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Providence Needs Resident Permit Parking!
Citizens for Resident Permit Parking
Aesthetics
Pave-over - The act of paving residential green space to create additional parking. In Providence an increasing number of property owners are paving-over portions of their yards and while there is a legitimate need for additional parking the greater good is not being served. In the last 10 to 15 years there has been a dramatic change in the landscape of city neighborhoods. This change has caused concern among residents from an aesthetic as well a practical point of view. The pressure to pave-over is highest in lower income/working class neighborhoods where several family members may need cars to reach disparate work locations. This is a do-it-yourself response to the excruciating parking shortage we face in Providence. Pave-over’s are on the rise because of an increase in car ownership coupled with a rise in large households with extended families where everyone is working and needs a car. Residents throughout the city complain that increased paving of residential green space detracts from the quality of life in their neighborhoods. Some neighborhoods are becoming an asphalt jungle.
The Environment
On the environmental front asphalt keeps soil from absorbing rainwater, sending it instead into a storm-water runoff system that removes it from the local water supply, picking up pollutants along the way and poisoning our rivers. Pavement is the greatest cause of excessive rainwater runoff and the loss of local aquatic life. Grass and soil absorb rainwater and act as a natural filter as it drains into the groundwater system. Pave-over’s also lead to an increase in surface temperature in lower income neighborhoods on hot days.
Regressive Taxation
Regressive tax: A tax that takes a larger percentage of income from lower income groups than from higher-income groups. Why is parking your car... on the street... in your neighborhood... at night... a crime? The overnight parking ban, and the parking tickets that go along with it, is a regressive tax on students and working families in Providence. In just a few weeks fine can triple in value, cars can be booted and a driver’s licenses can be suspended. Pretty harsh stuff for leaving your car in front of your house at night, don’t you think? In 2006 the city experienced a shortfall in fine revenue due to the introduction of overnight parking in Washington Park. According to John Simmons, Director of Administration the city will address that shortfall in 2007 by hiring more staff to write parking tickets. Obviously the overnight parking ban in Providence has little to do with public safety and everything to do with picking to pockets of the most economically vulnerable people in the city. This must stop!
Michael Arden
Posted at November 20, 2007 10:43 PM