All right, with that out of the way, the Human is posting this picture (taken about three blocks from her school) to vent her spleen (or whatever bodily organ is appropriate on a kitten-friendly, PG blog) about a recent local phenomenon called "Parklets," which have popped up all over town in the past 12 months or so.
Yes, they are cute and convenient, and yes, they "humanize" the urban landscape (like that is a good thing? --Ed.), but as any right-thinking person can plainly see, they eliminate two or three primo parking places in one fell swoop.
So although the Human acknowledges the human-friendly aspect of these little sidewalk oases, still she says, "Ouch."
24 comments:
my Mommy agrees with Your Mommy! OUCH!
And can they really do that?
In Calgary they have been doing that in the back alleys and its causing LOTS of problems.
Sending your Mommy food vibrations
Nellie & Mommy
OMC! I hope those don’t come to NYC. We already have half of Broadway closed to traffic and made into a park. Sheesh. Like humans need more space to stare at their mobile devices.
The other thing is that when a human sits having coffee and cake or lunch at one of these places, they sometimes struggle to hear each other over the noise of the buses rumbling past only a couple of metres away and they also have to deal with loads of car exhaust with their meal. If the car front and centre in your pic starts up, and then the driver lets it idle for a minute while she speaks to the kids in the back seat, finds the mints in the glovebox and puts on her seatbelt - all of which are reasonable things to do - the chap sitting under that first umbrella isn't going to have much fun. So I agree that these things SEEM like a good idea but ... have their problems.
Megan
Sydney, Australia
Not a good idea in San Francisco. Parking spots are way too valuable.
Food and drink places have narrowed the sidewalks downtown here, too, so they are hard to walk on for both way foot traffic, and sometimes people have to walk in the street! And they also complain about buses ruining their "dining pleasure" (although the majority of buses these days are not diesel anymore!).
Can't win, huh?
Are they growing nip in them? If not, they are not needed!
OMC, that's happening here, too! And even stupider? It's way way too hot here for this kind of nonsense! Plus, it's the desert, for meowing out loud. What gets in to humans, anyway.
(I am, like my mom, old and cranky.)
My human says this would not be so bad if the public transportation in SF were better! When she was there last year, she was galled by the lousy bus service - she expected much better. At least the crappy L.A. busses show up eventually.
Yes indeed - now if they were open sand boxes for us kitties I would not object - not that the streets of SF are safe for us I guess. But they do seem to take up too much space: perhaps someone could put a very large parking ticket on them?
my dad sings the ouch-song with your mom...he smashed a parklet with the butt of his car once... and it was one where a super evil guy included a wastebasket... made of concrete...how mean...
Utterly ridiculous.. Oh, yes, talking about you not being pictured today of course! Smooches Spitty! ;)
I'm surprised the City allows it considering parking IS at a premium. Do or did the inhabitants not have a say? Was it up before City Council and reported in the local paper? That would make my spleen start to rumble too if parking were already at a premium.
Strange indeed, a park with no parking space!
Such a misguided initiative. How do things like this even get approved?
ouch is right!
It is a double sided coin really isn't it . . . . . good and bad for business at once!
That is a tough one.
...and the city lets them do that?
How stupid. The exhaust. The noise. The potential loss of life with 20 or so humans gathered in one spot where traffic occurs. Wait. On second thought....some kitties might say that is 'a good start". Hehe heh
How stupid. The exhaust. The noise. The potential loss of life with 20 or so humans gathered in one spot where traffic occurs. Wait. On second thought....some kitties might say that is 'a good start". Hehe heh
Strange indeed!
So we admit we would have liked a nice arty photo of you, dearest Spitty, but Mom understands you mom's consternation. Almost every restaurant in our town as moved out onto the sidewalk. The city won't let them move into the street. Good thing, as that's where the pedestrians are now walking. If you do have any strays in your neighborhood, it does give them a good place to mooch food. MOL. XOCK, Lily Olivia, Mauricio, Misty May, Giulietta, Fiona, Astrid, Lisbeth and Calista Jo
TBT here: Knowing about the scarcity of parking spaces in any city, I can appreciate the loss. But I'm curious about whether the local stores are taking over the parking spaces or whether the city is doing that. Here in Washington DC, food places try to take over the wide sidewalks from time-to-time but no one DARES take over a precious parking space.
What are they offering? I tried to Biggafy to see what they had there.
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