Thursday, March 16, 2017

Snow Job

Snow reveals much in the urban hellhole, especially when it lingers for a few days. One thing it reveals is just how many people don't actually need their cars. That people "need" their cars drives demands for cheap parking permits, which fills up available parking spots with cars that people don't actually need, which makes car owners apoplectic and opposed to any development which doesn't have off street parking in a city where most lots can barely fit a house, which drives down local population density, hinders revitalization of walkable neighborhood commercial corridors, leads to more people "needing" or wanting cars, worsening the parking problem, etc...

Rich people who like cheap long term storage for their weekend cars get very concerned about the needs of poor people whenever people suggest increasing parking permit fees (The first one is $35 per year. They're basically free). Snow reveals just how many of those cars are not used for daily commutes.

Cities spent decades hollowing themselves out by trying to be "more like the suburbs." Sadly, too many "new" city arrivals who have decided they like city living can't look around the urban landscape, see how big cars are, and do the simple math to figure out just how much space they take up.