[Summit] Parking again!

Fri Jan 29 20:48:36 UTC 2010

I would love to be part of that!

Mona
4th street

On 1/29/10 3:38 PM, "Greg Gerritt" <gerritt at mindspring.com> wrote:

> I am trying to stay out of the parking discussion,  I strongly support
> overnite parking, but this is not the best forum for that discussion.  It
> needs to be in person with sufficient time to explore the issues fully rather
> than flinging them back and forth.
> 
> That said, I reallty want to applaud the discussion of the future of the
> economy/ecology that Andy has brought to this discussion.  Ecological collapse
> on planet Earth is driving much of the eeconomic collapse we see even if it is
> called something else.  Resource problems (peak oil anyone) drive
> civilizations to ever more frantic thrashings, one of which is that bubbles
> seem to be the only way to make big money easy in a time of resource
> pressures.   
> 
> As Andy points out , transit friendly places are holding on to value better
> than  sprawl.  But even in the places with the real estate deflation, housing
> is still too expensive for most workers to afford.
> 
> My recent contrtibution is to work on getting a major increase in the
> production of compost from food waste so Providence and the surrounding
> communities can grow much more of their own food, seeing as the agricultural
> heartland of the world and this country are dependent upon water sources that
> are severely threatened by global warming (think more cars).
> 
> No one knows how we shall transform in the coming changes but things are going
> to be different.  If  you want support starting a compost heap and a garden,
> let me know.  Greg geritt
> 
> 
> on 1/29/10 2:42 PM, Andrew Nosal at andy at mapcenter.com wrote:
> 
>>> neighborhoods or cities have every right to preserve their specialness and
>>> livability. 
>> 
>> To use parking rules as an exclusionary tool is a right that is not equally
>> available to all cities and neighborhoods.
>> 
>> More importantly, execise of "rights" like this exact real costs that are not
>> borne by the lucky beneficiaries.  It is a primary cause of the mess this
>> whole country is in.  "Keep stuff I don't lke away from my house but make
>> sure I can drive everywhere I want" is not, in general, working out well at
>> all.
>> 
>> It may seem odd that I, who am as impatient as anyone for the end of the
>> automotive age, am arguing to bring on the cars.  Here goes.
>> 
>> The policies I criticize contribute to the ongoing pressure to build and
>> develop in the sprawling suburban manner.  This Me First has consequences not
>> just in Summit, but everywhere.  Few neighborhoods are in a better position
>> than Summit to evolve into a most desireable state of urban walkability while
>> still being full of greenery.  Man, are we lucky.  I am not envisioning
>> Manhattan here.  However, walkable, transit oriented neighborhoods and big
>> parking lots can not exist together.  Today is not too soon to prepare for
>> the more sustainable days we all seem to want, by encouraging the replacment
>> of parking lots with useful things.  Meanwhile there will be more cars parked
>> on the streets.  Transition to a time when cars will be unneeded by more and
>> more people has to begin somehow, somewhere.
>> 
>> Miriam Hospital is not an elephant.  It is a necessity.  There is no better
>> place for it than right in the neighborhood it largely serves.  Plus, it is
>> accessible by road and transit to workers and patients from elsewhere.  I am
>> glad it is not miles away, accessible by car only, in the middle of a big
>> parking lot.
>> 
>> I would remind anyone fighting to preserve the suburbaness of Summit,
>> fighting every slight change towards urbanity, that there are thousands of
>> nice houses for sale along suburban streets where you will never have to
>> worry about strangers parking or walking around.  The prices of those houses
>> are dropping much faster than the prices hereabouts.  People have some
>> inklings about what the future will be like. Right now we desperately need
>> more Urban options. Everyone will remain able to choose to live Suburban or
>> Urban.    Summit has been kinda lucky, kinda in between, but it is not fair
>> is to expect to have it both ways forever.
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> On Jan 29, 2010, at 12:03 PM, Art Norwalk wrote:
>> 
>>>  Yes, we are saying that neighborhoods or cities have every right to
>>> preserve their specialness and livability. And Summit is a special case
>>> because of the elephant (Miriam) in its midst.
>>> 
>>>  At 11:25 AM 1/29/2010, you wrote:
>>> 
>>>  
>>>> Thank you folks, for so frankly stating the convictions of specialness
>>>>  and entitlement that I was attempting to mock.
>>>> 
>>>>  The parking regulations enforce exclusivity and an aesthetic
>>>>  preference for empty streets.  People who fight hardest to preseve
>>>>  them cite exactly those advantages.  If that is a proper rationale for
>>>>  parking policy in Summit, then have you thought about what would
>>>>  happen if everyplace else could revise their parking regulations along
>>>>  those lines?  If that does not sound like a good idea, then the claim
>>>>  is indeed being made that Summit is differently entitled.  Yes, let
>>>>  the hapless fools in Pawtucket, College Hill and elsewhere submit to
>>>>  the the reality that "Everybody Drives" by not denying parking in
>>>>  otherwise empty space on streets that happen to belong to everybody.
>>>>  Summit shall deal differently with this reality.
>>>> 
>>>>  Anyone who can not show me that they seldom or never drive a car to
>>>>  another city or neighborhood and park it on a street while they work,
>>>>  shop, dine, visit a friend, or whatever, who nevertheless upholds
>>>>  Summit's parking regime, is claiming a privilege that they are willing
>>>>  to deny others.  Just saying.
>>>> 
>>>>  Does anyone seriously think ambulance drivers on their way to Memorial
>>>>  Hospital have trouble steering past cars parked in legally designated
>>>>  spaces on the streets of Pawtucket?
>>>> 
>>>>  _______________________________________________
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>>>>  Summit at sna.providence.ri.us
>>>>   
>>>> http://mail.sna.providence.ri.us/mailman/listinfo/summit_sna.providence.ri.
>>>> us 
>>>> <http://mail.sna.providence.ri.us/mailman/listinfo/summit_sna.providence.ri
>>>> .us>  
>>>>  SNA Website:  http://sna.providence.ri.us/ <http://sna.providence.ri.us/>
>>>>  
>>>  
>>> 
>>>  -- Art Norwalk
>>>  Norwalk Communications, Inc.
>>>  Advertising - Marketing - Public Relations
>>>  Tel 401.421.4310
>>> 
>>>  "How You Say It DOES Make A Difference"
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>>> Summit mailing list
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>>> 
http://mail.sna.providence.ri.us/mailman/listinfo/summit_sna.providence.ri.u>>>
s
>>> SNA Website: http://sna.providence.ri.us/
>> 
>> 
>> 
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> 
> 
> 
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