The Chicago parking meter saga continues today with a post from theexpiredmeter.com, a blog about Chicago parking tickets and how to fight them. The post has photos of parking meters being spray painted, destroyed and otherwise defaced. Guess people aren’t too thrilled with paying 28 quarters for 2 hours in the Loop…
An entire block of parking meters, numbering nearly 20, were spotted along west Irving Park in the Albany Park neighborhood, that had both the front and back of their heads spray painted black. Once spray painted, these meters are unreadable by Parking Enforcement Aides and therefore, vehicles can’t be ticketed as it’s impossible to see if the meters were fed or not.
Some angry citizens are going for the simple approach and simply peeling the stickers off the meters so that they don’t have the instructions required by law.
One tipster named Brian says, “In some cases, these decals just peel right off the front of the meter with little or no effort. When these stickers were originally applied, the weather was very cold and it seems the adhesive didn’t adhere correctly. These stickers just come right off. They also appear to be too big to fit into the recessed area they are being placed in. Yet another case of someone in charge not knowing what they are doing.”
Other tactics that have been documented include, gluing quarters into the slots with superglue, ripping the meters out of the ground, stealing the coin box, and filling the meter with pennies so it breaks.
Apparently, the pennies don’t register as money, but they do break the meter.
“We are finding a lot of pennies and nickels in coin slots,” confirmed one LAZ Parking employee we confronted on the street. He wouldn’t give us his name, his job it is to repair parking meters. “We see a lot of that going on.”
And then, there’s this:
Has The Parking Meter Revolt Begun? [The Expired Meter] (Thanks, Lindsay!)
More From Consumerist
-
New Parking Meter Sensors Put An End To Parking On Previous Driver's Dime
-
Congratulations, Chicago: Your City Now Has The Most Expensive Parking Meters In The U.S.
-
Woman Files Claim Against City For $1.7 Billion Claiming Wireless Parking Meters Are Making Her Sick
-
San Francisco Drivers Find Out The Hard Way That Parking Meters Didn't Take The Holiday Off
-
Mall Puts Up Its Own Parking Meters Of ‘Questionable Legality’, Issues Tickets
If I were the company using these (or even the cops) I would NOT want to mess with someone capable of ripping them out of the ground.
Filling these with pennies = epic win
@lpranal: well the incredible hulk has to do something when theres no birthday parties to work at
@lpranal: ‘sometimes nothing can be a real cool hand’
@Matt Palmer: Great movie and the first thing I thought of when I saw this story.
@Pigmann: Nobody can eat 50 eggs.
@eightfifteen: I’ve eaten 50 eggs. Not in one sitting, though.
@Matt Palmer: That’s my favorite movie EVER! Paul Newman was amazing.
@lpranal: You don’t want to mess with me then. Give me a lever and the place to stand, and I shall move the earth!
@HarcourtArmstrong:
Nice Archimedes quote.
@lpranal:
Paying too much for parking makes hulk angry!!!
Fight the man Chicagoans!!! The stickers and paint really are great ideas. Awesome.
@KStrike155:
Yeah, crime is awesome!
@I_am_Awesome: What crime? These things are private garbage left on public streets. It’s littering and people have the right to screw with garbage.
@I_am_Awesome: Crime is awesome indeed, but only when the law is an ass.
@I_am_Awesome: Does that make you crime then?
@I_am_Awesome:
Crime is awesome, and you’re a blind retard.
I try not to do illegal things, you know, steal from people, kill people, that sort of thing. So far I’ve managed to neither kill anyone or steal from anyone. I feel pretty good about that because I think it’s WRONG.
I also think using backroom deals and kickbacks in order to allow a private company to perform highway robbery on anyone that wants to use a public space or roadway is WRONG.
If you’re the sort of jackass that believes that something is wrong just because someone in charge deemed it illegal, perhaps you ought to hone your wit before you come back.
..I did it, I took the troll bait….
but I feel better
@oneswellfoop:
I’m a troll because I don’t think vandalism is an appropriate reaction to perceived wrongdoing? I think it’s unfortunate that you feel that way.
@I_am_Awesome: vandalism is a great way reaction to perceived wrongdoing. I dont think city council would have done much about a petetion. Maybe when they have to buy 100 new meters every month they might see its cheaper to lower the rates.
Also, it doesnt take a braniac to figure out 7 dollars for 2 hrs parking might piss off the public, especially during a recession.
@redkamel:
Vandalism can serve a purpose.
Back in 1773, a bunch of vandals threw tea into Boston Harbor. It seemed to get people’s attention.
