379 replies to this topic

[urbie]

smcbride11, on Jan 25 2007, 01:18 AM, said:

That's the way the pilot works...  Your car either has to be registered at a valid address or you need to show a valid lease (if your car is registered at another location, like a student's would be).

I'd be amazed if even 100 people signed up for the pilot, though...

That's probably because if you live here, either you have an off-street parking space or you don't -- and if you don't, you don't have a car.  Otherwise, I can't see paying for a permit unless you're about to go out and buy a(nother) car.

Now, if there were on-street parking allowed, at SOME point, we might get a second car (altho' Meg says we wouldn't do that anyway).  But the lukewarm interest in a pilot program doesn't mean no one's interested -- just that there aren't many people who are going to rush right out and get a car just because they can now have a permit to park it on the street under a pilot program that could be terminated and leave them with nowhere to park!

Urb

[c.a.haynes]

runawayjim, on Jan 16 2007, 12:23 PM, said:

the people who live in the predominately rental neighborhoods are the ones who will benefit the most from allowing on street parking.  they either end up with paved or dirt backyards to accommodate cars or they use a parkign lot elsewhere because the driveway is too small for 3 apartments with at least 1 car each.

then there's my case where i live in a mostly single family home neighborhood, but my house has 2 apartments.  the driveway can't accommodate both me and the woman below because we can't sync the times we leave.  i end up parking on a grass lot next to my landlady's house (which is next door).  it sucks because i have to drive over a curb everytime and it does a job on the alignment on my wheels and on my suspension.  if i could park in the street overnight, i'd do it.

I don't understand why the CHNA and others are so vehement in their opposition.  There does not have to be a carte blanche overnight parking permit for every street in the city.  The City has every right to allow overnight parking on particular streets on a case by case basis.  Many streets on the East Side are simply not wide enough.  People would still park on the street and walk even if they weren't able to park in front of their house, no?

[runawayjim]

c.a.haynes, on Jan 25 2007, 08:30 AM, said:

I don't understand why the CHNA and others are so vehement in their opposition.  There does not have to be a carte blanche overnight parking permit for every street in the city.  The City has every right to allow overnight parking on particular streets on a case by case basis.  Many streets on the East Side are simply not wide enough.  People would still park on the street and walk even if they weren't able to park in front of their house, no?

if the option was park a block away for free or pay $50-100 a month for a rented space, then yes, they would walk.

[urbie]

c.a.haynes, on Jan 25 2007, 08:30 AM, said:

I don't understand why the CHNA and others are so vehement in their opposition.  There does not have to be a carte blanche overnight parking permit for every street in the city.  The City has every right to allow overnight parking on particular streets on a case by case basis.  Many streets on the East Side are simply not wide enough.  People would still park on the street and walk even if they weren't able to park in front of their house, no?

Well, what's wide enough?  If a street is wide enough to park on during the day, why not at night?  Do cars get fat after 2:00 am?  

Urb

[runawayjim]

urbie, on Jan 25 2007, 09:26 AM, said:

Well, what's wide enough?  If a street is wide enough to park on during the day, why not at night?  Do cars get fat after 2:00 am?  

Urb

there will likely be fewer cars on the street overnight than during the day.  but drug dealers can hide behind cars parked overnight.

[Cotuit]

urbie, on Jan 25 2007, 09:26 AM, said:

Well, what's wide enough?  If a street is wide enough to park on during the day, why not at night?  Do cars get fat after 2:00 am?  

I've never understood this argument either. If there are streets that are too narrow for parking and the passage of emergency vehicles at night, then they are also too narrow during the day and parking should be banned on these streets at all times. I know what emergency vehicles have to deal with on the East Side during the day, double parking, pedestrians, idiot drivers... it is far more easy for emergency vehicles to move at night.

[mental757]

Awesome Map!!

I'd like to use Cotuit's ideas and add my own:

the red line could loop from the Park Ave/Cranston stop using the old ROW to Warwick Ave, to Post, to Braod, to Norwood, to Narragansett, and back to Allens to complet the loop.

the green line could turn south after Olneyville square to follow the old Kent county ROW to Budlong, to Garden City and then follow the route from there.

An orange line could be added from KP to W. Exchange, to Dean, to PV Parkway, to Valley, to Olneyville Sq., then turn west to follow Cotuit's green line from there.  Olneyville SQ. would also act as a trasnfer point between the orange and green line.  The southern branch of the orange line would depart KP and basically follow Weybosset to Broad, to Elmwood ending at the zoo with a transfer point there to the red line.

[Cotuit]

mental757, on Jan 25 2007, 10:29 AM, said:

Awesome Map!!

It's not really based on the Mayor's latest proposal, just something I did a while ago. I should play with some actual streetcar ideas. I have another map in progress but it's hard to restrict myself to a realistic proposal and not get carried away doing a fantasy map (my latest one includes a subway portion from Dorrance Street to the Promenade for example).

