Yeah but SF makes a metric f ton of revenue off parking fees and fines. So they'd need to dramatically alter their revenue sourcing to get rid of parking spaces.
Do you have the numbers to back up your assertion?
Do make sure to compare the revenue from parking fees/fines against revenue from other sources (both similar in size and -say- the top five or top ten sources), as well as noting what fraction of the city's entire revenue is composed of parking fees and fines. The city is pretty clued-in, technologically speaking, so this information shouldn't be too hard to get.
I'm not required to do all the research you suggest, because I haven't made a comparative assertion. Most people who live in San Francisco own a car, most people who live in Manhattan do not. So it's not even remotely a fair comparison anyway. It's more expensive and dependent on parking than either Chicago or Los Angeles, but no doubt those cities can't just abandon parking without coming up with an alternative revenue stream.
> Most people who live in San Francisco own a car...
I actually don't believe this. I could be cajoled into believing "Many people who live in SF own a car...", but not "Most people...". I bet if you look at the vehicle registration stats, you'll find that there are somewhere between 1/10 and 1/4 as many cars registered in the county as there are people living in it.
> I'm not required to do all the research you suggest, because I haven't made a comparative assertion.
You're never required to do anything. However, you actually did make a comparative assertion. You asserted:
> Yeah but SF makes a metric f ton of revenue off parking fees and fines. So they'd need to dramatically alter their revenue sourcing to get rid of parking spaces. [0]
That implies that parking fees and fines are a substantial portion of San Francisco's revenue. I don't care about the revenue streams of other cities. It would be nonsensical to look at them.
As I understand it, SF is a city with one of the highest per-capita city revenues in the US. I would be... rather surprised if parking fees and fines were largely responsible for its revenues. While fees and fines may bring in what appears to be a large amount of money, I expect that they account for less than 1% of city revenues. The only way to discover that is to compare them against the take from the rest of the city's revenue sources. :)
Yea, I have gotten so many parking tickets over the years. 90 percent have been for overnight parking. You pay $2000 a month for a shitty room in a 50's cracker box house, and can't park your vechicle anywhere without getting a ticket? (Please save the Emergency vechicle egress excuses? My town happily accept $90 a quarter for overnight passes? And wide streets are treated the same as narrow streets?)
Where I reside, you can't park your vechicle more than 30 min. between 3 a.m. and 6 a.m.
Most towns I have lived in allow 72 hrs of parking, and then you need to move 300 yards. My town doesn't want to change the muni code because they make a staggering amount of Revenue.
Theses parking fines/traffic fines are revenue fueled. I honestly wouldn't be upset but these fees account for income level. They don't. You get a $38 dollar parking ticket, or a dubious $500 traffic violation--it's a setback for low income residents. Why couldn't you send in a copy of your 1040's, and have your parking violation adjusted to realistic amounts?
As to living, working, having a life, while living in the suburbs; you need a vechicle. You need to park the vechicle somewhere? Not all of us can just jump on public transportation(our public transportation is so slow, so spotty, I can get to most places in my county faster by riding my bike. (My employer doesn't like sweat soaked employees though, nor do Judges in Jury duty), or have the income to take Uber/Taxis everywhere.
My point is some of still need a automobile. Yes, we need parking rules. Fees/fines should not unreasonable? At least that's what I thought that constitution, the one one really cares about, said?
Honestly, if you're not working an entry-level job, you should be able to negotiate car storage and/or work transportation arrangements with your employer.
There are towns that use fines and citations as a source of revenue. If you live in one of those towns, and don't like the practice, agitate to have that practice changed. (Yes, I know that this is often somewhere between very goddamn hard and all-but-impossible.)
I am disinterested in responding to the rest of your comment. :)
