Daily Talker: Fixing The Lack of Parking In South Boston
Parking seems to always be tough to come by in South Boston. During snowstorms, residents sometimes get into fights over cones, chairs or garbage cans used to save shoveled-out parking spaces. On weekends, out-of-towners pour into the neighborhood to visit friends.
Now Boston officials are preparing for a 90-day trial in part of the neighborhood, where resident-only overnight parking would be expanded to seven nights a week, according to the Boston Globe. Currently street parking is restricted to only residents from 6pm to 10pm, Monday through Thursday.
"Parking is such a sensitive and hot-button issue for everybody - old and new alike - in South Boston," City Council President Bill Linehan told the Globe. "When you bring up the issue, everybody has an opinion. If you don't do something concrete, like expanding resident parking, then it just becomes an abstract discussion."
"It's not just a weekend problem, it's an everyday problem," wrote firefighter and resident Peter Gailunas on the "Caught in Southie" website. "We are in crisis-mode and it's affecting the over all quality of life in South Boston."
After the 90-day trial ends, the program will be evaluated to see what impact it had.
What do you think about this plan? What should be done to improve the parking situation in all Boston neighborhoods? Share your comments below, and watch for them on WBZ News in the Morning from 4:30 to 7:00 a.m.
