parking

as i mentioned in an earlier post, parking in brookline where i've resided for the past 4 years can be nightmarish and deserved it's own post. well, this is that post.

a little background for those unfamiliar with the laws of parking a vehicle in brookline, ma. first rule is think of the most absurd general parking law (not like street sweeping first friday of every monday from may through november, though this is a law in the city of boston itself). so have you thought of that absurd parking law? well, make it three times worse and you're getting close to being able to be a lawmaker in brookline. the first and most ridiculous law in brookline regarding parking is no overnight street parking. so this should read that unless you have a driveway or your enormous apartment complex has a garage, you're screwed. the second bogus law is that you're not allowed to park in the same on-street parking spot for more than 2 hours. brookline actually did a nice thing for residents by selling an annual daytime parking permit for only $25. this solved that issue for probably about 90% of residents. the other 10% live on certain streets (or even certain parts of streets) that do not qualify for this resident permit parking. guess into which group i fall? i live a block and a half from the largest commercial section of this town and for that reason or some other crazy one i don't qualify for a permit. oh, and the 4 floor, 16 unit, no elevator apartment building i live in doesn't have a garage where its tenants can park.

but it does have a parking lot. unfortunately, it's owned by the town of brookline, and furthermore it's only an overnight parking lot! so during the day its reserved for employees of business in the area, meaning you need to move your car. oh, and the town charges $100 / month for this luxury. in all honesty, only about 5% of residents are affected by brookline's absurd parking laws (guests can be as well, since remember, there's no overnight parking. but don't worry, you can buy a one-time guest overnight pass for a mere $10!) but for me it's been a perfect storm. i need to park overnight and i moved to brookline for the convenience of public transportation so i can't leave my car anywhere for more than two hours.

the only solution for people like me is to rent a parking spot from someone else. i was actually able to survive the first couple of years without having to pay a dime except for the occasional parking without a permit ticket. and then finally my little tricks started to run out and luckily i found a spot very close by and for a more than reasonable price. unfortunately, the spot was connected to a condo that was for sale so after several months the it was sold and so was my parking spot. though i have yet to see anyone park in it. i've noticed this as i've walked by it many a times in the last few days having to move my car. after being in complete limbo for the past two weeks, parking in the lot behind me without having a permit, i finally found my spot, and a stable one at that. i'll be shelling out $165 per month for this spot, but the good news is that it's 24/7 access, non-tandem, professionally snow plowed lot only three minutes from the door of my apartment (i timed it three times today). although the other spot i was considering was an underground garage, 24/7 access, non-tandem, but asking was $210! that's a lot of money, but hopefully this winter won't be making me rethink my decision.