Residential parking permits in San Francisco are pretty illogical
In San Francisco, individual blocks can opt in or out of restricting parking with permits (reference interesting exploration of this issue in Noe Valley SF). Regardless of how you feel about whether residential parking permits make sense or not, the existing system is flawed because it encourages everyone to act selfishly instead of considering the greater good. Parking in my neighborhood can be some work but it’s one of the better areas for parking in the city, especially given that it’s near the geographical center. Thanks in part to the blocks bisected by alleys which create a larger curb to square foot of building ratio than usual, I often park right in front of my house.
My block has not opted into the parking permit requirement. This means that when visitors from outside the city and lovers from outside the neighborhood come, they can leave their cars on my block for more than two hours just the same as I do. It’s very convenient, and I know that neighbors who live on other blocks take advantage of this when people come to see them or stay overnight. However, many of the surrounding blocks have opted into the restrictions. Sometimes, I can’t park on my block. If I can’t find a spot on the dwindling number of remaining blocks which are not restricted, I have to play a musical car game every few hours until it gets late enough.
I looked into buying a parking permit for the occasional time when I can’t park on my lbock, but as I had heard was the case, I am not allowed to buy one because my block is not restricted. So, if everyone acts rationally in this case, why would any block inhabited by local residents decide not to opt into the restrictions? Why even bother to give a choice? My block most definitely does not need to be restricted in order to protect it from non-residents, but I would still marginally benefit from acting in my own interest and petitioning for permit requirements. This would result in under-utilizing parking resources because in most cases more extra spots than are needed would sit empty. It seems that the good people who bother to think about that get punished. Wouldn’t it make more sense to allow residents who live within a certain radius of a certain number of restricted spots to purchase permits as well? They would only use them when absolutely necessary because it’s always preferable to park as close to home as possible.
Sutro Baths video
I stumbled upon this extended video clip from the 1958 film The Line Up which was filmed at the Sutro Baths. Via Curbed SF.
Physical address emails
I know the census was a while ago, but it’s been on my mind again (*ahem,* upstairs neighbors whose neglect causes me to continue to get buzzed by census workers). Back in April, the census got me wondering why there isn’t a way to tie an email address with your physical address such that 1) government outlays for massive efforts like the census could be reduced and 2) to make life easier for those who prefer to receive electronic correspondence. Obviously, you can’t force people to use this program, but if it were strongly protected such that Pottery Barn etc. could not exploit this new avenue of communication, I think a lot of people would opt to receive official correspondence (voting information, utilities announcements) in this way. I whispered this idea to Dan but that did not effectively get Google to steal it, so I am writing it down here so that someone will.
Etsy finds
Set of six wooden modular stacking planters
Rear Gear butt covers for your cat and dog – too funny
Filed under: Art & Design, Hayes Valley, History, Technology, Transportation Tagged: | dogs, Etsy, parking, Sutro Baths
