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From: malloy@ittral.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.flame
Subject: Re: hanycapped spaces
Message-ID: <490@ittral.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 20-Dec-84 15:48:31 EST
Article-I.D.: ittral.490
Posted: Thu Dec 20 15:48:31 1984
Date-Received: Sat, 22-Dec-84 01:22:39 EST
Lines: 42

Actually the reason for the massive expansion in downtown Boston was to make
money (obviously).  Due to the fact that large amounts of Boston's land is
tax-exempt,  Universitys, and the state government mainly.  There was a need
for more money coming into the city treasury.  King Kevin loved to spend,
and there's a state-run Finance Commission (FinCom) to make sure Boston
doesn't finagle with it's books the way New York City did.

The parking is not totally the fault of King Kevin  (former Mayor Kevin White)
nor even the state Dept. of Trans. (which also relied heavily on mass transit)
but is primarily the fault of the EPA and the Clean Air act.  The problem is
that virtually the only source of pollution in Boston (due to the lack of
heavy industry) is the automobile, and there was (and still is) a requirement
to clean up the air in ALL major metropolitan areas.  With other cities it's
possible to put most of the burden on industry, but in Boston you're stuck
with the automobile, thus a federal requirement to restrict, and to even
gradually reduce, the total number of parking spaces in the city of Boston.

Thus if some business wants to put in a 100-car lot, they must buy a 100-car
lot somewhere else, and take it out of the parking business.  Note this only
applies to LEGAL parking spots, garages and parking meters.  This is why
illegal parking has expanded so rapidly in Boston.  The EPA can't restrict
the amount of illegal parking (because it's already illegal).  Boston has
made quite a bit of money out of it by shaking up their Traffic Dept. to get
them to collect fines (the Denver Boot is one example), and by raising the
price of a ticket.  A $ 10 ticket isn't going to stop someone, when it can
easily cost more then that to park in a parking garage.

I'm not sure if these regulation have been changed since Reagan took office,
but I suspect not.  Boston is probably still under a requirement to reduce
the amount of pollution in it's air, and restricting parking (and thus driving)
appears to be the only method available.  I was born and raised in Boston (and
shall be there over Christmas) and I've always found the T (mass transit) a
good way to travel.  Although it's mainly good not in of itself, but in
comparison to driving among all those lunatics masquerading as drivers, and
attempting to find a parking spot where none exist.

In addition that 5% of spaces reserved for handicapped parking is probably
another federal regulation (or a state, or a city one).  BTW  why is this
discussion being carried out under a Title with ``handicapped'' misspelled?
--
Address: William P. Malloy, ITT Telecom, B & CC Engineering Group, Raleigh NC
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