From "We're Pissed" To "We're Out Of Here!"

Yesterday (Sunday) afternoon, public parking spaces meant for residents were few and far between in the 500 block of narrow, tree-and-house-lined, one-way Washington Street.  The street, one of three, has essentially been taken over by the business complex at 549 Washington, also known as the Pocketbook Hotel (PBH).  Just about any parking issues -- certainly those that didn't exist until this year -- on Washington, Prospect, or 6th are a result the PBH business complex.

The first sighting was the orange Subaru, a relative newcomer to the neighborhood, a daily or near daily sight (it's hard not to see).  That car is owned by the PBH's valet, and it seems to be his office/waiting area. (No, it is his office/waiting area, particulary when it is cold.) He's the worker who drives guests' cars down Washington, down Franklin, over on Prospect to its end, makes the dangerous turn onto 6th, heads up 6th to complete the rectangle, turns back onto Washington but heads the other direction in the 600 block, and finally enters the PBH's new parking lot that was so generously leased to them by the city.  The valet will then leave the guest's car in the lot and walk back to his waiting orange car (typically parked on Washington as close as possible to the PBH) to sit in it and wait for another guest to arrive who has no interest in parking their own car on the street or in the lot.

As I said, noticing the orange Subaru parked on Washington is not at all unusual (Washington Street residents would probably agree with me).  What was unusual yesterday, however, was that the car's windows were down, no one was seated inside, AND THE FUCKING ENGINE WAS IDLING.  No one was standing nearby, either, not even the valet who I am familiar with and who has recently taken to telling me to "get out of here" and "go away" whenever he sees me poking around his turf, especially when my phone is out ready to take pictures.  Valets are protective of their turf, I have come to understand.

I decided to stick around the area to see if the valet might return to his idling car.  Then, a minute or two later, about two hundred feet to the west in front of 542 Washington, I saw the signs of discontent that have become just as common a sight as the orange Subaru: orange (!) cone in the street at the curb reserving a parking space for a resident and a permanent, bright white NO PARKING-themed sign a few feet away on the other side of curb in the grass.  LOVELY!  A neighborhood in harmony.  Let us rejoice!  The sign is a relative newcomer of a few weeks, having replaced a sign with the same sentiment, though smaller and less polished, in the same spot.  The cone is a fairly common sight, even if it is a code violation, though the police don't seem to mind.  Together with the signs (there are three in front of houses), that cone really announces the absurdity and ugliness of the situation, doesn't it?  Imagine if every block of every street throughout Hudson were experiencing the same! "This is my personal on-street parking space, and I will do whatever it takes to keep others from parking in it while I am out shopping.  The city allows me to reserve it!  You should do the same!  It's our right!"   (Honestly, while I can't stand to see any of this visual pollution, I can't blame residents for doing it.  Pushed to the edge, I just might do the same!)

If you pay attention to the news, you know that arguments that lead to gunfire, stabbings, punches, injuries and deaths have resulted from similar situations elsewhere. It doesn't take much more than a little "disagreement" about a parking space, especially one that has a cone in it that someone dared to remove.  Do you think 12 or 15 parking space reservation cones on Washington and Prospect streets would force City Hall to stop twiddling its thumbs and try to do something to solve what is so clearly a quality-of-life issue brought about by a huge business that City Hall is in a business relationship with?  How about a cone or two in front of or across from the mayor's house on 6th Street at Prospect?  Would that be okay, too?   Sure, why not!  The more cones and signs the merrier!  Anger is good for our city!

I took my pictures of the "signs" of a neighborhood in obvious harmony and returned to the orange Subura after at least 4 minutes.  Out came the valet from the bowels of the PBH and into his idling car he went.  But not before he told me to "get out of here" two or three times, even though I never quite know what the heck he is referring to "here" as or if he has the authority to make me leave his employer's sidewalk and street.  Believe me, I've asked the friendly valet what he means by "get out of here!"  Many times.  "Am I on your property?" I ask. He never has a reply; he just repeats himself.  "Get out of here!"  "Go away!"  Welcome to the neighborhood.  Welcome to the new Hudson!

Twenty minutes later, I biked back through Washington Street to check on things.  The valet's orange Subaru was gone, the cone in the street at 542 Washington had been replaced by a car, there were still hardly any available parking spaces, and something further down the street caught my eye.  And that sight said it all, really.  It summed up the reality of the situation quite nicely: a bad situation gone worse.  Or maybe it's just a coincidence.  You decide.

Angry sign replaced by a FOR SALE sign.  Coincidence?

With a real estate sign in front the fence of the attractive house at 522 Washington (at Franklin), it was clear that the house was for sale (an increasing common occurrence around town lately).  Considering what sign that sign had replaced, I was not at all surprised to see the owners were moving on.  You see, directly behind that FOR SALE sign, attached to the fence, had been Washington Street's first "resident parking only" themed sign that appeared last year when the PBH opened and -- surprise, surprise -- parking on Washington suddenly got ugly enough that residents of the street felt compelled to post their own parking signs as a big middle finger to their new "neighbor," the PBH business complex they were all suddenly living in the shadows of that brought vehicles from all over the country to the once quiet, sleepy, narrow one-way street where finding an on-street parking space had never been an issue to scream about.

The same NO PARKING-themed sign that had been on the fence of 522 Washington (it didn't enhance the curb appeal of 522 anymore, apparently) is now found a few houses to the east in front of 542 Washington, perhaps to also someday be replaced by the same FOR SALE sign now in front of 522 Washington (if the house ever sells).  It's looking more and more like an ugly game of dominoes on Washington.  Do you think Sean Roland and Gabe "money bags" Katz of the PBH care if the residents surrounding their business complex are fed up enough to consider -- or actually are -- selling their houses and moving out of Hudson?  Why, no!  Fewer annoying (and annoyed) residents, fewer orange cones in the street, and fewer homemade NO PARKING signs at the curb will only bring the PBH more parking spaces for their guests and employees!  Another win-win for the PBH!   Hoo-fucking- rah!

It appears they have given up on Hudson.  Can you blame them?
Who need the fucking headache, the annoyance, the PBH
and the angry neighbors? (Picture taken in December)

By the way, the owners of 522 Washington are asking for just $119 million for their place.  It does come with a one-car garage, apparently.  Second car?  You'll have to find a space on the street.  Good luck.