Overnight on-street parking is a seemingly silly issue to be writing about. I mean, this shouldn’t even be something anyone would need to discuss. Unless, of course, you live in Providence. You see, Providence has this silly ordinance that says you cannot park overnight on the street between the hours of 1:00 am and 6:00 am. I don’t know the history of this silly 5 hour parking ban, but I do know some of the reasons the opposition gives for lifting the ban. I’ll list the reasons for opposition, followed by a constructive rebuttal.
MYTH: The overnight parking ban prevents landlords from packing in too many students into a small apartment and prevents students from bringing their cars.
FACT: Landlords are going to try to get as much money as they can for a unit. Each unit will only feasibly hold a certain number of students comfortably. One of the reasons students move off campus is so they can have their own bedroom and more space than living in a dorm room. No student that I know (working in a college and all) would be willing to live in an apartment that gives them the same amount of space they can get on campus. The parking ban also forces people (landlords and homeowners) to find creative ways of parking their cars in the absence of a driveway or small lot next to the house. Some of these “creative” measures are paving yards (front, back, or sometimes both) to allow for parking. There are serious environmental issues with this that lifting the ban would help alleviate. There is also a law in Rhode Island that says that only a certain number of unrelated people (I think the number is 3) can live in a unit. While this law is not enforced (I know plenty of 5 or 6 bedroom units with 5 or 6 unrelated people), it is still on the books.
MYTH: The overnight parking ban allows for street cleaning during the hours of the ban.
FACT: Many streets are not swept at all. If they are, they are swept on a schedule set by Public Works, which generally gives one or two sweepings per calendar year. While I have only lived in my current place of residence for a few months, I lived in my former apartment for two and a half years. During that time, I witnessed the street cleaning only once. The street cleaning occurred between 10:00 pm and 11:00 pm, a time when street parking is allowed. If this is an issue, the sweeping schedule could be followed verbatim and the residents notified and parking can be banned on certain streets on those days or during the hours of cleaning. Other cities do just this and it works out perfectly fine for them.
MYTH: The overnight parking ban allows for better snow removal during the winter months.
FACT: When it snows (this past winter we had only one major storm), the plows must come through whenever the streets are covered. They cannot simply wait until the parking ban goes in effect to plow. Unfortunately, however, the city of Providence does not do a terribly great job at plowing, making this reason even less valid. Other cities only allow parking on the odd or even side of the street on certain days during the snowy months. These cities do just fine with removing their snow. In fact, they do a better job than Providence.
MYTH: The overnight parking ban allows for easier access for emergency vehicles (fire trucks, ambulances, etc.).
FACT: Emergency vehicles get down narrow Providence streets just fine during the 19 hours that on-street parking is allowed each day. The ban is also in effect during the slowest hours for emergency vehicles.
MYTH: Allowing cars to park on the street overnight makes the street look less attractive.
FACT: The ban is only 5 hours a day. These 5 hours are hours least likely to have tourists wandering around Providence. The cars parked on the side of the road do not make it look unattractive, but trash cans, little, unkempt yards, and peeling paint make the city less attractive. It is expected that cars are parked on the side of the road in cities.
As you can see, there is no really valid reason for this parking ban. The proposed answer to the ban is a resident permit parking program. Each resident would pay a yearly fee for a parking sticker that would allow them to park overnight in their neighborhood. Other major cities in the country have similar programs and get by just fine with none of the issues I listed above. There is no excuse as to why Providence should have such a silly ban on overnight on-street parking. Reasons I have heard against the permit parking program include the startup costs. Unfortunately, anything like this has these costs. However, these costs include signs. Many of our current signs need to be replaced because they are so faded you cannot read them. Another of these costs is enforcement. The current parking laws need to be enforced. That cost should already be covered in our current budget. The program would easily pay for itself in the first year. With the stickers costing less than $1 each and the fee to get a sticker being at least $25 each year, that’s a pretty good deal for the city. I am not even taking into account the revenue from parking tickets, towing, and booting of cars. Strict enforcement can go a long way towards bringing in lots of valid money to the city’s coffers, and I am 100% in favor of using parking tickets as a form of revenue. Laws exist for a reason, if you knowingly violate them, you deserve to pay the consequences (in this case, a fine). The fact remains that Providence is the only major city that has such a ridiculous ban on overnight parking. The time has come to lift this ban if Providence wants to truly move into the 21st century. It’s good for the environment, it’s good for urbanism, and it’s good for Providence.
Greater City: Providence will be hosting their September Greater City: Exchange tomorrow (Tuesday, September 11) at Ada’s Creations, 1137 Broad Street, in Providence. The special guest will be Patrick from the Citizens for Resident Permit Parking. If you are in favor of on-street overnight parking or want to learn more about the issues involved, please come. It starts at 5:30 pm with the speaker at 6:00 pm.
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