@BathroomDuck: It also had the temporary benefit of making the harbor taste yummy. Everyone wins!
@courtarro: And those fish were soooooooo caffeinated!
sorry about ripping that meter out of the ground…I need to lay off the gym.
Is it just me or does that last image say 25 cents for 15 minutes, $1 for an hour? I was in Chicago over spring break and parked in Roscoe and the meter rate was the same.
@William Gu: Yeah, that’s what I’m seeing too. A dollar an hour is a good rate…
@dmolavi: I just clicked the link provided and apparently a bunch of meters that are in areas I know are $1 a hour are being vandalized too. =/
@William Gu: Yes, that’s correct. In areas that used to be $.25 for an hour, the rate is now $1.00 for an hour. In areas that used to be $1.00 / hour, the rate is now $3.50 / hour. So, for that meter, it used to cost a quarter to park for an hour; now it costs a dollar.
I haven’t defaced any meters yet, but I sure haven’t paid them either…
@TheRedSeven: Oh, OK. I didn’t know that. I’ve never been in the area until last week so I paid the $1 and thought it was reasonable. I guess Chicago residents think otherwise.
@William Gu: It depends on where you are. These rates are for the neighborhods, not for the downtown/near-downtown areas. So to park on a regular residential street shouldn’t be that much.
@William Gu:
It says that. What I’ve read is the prices change per where you park in the city from $1 to $3.50 per hour. And they will be increasing the fees each year through 2013 at which time the highest rate area will be $6.50 per hour.
That same blog has a rundown of changes here. [theexpiredmeter.com]
@Coopon: i honestly believe that the problem isnt the price increase so much, but the fact some meters are not 24/7 and most (if not the rest of them) have extended hours from 8am to 9pm, with no weekends and holidays exempt. even in the residential areas. now THAT is really pissing off the residents (of which I am one of).
@bunt: Yeah I’m pretty pissed about the 24/7 meters too. I got pretty comfortable with free parking after 9, and I can’t imagine how pissed I’d be if I were a resident in one of the neighborhoods near where this kind of meter change has taken place. Street parking is hard enough!
begun, this meter revolt has…
@rubyfrog: Hey, reply works! First time in weeks!
Anyway, what I meant to say is that I don’t get all this raging and whining … parking in Waikiki has long been $3.50 per HALF HOUR and up. Whatever this “the Loop” place is, if they face similar short supply of and high demand for parking spaces than prices need to come up. No?
@god_forbids: Just because you layed there and took it in Waikiki doesn’t mean they will in Chicago.
@rubyfrog: Every single parking meter is now an enemy of the Republic.
@rubyfrog: Give in to your anger!!
In my city it’s a violation to park at a defective meter. A stickerless, painted, or jammed meter would be considered “defective”. Best to reduce the demand and abandon the Loop; the merchants will swing the Panic Hammer.
@DearEditor:
That still works. If all the meters are defective, then nobody can park there. If nobody can park there, the company receives no money and merchants will close up shop, meaning the city loses tax dollars. That means property tax increases.
Losses for everyone all ’round and you have citizens that vote in a new mayor with the balls to make downtown parking free. (You don’t need to charge a fee to make people open up spaces, you just need to ticket offenders properly).
@shepd: Hahahah, “vote in a new mayor.” Like Daley would allow that.
@Ubik2501: lol.
@shepd: Do you know how much free downtown parking would cost? That is simply not the answer. Parking spaces, on average, cost more than the cars parked in them, and the hidden ‘subsidy’ of free parking is greater in value than the total operational cost of a car making a typical round-trip commute (calculating from a 2002 US average commute distance of 26 miles).
The solution is to reduce demand which is usually done by raising prices, and providing alternative transportation means. It sounds like right now, the whole situation is just broken, since you need to carry a roll of quarters just to park.
@ludwigk:
Do you know how much free downtown parking would cost?
Clearly too much for a large city, but not too much for a small to medium sized city (my city being the 10th largest in my country has paid parking lots [generally used for long stays], but street parking is free [and is regulated between 15 minutes to 2 hours depending on where you park]). Somehow, taxes in these non-giant cities manage to cover the cost of parking spaces without any complaints.
I guess I just don’t get giant city economics. For some reason the cost of maintaining something that is traditionally considered a fixed cost (asphalt maintenance and chalking tires once an hour is generally a fixed cost, although I suppose if labour costs more in one area than another it will go up with the cost of labour) magically goes up when your city gets to a certain size.
@ludwigk: “Parking spaces, on average, cost more than the cars parked in them”
I know this is true of structured parking, and even more true if it’s underground, but is this really true of on-street parking? I’m calculating that an on-street space would probably run you $2-4K to build, as opposed to $15-30K or more for structures spaces.
