No Parking Zone
As mentioned previously, construction work is being done on the underground garage at my apartment building. There have been numerous results stemming from this, none of them great: our lovely lawn has been "paved" by having gravel poured over it and then steamrollered flat to serve as a temporary parking lot for those cars evicted from the garage. This looks nasty and I'm sure will be hell to try and actually park there once the winter snows arrive.
Additionally, they have removed any kind of parking enforcement from the visitor parking lots. Previously, if you wanted to park overnight (past 11pm), you needed to put $3 into a machine that spat out a permit which sat on your dashboard; cars without this permit were towed away. Maybe there is some sort of bylaw which states something like "if you are forcing people to relocate their vehicles you cannot also be charging for parking in another section" or something similar; whatever the reason, parking in the visitor parking lot is now free, free, free.
The visitor parking lot is also right beside the main entrance to the building. Tenants having to relocate their cars must now ask themselves, "Do I want to park on the crappy gravel parking lot as I am supposed to, or should I take a paved parking space right beside the doors to the building, even though that means one less parking space for actual guests?" Unsurprisingly, the visitor parking lot is completely full. Guests arriving at my building must now either wait around in the parking lot for someone to leave, park in the fire lane (not a wise idea), or park in a tenant's spot and hope that person doesn't need their spot soon (or have them towed).
This is a chaotic, unacceptable situation, and the construction effort is expected to last for over a year. This means guests will not be able to park at my building until sometime in late 2006. I talked to our superintendent, Mary, about it the day before Mrs. Clubber's birthday soiree.
ME : What's being done about the visitor parking lot situation?
MARY: Yeah, they took away the parking meter.
ME : I know. Now tenants are parking there and there's never any free spots. Is there any kind of enforcement going on?
MARY: Yeah, it's all screwed up right now.
ME : ...yes. Yes, it is.
MARY: Yeah.
ME : ...I have two car loads of people coming over tomorrow night, Mary. Where should I tell them to park?
MARY: Oh, jeez, that's no good, eh? I guess they should come early and hope for a good spot.
The conversation went rapidly nowhere from there. A few days later, I collared her husband, Ray, and asked about enforcement for the visitor parking lot. Ray said he was going to put up a sign that said tenants were not allowed to park in the visitor parking lot, and that if they did, they would be warned once, and repeat offenders would be towed at owner expense. Fair enough.
Yesterday, Ray put up his sign.
Whew! I'm glad that's all taken care of! You should have no problem visiting me now. I can't say how much I'm looking forward to trying to host this year's Schlocktoberfest and find parking for everyone.
Additionally, they have removed any kind of parking enforcement from the visitor parking lots. Previously, if you wanted to park overnight (past 11pm), you needed to put $3 into a machine that spat out a permit which sat on your dashboard; cars without this permit were towed away. Maybe there is some sort of bylaw which states something like "if you are forcing people to relocate their vehicles you cannot also be charging for parking in another section" or something similar; whatever the reason, parking in the visitor parking lot is now free, free, free.
The visitor parking lot is also right beside the main entrance to the building. Tenants having to relocate their cars must now ask themselves, "Do I want to park on the crappy gravel parking lot as I am supposed to, or should I take a paved parking space right beside the doors to the building, even though that means one less parking space for actual guests?" Unsurprisingly, the visitor parking lot is completely full. Guests arriving at my building must now either wait around in the parking lot for someone to leave, park in the fire lane (not a wise idea), or park in a tenant's spot and hope that person doesn't need their spot soon (or have them towed).
This is a chaotic, unacceptable situation, and the construction effort is expected to last for over a year. This means guests will not be able to park at my building until sometime in late 2006. I talked to our superintendent, Mary, about it the day before Mrs. Clubber's birthday soiree.
ME : What's being done about the visitor parking lot situation?
MARY: Yeah, they took away the parking meter.
ME : I know. Now tenants are parking there and there's never any free spots. Is there any kind of enforcement going on?
MARY: Yeah, it's all screwed up right now.
ME : ...yes. Yes, it is.
MARY: Yeah.
ME : ...I have two car loads of people coming over tomorrow night, Mary. Where should I tell them to park?
MARY: Oh, jeez, that's no good, eh? I guess they should come early and hope for a good spot.
The conversation went rapidly nowhere from there. A few days later, I collared her husband, Ray, and asked about enforcement for the visitor parking lot. Ray said he was going to put up a sign that said tenants were not allowed to park in the visitor parking lot, and that if they did, they would be warned once, and repeat offenders would be towed at owner expense. Fair enough.
Yesterday, Ray put up his sign.
Whew! I'm glad that's all taken care of! You should have no problem visiting me now. I can't say how much I'm looking forward to trying to host this year's Schlocktoberfest and find parking for everyone.