No Parking v. No Stopping

Don't Follow Leaders, Watch the Parking Meters

One of the demands being made by reformers, after the death of Dr. Friedes, is to make the curbs behind the bike lanes on Pine and Spruce No Stopping instead of No Parking. It occurred to me that, back when I was researching these streets in the mid-teens, I noticed that quite a few of the blocks of these lanes, west of Broad, were already marked No Stopping. As I recall, most of the blocks were No Parking, but a non-trivial number were No Stopping. (To see the 2016 story, click here.)

Then I said to myself, Wait a minute. After Emily Fredricks was murdered in 2017, the bike lanes were switched from the right side of the street to the left side. So I wondered if the No Stopping signs had jumped over with the bike lanes. 

I didn't know. But people have been talking, at least it seems to me, as if all the bike lanes are currently marked No Parking. 

So I decided to go and have a look, and I found three blocks near my house where the bike lanes are marked No Stopping and Tow-Away Zone.

Back in the mid-teens, I did a full survey of the Pine-Spruce lanes west of Broad. You may rest assured that I will leave this task to someone else this time out.

Nobody has ever given me a rationale as to why some of these blocks are No Parking and some are No Stopping. And, frankly, I don't think there is a rationale. 

I think the demand to make all of the blocks No Stopping gains strength from the fact that a bunch of them already are No Stopping. And the people who have No Parking signs in front of their houses should perhaps engage in some introspection about their unique, and inexplicable, privilege.

See also The Vigil for Dr. Friedes, Once More Unto the Breach, Dear Friends.