Yes, free parking is terribly expensive in a number of other ways, but from a policy standpoint, arguing that one should pay for parking because it costs money to build the space isn’t very effective– otherwise, why not charge until you’ve recouped the price of construction, and have it be free from there on out?
@LavenderSoap: The average parking space is something like $5600, which is about a thousand over the average car value. Your prices are AFAICT pretty accurate, but the punch line is that the average car on the road’s value is surprisingly low.
Parking costs to build, but it also costs in terms of destroying land value, increasing urban sprawl, opportunity cost of land used, continual maintenance, and increased reliance on automobiles over other means of transportation which leads increased traffic and exhaust. The true cost of parking is staggeringly high, and the expectation that it should be free at any point is problematic at best, as there will always be a cost associated with providing and maintaining parking spaces. There is no such thing as free parking.
At its heart, parking is an economic problem, as it is a scarce resource subject to the market forces of supply and demand. But what happens when we take a scarce resource, then mandate that the price of it should be free? Everything breaks on a fundamental level, and the market will never behave efficiently. This is in fact the situation we have in many cities where arbitrary zoning policies require off-street parking be provided free of charge.
Now, in this case, they’re just charging more for it to line the pockets of the parking meter company. To me that’s a partial win because it reduces parking demand, making transportation more efficient, but a loss because that money does not go back into accounting for the cost to the city of offering parking. It’s just going to some private meter company that we can all agree to hate on.
But to be slightly on topic, the person I had originally suggested that the mayor make more free parking, which doesn’t really solve everything. However bad parking is now, it would only be worse with free parking.
@ludwigk:
Do you know how much free downtown parking would cost?
In this case, nothing. The parking spots are already there.
@Gann: The actual question is: How much does free parking cost to maintain?
@shepd: I don’t know what the monetary deal between the city and the parking company, as in who gets the fees, and who pays for any damages. Kinda makes me wonder what happens to the idiotic 75-year lease program if the company bankrupts. Do the meters go back to being city property?
Anyhow, parking meters are supposed to be short term parking only. Prices for parking there should be high enough to be an incentive for parking in nearby lots and garages. Otherwise, with low fees or free parking, those spaces would be taken all day, usually by store employees, forcing customers to either circle around for few (if any) spaces left, or simply go elsewhere.
Fees at the parking meters are able to help pay for someone to monitor the spaces.
@DearEditor: Given the apparent explosion of vigilantism against these meters, saying that it was rendered defective while you were parked there is probably a valid defense.
@lpranal: They may be super strong, but apparently the city has a crew that fixes 200 meters in an 8 hour shift, so one every 2.4 minutes, assuming no breaks…Hulk Parkers vs. Flash Fixers…an epic battle.
What, “SPAZ Parking” was already taken as a company name so they had to settle for “LAZ Parking”?
@FightOnTrojans: The first thing I thought of when I saw the LAZ is how Lazy the parking enforcers were when I was in college. They rode around on mo-peds ticketing like the jerks they were.
The lazy comes from me seeing them, on multiple occasions, ride their mo-peds between parked vehicles to get a better look at the license plate of the offender. It was like they were glues to those stupid things.
@jpmoney: They were probably afraid to get off the mo-ped, thinking someone would steal it from them. Besides, if you had a shit job like that, you’d probably find any excuse to create a challenge for yourself.
This makes me happy.
And this is a surprise? Hello, Chicago! Here’s your wake up call. People are not going to be standing for this bullshit!
Take the clue, Daley.
@ViperBorg – SpaceBat hates Facebook: I wonder if Chicago or the private company is liable for the meter damage? The way these scummy “privatization” contracts are usually written, the losses are usually dumped on the public while the profits are privatized.
@PGibbons: Knowing Captain Short-Sighted (Daley); I bet you that’s exactly how it is. Don’t want anything getting in the way of profits.
@PGibbons: Actually the private company is liable. I can’t find the story online right now, as I heard it on Chicago Public Radio. Apparently, since the company can’t keep up with the damage, the city is sending people out to fix the meters and then billing the company (Parking Meters, LLC?) for the repairs.
28 quarters for 2 hours is REALLY just a bit ridiculous… As in “don’t-know-how-to-reply” ridiculous…
While it may be illegal and crazy to be defacing the meters, I can’t say I’m too opposed.
@cpt.snerd: Exactly- just the logistics of collecting th quarters alone are amazing. Why not go to the print a receipt put it on your dash board type deal?
