Fattom23 t1_j5h3stk wrote on January 22, 2023 at 11:30 PM

Reply to comment by QuidProJoe2020 in why doesn't the PPA give a shit? by getnakedivegotaplan

Like it or not, money is how we allocate scarce resources. If you want someone to use something for only a period, you're right: you either charge them for using it or limit the time. The problem with limiting the time is that with a strict two hour limit, everyone who's there longer has to go move their car looking for another free space (both free as in "no cost" and free as in "unoccupied") which vastly increases vehicular congestion (because cars are added to the traffic flow that would have otherwise been parked). So charging for the parking is the least bad solution. Making the parking fees will only make every single parking-related problem we've ever had even worse.

QuidProJoe2020 t1_j5h4pih wrote on January 22, 2023 at 11:36 PM

I 100% agree, but this city does not efficently allocate resources in anyway. We pay extra due to politican incompetence and corruption.

I also have no problem paying for a service i get, but paying for parking does not get me anything except saves me from getting a ticket. Lived in this city my whole life and the streets have always been shit, trash collection awful, and the city sucks as dealing with adverse weather events. The money the PPA generates literally first and foremost goes to supporting the PPA and very little, if any, actually gets us better services.

Like i said, increase property taxes, because we already have the highest wage tax in AMERICA. If that helps get good streets and proper maintence, im all for it. However, right now, all we get for paying for parking is saving ourselves a fine, and that is what pisses me off about the PPA.

Fattom23 t1_j5h58hk wrote on January 22, 2023 at 11:40 PM

I totally understand the dislike of the PPA as an organization. I can imagine a world in which there's a much better PPA (and city government in general), but the parking enforcement function is extremely important. For me, it's about controlling the parking and not really the money. That's just the least bad way to change behavior, since jailing people over it and expecting people to actually care about their fellow citizens when they make decisions about their car seem equally ridiculous.

Thanks for the perspective, though. I appreciate the thoughtfulness.