Oh, ITHACA, Why Are You So Wise?

 

One of the most common and talked about banes of life in Hudson for those who rely on streets to park their cars is the Overnight Alternate Side Parking rule.  A few years ago there was much discussion and effort among the council on how to change or get rid of the rule.  It went absolutely nowhere.  However, at least one city in New York, one that Hudson City Hall is fond of emulating (think sidewalks), has figured out a smart and simple way to ease the burden of overnight parking.  

The first thing one sees at the top of the main page on the City of Ithaca's website is a conspicuous indicator showing whether Alternate Side Parking is or is not in effect for that night.  Unlike here in Hudson, Ithaca does not force residents to park on one side of a street when their street sweeper or their snowplows are NOT out doing their important work.  Ithaca is utilizing the internet to help its residents and visitors, to simplify the overnight parking process, to decrease confusion and annoyance and to free up parking spaces as often as possible.  We just paid a consultant to tell us we need more parking spaces if Hudson is to thrive in the coming years.

Hudson's Alternate Side Parking rule exists, at least in theory, to penalize parked vehicles which are in the way of the DPW snowplows in winter and the DPW street sweeper in the non-winter months (the sweeper applies water while sweeping, so winter use is out).  I received a $15 WRONG SIDE PARKING ticket in the early morning hours of February 3rd, as did many other vehicles, no doubt.  I forgot to move my car to the other side of State Street.  However, there was no snow in the forecast for that night, no snow on the ground, no DPW plows in the streets.  So, my car and others were issued overnight tickets even though we were not in any DPW vehicles' way.  We were on the "wrong" side of the street but we did nothing wrong, per se; we caused no hardship for DPW.  The streets weren't more full of snow or dirtier because we parked on the "wrong" side of the street.  Yet we were issued $15 WRONG SIDE PARKING tickets anyway.  This makes no sense.  But it does make dollars and cents for City Hall, of course. 

Ithaca understood that this was wrong and they made the simple effort to right the wrong.  They know that penalizing a resident for not creating any hardship for the city is ridiculous and not beneficial to the community. They know that casting the wide net of alternate side parking when its not needed is not helpful to anyone.  They agreed that ticket revenue should not trump what is clearly wrong and unnecessary.

No snow in the forecast?  The website indicates the rule is suspended for the night, we can park on either side of the street!  No street sweeper scheduled?  The website indicates the rule is suspended, we needn't worry about getting a WRONG SIDE ticket, wherever our cars are parked.  Snow on the way?  The website will tell you what side of the street to park on.  Do you feel your stress level already dropping?

City Hall would have to make a serious, coordinated effort to do what Ithaca has done.  HPD, DPW, Parking Bureau, who ever is in charge of the city website, all have to agree to this, be on the same page, and understand that this is the right thing to do.  Some may have a problem with such a change, maybe even the City Treasurer, since ticket revenue will take a hit.   I was told recently by a HPD officer that they issue 50 to 80 of the WRONG SIDE PARKING tickets on a nightly basis.  That is up to $1,200 a night.  

Do the right thing or keep the ticket money flowing in while unnecessarily inconveniencing car owners?  Who at City Hall would even make that decision?  Apparently City Hall will be rolling out a new website soon -- a great time to copy what Ithaca was wise enough to do.  Oh, Ithaca!