@econobiker: Because this was cheapest for the city. They just transfer enforcement of existing meters from the city to the company. To upgrade the meters, they’d either have to come up with $$$, or been willing to accept a lot less $$$ from the company. This was about revenue, pure and simple, something like $1 billion over 20 years. They traded future revenue for short term budget relief. Surprisingly, the plan doesn’t appear to be working very well.
@econobiker: Actually, the logistics aren’t working. More often than not, the meters will be out of order, being filled to capacity. Seems nobody took into account the increased frequency at which these meters now need to be emptied.
Wow, props to the commenter in early this week who posted in the “Boycott” thread and said ( I’m paraphrasing) “how long until boycott turns to vandalism”.
Nice call.
@Hooray4Zoidberg: Yup.
The thing is, there’s justice and there’s the law. When the two veer off too far apart, people tend to go vigilante. A wise thing to consider to pols of all stripes: stray too far and expect b-i-g problems.
@Hooray4Zoidberg:
This is a may be a case of postmodernism journalism at work.
@Hooray4Zoidberg: That was me. Thanks!
@Hooray4Zoidberg:
And I was the first one condoning vandalism. Muwahahaha!
So instead of being an adult and protesting your dislike of the rates by not parking at the expensive meters you destroy what is now private property.
I agree that $3.50 per hour is kind of steep but there are better ways to get your point across than acting like a teenager.
@wgrune: Yeah… but those ways aren’t as fun.
@wgrune: What if this is the work of teenagers?
@wgrune: Sure, just like the King of England listened to reason in 1775…and just like George Wallace listened to reason in 1963…if people hadn’t taken up the fight, no one would have listened.
@MaxSmart32: The National Guard didn’t exactly write “Fuck you” on the doorway of the University of Alabama.
@floraposte: Yes. Though rather more metaphorically.
@Velifer: No, not even metaphorically. What they metaphorically said was “People get to attend this university no matter what color they are.” And I really don’t see that as comparable to “I get to park my car for fewer quarters than you’re currently charging.”
Writing “Fuck you” has not, historically, proven to be an agent of social change. It’s a self-indulgence. I’m not opposed to community action, but that’s not it.
@MaxSmart32: Yes! Sensationalist stances! I can clearly see the correlation between high street parking and the American effing Revolution.
@HIV 2 Elway Resurrected: No taxation without representation! Oh, wait. Because it’s a private corporation that was merely sold a monopoly on a government resource, it can’t be “taxation” can it? Yep, no correlation to refusing to pay taxes without a direct voice in their legislation. None whatsoever.
@Red_Flag: You are very correct here. This was a tax when the city owned the meters and it’s still the same “tax” when a private company owns them!
@Red_Flag: No taxation without representation! Oh, wait. Because it’s a private corporation that was merely sold a monopoly on a government resource, it can’t be “taxation” can it? Yep, no correlation to refusing to pay taxes without a direct voice in their legislation. None whatsoever.
If your going to get worked about taxation without representation, How about first getting worked up about the situation of DC residents. Not only do they get taxed without any representation, they get no representation in congress at all. Seems like a more worthwhile pursuit than fighting over parking meters.
@Tmoney02: Last time I checked, there was no federal mandate requiring the issues that people care about to be mutually exclusive.
@MaxSmart32: Exactly! Because, you know, protesting and petitioning have always worked so well in the past.
I’m glad to see people are finally getting fed up enough to pry themselves up from their Cheeto-covered couches and miss a few minutes of Dancing With The Stars long enough to actually take some action, even if it is only about parking meters.
Next stop, Washington D.C.!
@wgrune: I get that it’s a huge source of frustration for a lot of people, but I haven’t seen a lot of evidence to suggest that talking to local authorities hasn’t worked. I mean, things take time. You can’t walk in, expect not to stand in line, and get your ticket repealed in 10 seconds. And the fact is, as exorbitant as these fees are, they are the fees.
@pecan 3.14159265: @tjrchicago: Do you know if the risks for damage and other liabilities were dumped by Daley and his (private benefactor) onto the public dole as they usually do? I’m sure the profits will all go to the private company except for a token amount to the public.
@pecan 3.14159265: “but I haven’t seen a lot of evidence to suggest that talking to local authorities hasn’t worked.”
Clearly you’ve never lived in Chicago.
It would never occur to a Chicagoan to protest to local authorities over something like this, because you’d never get what you asked for; instead, you’d get the cops hovering near your car waiting for the meter to tick over so they can put a ticket on it 30 seconds later.
