Boston City Council is considering charging a fee for residential parking in Boston’s neighborhoods. Councilor Michelle Wu suggested a $25 annual fee for a parking sticker. If a household were to get more than one permit, each one would double in price, meaning a second one would cost $50 and so on.
Would this fee change your current parking habits? Would you pay it happily? Begrudgingly? Would you search for an alternative solution so you didn’t have to park on the street? Vote in our poll and add your comments in the section below.
Web polls are unscientific and reflect only those who choose to participate. NorthEndWaterfront.com polls do not have any official significance and are only intended for the interest of our readers.
It’s election time and government leaders shed tears about the plight of working Americans, the cost of living and then want promote themselves with free give aways. Oddly, the next move is to then raise taxes and impose more fees. Here we have something that was free and we change it to paid? Are the tears just fake?
Yes. The tears are fake. They always are. What’s amazing is that so many people get fooled and buy into the rhetoric….
How would this address the situation if there are multiple “tenants” at a single address, i.e. Charlestown Marina?
This is a very slippery slope!! My first prediction is that the charging of a fee to park will not mitigate the difficulty of parking in the North End. My second prediction is that you will frequent increases in this fee. Please, tell me realistically how this will improve parking in our neighborhood?? When politicians tell you they need this money to improve the quality of your life, they are being disingenuous and if you believe them, I have a bridge, I would like to sell you a bridge!! This is a very, very bad idea and does not take into consideration the many sacrifices and inconveniences the residents of the North End live with on a daily basis.
Agree 100 per cent.Case in point the price for an inspection sticker was $2:50 Why people buy these politicians BS amazes me.
So people would stop parking on the street (and pay hundreds per month for a lot) rather than pay $25 annually? Makes perfect sense….
But will you have a designated spot to call your own?????
Totally opposed to the fee as I feel it’s just a money grab the City Council has conjured up; and the initial ‘nominal’ $25 fee is just to get the door opened! Once implemented this fee will increase consistently without a doubt.
Also, I cannot see how charging for residential permits will help the resident parking situation in any way whatsoever. How will charging a resident permit fee stop ‘non-sticker’ vehicles from taking residential spaces? This plan will only pit residents and parking permit holders against one another — with curbside residential spaces ultimately going to the highest bidders. It’s an asinine idea.
I don’t agree with a fee to park in any neighborhood in Boston.
He’s what I think should be done:
#1. remove all visitor spots from each street (think there’s 3 on a street), let visitors pay to park;
#2. Check ALL the handicapped spaces and see if the person who applied for it has passed away, remove it!!!
#3. No more valet parking, sorry but the restaurants without valet parking have just as many customers than the restaurants that do have valet parking;
#4. The people that have permits and no longer live in the North End, take those away………There’s quite a few of those too. They work in downtown and park in the North End daily……
There’s a couple hundred more spaces for residents.
I pay $360 a month to park and have been paying for parking for years because I don’t like looking for a spot and parking 12 streets away from my house every time I go out. But again, that’s my option.
Life Long North Ender, I wish you were on the City Council! You make the most sense!
Why can’t these people problem solve instead of shaking us down as the first response?
Because we live in a blue state.
I agree with “Life Long North Ender” especially with #2 and #3. Some people are always looking to beat the system.
My husband and I would rather pay the $306 a month instead of driving around like a vulture looking for a parking
space. #2 and #3 If you can afford a car you can afford to pay for a space, stop taking advantage of the N.E. people that live there.
I agree with Lifelong NEnder too except I say give first permit at an address for free, any additional ones at same address should have a high fee. #fivecarflaherty.
However ENFORCEMENT ENFORCEMENT ENFORCEMENT. Nothing gets better until enforcement exists. I don’t see why it’s so hard for the City to do. Hire trash enforcement, parking enforcement. Has anyone ever seen an officer in Hanover Street making double parkers move along?
I think the council has forgotten that we pay taxes and should not pay for parking on a city street. Our property taxes are very high in the city and to add more to living in this city is wrong.
Not sure that they have forgotten. I think this is really a stealth tax. Inventing more fees so that they can claim that they are trying to contain taxes. Actually, I don’t hear anyone saying they are trying to contain taxes, but running for office and pledging to raise taxes is campaign death.
I’m with “Life Long North Ender”
Enforcement of any issue in the North End is a big disappointment. Look at the garbage on the street, the lack of enough rubbish containers for tourist garbage and the noise at night that gets overlooked . Cars double park all over Hanover Street but try to double park(because there are no spaces) to unload groceries or anything else. Visitor parking should go. I see the Valet drivers parking in resident and visitor spots all the time. It would be great if there were designated resident sticker spots with a time limit for unloading.
Restaurants with valets have a fancy image. Valets like it because they get to drive someone else’s car through the North End as fast as they can drive them and for tips no less. Giving up the valet spots will make it safer for pedestrians too.
Can’t speak for today but know for a fact that in the day the valet service for restaurants was run by some
people we will refer to for lack of a more accurate word as shady characters.
I agree with Neighbor and Benca that without strict consistent enforcement nothing will get solved.
If the politicians are the ones at fault (and I think they do hold some culpability), why do the same ones keep getting voted in? Vote out the incumbents!
My guess is that far too many people don’t bother to vote at all for whatever reason.Term limits would help as well.