies as needed.
The winter ban serves more than just snow removal, it facilitates much needed fall and spring street cleaning to prevent gutter/drains clogs and heavy loading of organics in our waterways, which is a serious environmental contamination issue. My street never gets fully swept until the overnight ban. Secondly, the night time salt and sanding will soon begin and overnight street parking seriously impedes getting a good sand and salt coat on both the road and sidewalks.
Most of Mass has overnight winter bans just like Newton–we’re not unique. But if you want Newton to “be like Boston and Cambridge”–chock-full of cars–then Newton would also need to adopt the Boston and Cambridge parking strategies of not only “snow emergencies” but also intermittent parking ban nights for street cleaning, resident only parking zones, and meters for non-resident parking.
To just remove the ban and not address the consequences would be short-sighted foolishness.
If you think Newton’s system is “persecution” now try getting towed during a snow emergency in Boston: $100 fine, $150 tow, and $100 car storage fee–plus cab fare to the tow lot–and it didn’t even snow that night I was towed! Or street cleaning mid-day in Cambridge: $100 fine, $150 tow.
People in Boston laugh when I say the fine is $25 in Newton. Then I tell them how once a car was left on the street during a big storm and the police were pounding on my door at midnight telling me to move the car but it was my neighbor’s car and they weren’t home. The City towed it and my neighbor said they left it in the City parking lot three blocks away with a $25 ticket–the city didn’t even charge for the tow! Unbelievable. We have to be the only City in Massachusetts that doesn’t charge for towing.
My street almost never gets swept, poorly sanded and salted, and a half-assed plow job each time it snows. It’s a bummer that I take the time to move my car but the City routinely neglects to take care of my street.
@David M “The winter ban serves more than just snow removal, it facilitates much needed fall and spring street cleaning to prevent gutter/drains clogs and heavy loading of organics in our waterways, which is a serious environmental contamination issue. My street never gets fully swept until the overnight ban. ”
Is the city doing this street cleaning between the hours of 2am and 6am?
@Mary “Is the city doing this street cleaning between the hours of 2am and 6am?”
they usually sweep from 5 to 7 am–do you run out and put your car back on the street at 6 am? They can’t sweep, salt/sand, plow under cars. So I can understand if you want to extend the ban until maybe 8 am.
street sweeping schedule: http://apps.newtonma.gov/dpw/streetsweeping/schedule.htm
I can attest to the 5am street sweeping. It has woken me up many mornings as unfortunately I seem to live on a path where they start their route. Sometimes they seem to be just psssing through to other routes. Very annoying to be woken up by that distinctive noise!
The ban has NOTHING to do with street sweeping, though. Street sweeping is done when people legally can have their cars on the street (the ban is one hour parking from 2-6, so cars really can be back on the street at 5 AM) and is also done outside of the months of the ban.
And when I mean my street is neglected, I mean the city often doesn’t even attempt to sweep/sand/salt/plow it.
@Mary, did you notice the street sweeping schedule is Nov though Jan–do you think it’s just a coincidence those dates coincide with the parking ban? Even thought he ban is technically 1 hr parking from 2 to 6 am, the requirement results in nearly zero cars on the street from like 10 pm to 7 am where I live.
Also, I don’t understand the justification for your street being neglected–are you saying we should lift the parking ban and then neglect all the streets? Surely you don’t want that–call the City if your street is neglected.
If the true purpose of the ban is to enable street cleaning and there is a published schedule for street cleaning why not just restrict street parking in alignment with the schedule vs a blanket overnight ban across the entire city?
Also I know that the streets in Newton Center are cleaned throughout the year as I see them in the summer as I walk to the T in the morning usually around 7:30 am.
I’ve also seen the streets surrounding swept year round. We frequently see the sweepers when walking to school – between 8 and 8:30 AM.
And David, my point is that if they’re making us move our cars, they should actually maintain the streets. Yes, I do put in a 311 request when they neglect to plow. Which is after every storm.
Street sweeping may start as early as 5 AM in the summer, but I don’t think they start until there is some daylight, which means well after 6 AM in the winter. The sweeper typically comes down my street after 8 AM. Also, I don’t think any street sweeping occurs after early December until sometime in March – certainly not in my area.
With the winter parking ban comes an increase in the number of cars parked at the end of driveways so that they block the sidewalk. The fine for parking on a sidewalk is $15, the fine for violating the winter parking ban is $25. The latter is enforced, the former is not. This sends a message as to which of these places the city would rather you park. This fits with the lack of enforcement of keeping sidewalks clear of ice and snow.
Regardless of whether or not we have a winter parking ban, I would like to see reasonable attempts to enforce ordinances regarding sidewalks.
I totally agree about the sidewalks. People squeeze in multiple cars into a too-small driveway, totally blocking the sidewalk. Sometimes even sticking out into the street a little. But that’s never enforced. It would be safer for them to park on the street if there’s no risk of snow.
The parking ticket fee structure is strange, though. Parking overnight on the street in the winter is $25, but obstructing traffic is only $15. Isn’t obstructing traffic a much bigger risk? Parking in a bus stop is also $15. The parking ticket fee structure puts parking overnight on the street at the same level as blocking a fire hydrant or parking in a crosswalk – which are both serious safety concerns. Impeding snow removal is only $20– but isn’t the point of the overnight ban to keep roads clear for snow removal? So why is the overnight ticket higher? Makes no sense.