After living in the North Side for 25 years, I had to move to the suburbs a few years ago, and one of the things I miss most is the Friday Citiparks Farmers Market in West Park. I had been a faithful customer since it started and made the effort to go last week to stock up on fresh produce.And while she's dreaming, she'd like a pony.
Imagine my dismay to find a $20 parking ticket on my car on Cedar Avenue after less than a half-hour of shopping (and spending over $30 with various farmers)! I will have to pay the ticket because I didn't put a quarter in the meter, but it seems mean-spirited and shortsighted to patrol that section of parking so vigilantly during the farmers market hours of 3 to 7 on summer Fridays.
There are lots of other places to shop where parking is free, so that's where I'll go from now on; the city will get the parking fine but lose yet another city lover.
Wednesday, August 04, 2010
What Ails Pittsburgh?
Borrowing Letters to the Editor and critiquing them for utter cluelessness is the usual territory of another Pittsburgh blogger, but this morning, I can't resist. From the Post-Gazette comes this gem of a letter that captures something priceless about a culture that expects free lunches at every turn. For the want of a quarter, a kingdom was lost! The text:
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3 comments:
I'm sure the city will recover.
I'd like more parking enforcement, including corporal punishment for double parking on Forbes in Oakland or Squirrel Hill, at least during rush hour. If you've stopped long enough for letting somebody in or out of the car, that counts as double parking.
Something over 50% of the on-street parking in Pittsburgh is done by somebody with a poor understanding of the Kantian categorical imperative, so at least the PG's correspondent won't have to feel alone.
Hard lesson but one learns to never leave the house without a few quarters in the ash tray... but speaking of leaving 'valuables' in your car, are the police still turning a blind eye to vehicle break-ins and blaming the victims.
Since this was clearly a conspiratorial effort to swarm in on the one car illegally parked during the scant 30 minutes the owner stepped away...
I attend that market virtually every Friday on my way home from work, and have never actually seen a meter maid actively patrolling the area. This person took a stupid chance, the Fates rolled against them this one time and now they're sore that they lost. Suck it up and plug your quarter next time, or take your ball and go home to the suburbs.
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