Saturday, January 8, 2011

whoom, whoooom, whoooooom

I have a new plan for the blog: I will no longer wait until I have time and energy to write substantial blog posts. Instead, I'm going to be micro-blogging, as if this were Facebook. Surely I have time for that?

It's saturday morning, 7am, and what else but the dulcet tones of unpermitted tree removal. Part of me wants to call the po-po and have the miscreants hauled away in chains; the other part of me thinks that's a mighty unfriendly thing to do. And who needs all those green and brown things anyway? They just make a mess, right?

13 comments:

LinknPark said...

I hear everyone in Lincoln Park saying this a lot...unpermitted tree removal early on weekend mornings. Interestingly, the same time the local gardeners make their rounds in our neighborhood. You sure you arent hearing leaf-blowers? On more than a couple occassions I have had people tell me my leaf-blower sounds like a chainsaw. Just a thought.

Ed said...

I'm taking the position that they have permits, or the trimming/removal doesn't require a permit.

On the other hand, a chainsaw that sounds like a leaf-blower might be the real solution.

Anonymous said...

Is anyone in favor of making no parking on all city streets on street sweeping days? I am so sick of paying for something that I don't receive.

John Clifford said...

Anon,

What exactly is the problem? Are people parking and your street is not getting swept? OR, are you seeing that there are no street sweepers coming down your street? You were a little unclear.

Also, the whole city doesn't get swept on the same day so how would your proposal change from the current no parking on street sweeping days? If you're suggesting that ALL street sweeping occur on the same day and that no one can park on ANY street on that day, I'm not sure that would be doable or something that would work for people who don't have other parking options. Right now, at least you can park a few blocks away where street sweeping is not occurring.

Just trying to get my head around your suggestion

Anonymous said...

many cities have no parking on any city street on what ever the street sweeping day maybe. And you are right my street does not get swept because of parked cars. In addition, the urban run off is a serious problem and Pomona and all cities should be doing everything possible to minimize that run-off.

John Clifford said...

Anon,

In Pomona, there is street sweeping somewhere 4 days a week, every two weeks. Smaller cities have less of a challenge, larger cities institute opposite side of the street parking so that people can still park but are limited to the side of the street where they can park on given days of the week.

If people are parking on street sweeping days now (and I assume getting tickets--I know I have when I've forgotten) why do you think they'll suddenly change their habits if you restrict it to all city streets?

I'm still not understanding your argument. I agree there is a problem and one that has consequence, but I don't understand what your proposed solution is.

Anonymous said...

I am saying that on whatever day the streets get swept that there is no parking on that day. Let the chips fall where they may. I for one am not concerned where people park. Clean ot the garages, pave the backyards. I don't care. I want what I pay for.

Anonymous said...

I am saying that on whatever day the streets get swept that there is no parking on that day. Let the chips fall where they may. I for one am not concerned where people park. Clean ot the garages, pave the backyards. I don't care. I want what I pay for.

John Clifford said...

And I'm still unsure what you're asking. There is currently no parking on streetsweeping days from 8 am to noon (when the streetsweepers come) on the streets that are being swept. I've personally gotten parking tickets for parking on streetsweeping days.

Are you suggesting some other kind of sanctions? Maybe we should be towing cars that are parking during street sweeping hours? OR, perhaps you're not seeing enforcement of the no parking on streetsweeping days in your neighborhood?

Again, I'd love to understand what the issue is and what your proposed solution is.

Anonymous said...

There are many streets where parking is allowed on sweeping days. In Fact, in order to have no parking on those days I was told that 50% of the houses(owners) on the street must sign a petition.

meg said...

Wow, Anon, I didn't know that; I assumed that sweeping = no parking, end of story.

I'd be pretty grumpy if I didn't get any street sweeping, esp. when the garbage-truck or -pickers had been particularly messy.

John Clifford said...

Anon, I didn't know that either. That's where the confusion came from. Are the streets your referring to in neighborhoods or are they throughfares or are they in areas with commercial/industrial or are they streets with a lot of high density (apartments) housing?

While it doesn't make a difference in my mind as to restrictions on parking, it may have something to do with the inconsistency in how they're applied. I'm with you that all streets need to be cleared of parking before streetsweeping.

Ed said...

Now I'm a little confused by John's comment. Oh well. I'm with Anon because I am also under the impression that to restrict parking on street sweeping days a majority of the residents must sign a petition. I'm not aware of any exemptions based on the type of street or the density of the housing, but of course, securing the necessary number of signatures when you have high density would probably be more difficult.

Thanks Anon for bringing up an issue that drives me crazy. The 400 block of east Jefferson has restrictions, but the 500 block doesn't. Go figure!

Of course, I don't mean to be eeyore, but in the current economic climate even if the city changes it's policy, installing new signs throughout the city may not be feasible.