[eltron]

Regarding onstreet parking and a perfect reason why this city is so backward:

PPD put one of those speed sign things that tell you how fast you are going on Federal Street. During the evening, Federal Street has lots of Atwells overflow parking, and is pretty full of cars parked onstreet. It is IMPOSSIBLE to go over the posted limit of 25 when the cars on the street. Hey, instant traffic calming! Late at night, when there are no cars parked on the street, you can go 40, blow through stop signs, run over children, whatever. The fact they stationed the speed thing here just kills me, and illustrates one very significant potential benefit of trying to become a real city with something as simple as onstreet parking...

[runawayjim]

eltron, on Jan 25 2007, 11:01 AM, said:

Regarding onstreet parking and a perfect reason why this city is so backward:

PPD put one of those speed sign things that tell you how fast you are going on Federal Street. During the evening, Federal Street has lots of Atwells overflow parking, and is pretty full of cars parked onstreet. It is IMPOSSIBLE to go over the posted limit of 25 when the cars on the street. Hey, instant traffic calming! Late at night, when there are no cars parked on the street, you can go 40, blow through stop signs, run over children, whatever. The fact they stationed the speed thing here just kills me, and illustrates one very significant potential benefit of trying to become a real city with something as simple as onstreet parking...

they had one of those on my street as well, which is a small quiet residential street in elmhurst.  while there's the occasional a-hole who does 45 up and down the street (usually some punk kid), it has very low traffic and people generally do no more than 30 as you have to swerve back and forth around parked cars.

[Cotuit]

The city could fund the schools (and Pawtucket's schools, and Central Falls' schools, and Warwick's schools, and Cranston's schools, and East Providence's schools...) just by sitting on Federal Street where the speed sign is and issuing tickets to valets.

[mental757]

here is my (rudamentary) version of Cotuit's map:

[jencoleslaw]

that is so awesome. i could get to work on the green line, and then the red line. It would be so easy.  one of the things i like about light rail over buses is that i don't get all nauseated on light rail. city buses are so jerky and stop and goish and lurching that i feel so pukey by the time i get anywhere. light rail is so much smoother.

[mental757]

I'm having a blast making the map.  I'm going to add the northwest branch of the orange line tomorrow...

Planning on it going from KP somehow by the PC area and up that way...

[jencoleslaw]

can you dot it with coffee and tea and donut shops?

[Cotuit]

jencoleslaw, on Jan 25 2007, 09:25 PM, said:

can you dot it with coffee and tea and donut shops?

Wouldn't shooting any streetcar line in any direction out of Kennedy Plaza already be automatically dotted with Dunkin Donuts?

[runawayjim]

mental757, on Jan 25 2007, 09:06 PM, said:

I'm having a blast making the map.  I'm going to add the northwest branch of the orange line tomorrow...

Planning on it going from KP somehow by the PC area and up that way...

smith st would be a great route...

Cotuit, on Jan 25 2007, 11:23 PM, said:

Wouldn't shooting any streetcar line in any direction out of Kennedy Plaza already be automatically dotted with Dunkin Donuts?

any route no matter what it is or where it goes in the providence area is already dotted with dunkin donuts.

[jencoleslaw]

Cotuit, on Jan 25 2007, 11:23 PM, said:

Wouldn't shooting any streetcar line in any direction out of Kennedy Plaza already be automatically dotted with Dunkin Donuts?

yes, but i'd like to know where they are so if i have an emergency i know which stop to get off and on at.

[urbie]

mental757, on Jan 25 2007, 03:37 PM, said:

here is my (rudamentary) version of Cotuit's map:

I like it -- but it suffers from the same problem most public-transit systems have: plenty of radial routes into and out of downtown, but not so great for going from one outlying location to another, or through town (e.g., whenever I look at the RIPTA schedule, thinking about commuting from the East Side to, say, Cranston or Warwick, it always looks like it'd take forever, so I'd end up driving most of the time).  Not being a transporation planner, I don't know what the solution is -- spending bazillions of dollars to build a circumpolar route that would be lightly used obviously isn't it.

Thoughts?

Urb

[runawayjim]

urbie, on Jan 26 2007, 08:29 AM, said:

I like it -- but it suffers from the same problem most public-transit systems have: plenty of radial routes into and out of downtown, but not so great for going from one outlying location to another, or through town (e.g., whenever I look at the RIPTA schedule, thinking about commuting from the East Side to, say, Cranston or Warwick, it always looks like it'd take forever, so I'd end up driving most of the time).  Not being a transporation planner, I don't know what the solution is -- spending bazillions of dollars to build a circumpolar route that would be lightly used obviously isn't it.

Thoughts?

Urb

these maps are just light rail maps.  ideally the buses would then drive between them rather than follow the same spoke and hub type of system.