@dwasifar: Depends what you mean by “authorities.” If you’ve got pull with your local alderman, that’s the place to go. But I doubt there’s going to be a lowering of the rate now, just a changing of the technology so that the quarters issue isn’t so pressing.
@wgrune:
I guess there were better ways to get a point across than throwing tea into a river? While this may not be as important or as historic, it’s still the same idea. These aren’t violent acts, they’re acts of rebellion and sometimes rebellion is needed.
@Mario Romero: But it destroys government property that taxpayers have paid for, so everyone loses out.
@pecan 3.14159265: They’re not government property. They were sold to a private cooperation.
@INTPLibrarian: Yes, they were sold to a private corporation for next to nothing in exchange for a cut of the income. After being originally paid for out of the taxes paid by the people who use them – public property originally.
Now the people who paid for them in the first place have to pay a massive increase in fees to use them in order to pay not just the government behind them, but a private company’s cut too?
I’d be pretty pissed myself.
@pecan 3.14159265:
Actually, this is all now private property. Daley sold the rights to the meters to a private contractor for the next 75 years. They are owned (installed and maintaineed) by a third party – NOT the City of Chicago.
@pecan 3.14159265:
dude, stop being logical! you are killing the rebellion!
srsly, people are simply not smart enough to stop and actually think about what they are doing. In the end, this vandalism will not work. They will simply increase taxes on EVERYONE to pay for super-new meters that are vandal-proof.
@Mario Romero: By your reasoning, I should be able to throw a brick through a window at the DMV because I’m upset about car tag fees.
@HiPwr: Maybe we need to start to. Nothing else has seemed to work lately.
@HiPwr: If you were to do it you would be arrested, if 1000 people did it things would be changed (i.e. security cameras and plexy glass but that’s not my point). Fast changes take drastic action, and that is what’s needed here.
There are really only 2 ways for this to work out,
Either no one takes any action other than lodging complaints through the proper channels, at which point it’ll sit in some bureaucrats inbox for a year or 2. Meanwhile the businesses will lose customers, possibly shut down, losing the city taxes, which they will recoup by raising them even more elsewhere.
The other is for actions like these to get the public/media attention, and by the looks of it Chicago is now a laughing stock all around the world. So I’d say this will be cleared up by summer.
@HiPwr: If you live in Illinois, You can, rates just went up 25 effective July 1st.
@HiPwr: if car tag fees were extremely exorbitant and most everyone in the state thought they were grossly unfair, then yeah, you probably could.
@Red_Flag:
It’s not taxation because it’s entirely voluntary. Nobody *needs* to park at those meters. It’s a convenience, and conveniences are paid for. If people aren’t willing to pay the current price for their conveniences, they should just live without them instead of destroying them. This shouldn’t be compared to colonists rebelling against unfair taxation in the Boston Tea Party; it should be compared to somebody getting upset over 7-11 overcharging for TV dinners, and rebelling by leaving the freezer door open to spoil everything inside. It’s petty, it’s pointless, and it’s not an effective form of protest.
@Lokys: And the colonists *needed* to drink tea?
[en.wikipedia.org]
@Red_Flag: If colonists wanted to drink tea, it came through the British. There was no other option. Commuters do have other parking options.
@Red_Flag: Of course not. The tea, however, was representative of Great Britain’s right to apply *any* tax to the colonies.
I can quote Wikipedia too:
“The protest movement that culminated with the Boston Tea Party was not a dispute about high taxes. The price of legally imported tea was actually reduced by the Tea Act of 1773. Protestors were instead concerned with a variety of other issues. The familiar “no taxation without representation” argument, along with the question of the extent of Parliament’s authority in the colonies, remained prominent.”
@Lokys:
Colonists didn’t *need* tea. Commuters (and let’s not forget this is not just commuters but moreso the people shopping and paying sales tax at the many commercial establishments in this city) don’t *need* street parking. I’m merely establishing that they are more comparable than not.
Also, considering you opined, “This shouldn’t be compared to colonists rebelling against unfair taxation in the Boston Tea Party”, you might not want to directly contradict yourself with quotes like, “The protest movement that culminated with the Boston Tea Party was not a dispute about high taxes.”
Just sayin’.
@Red_Flag:
There’s no contradiction there, if you actually read what I wrote. The quote from Wikipedia stated that “The protest movement that culminated with the Boston Tea Party was not a dispute about high taxes. The price of legal tea was actually reduced by the Tea Act of 1773.”
It was, however, a rebellion against *unfair* taxes: the colonists believed that Great Britain had no right to levy taxes on them for *any* reason, because the colonists had no valid representation in the British Parliament.
It’s not that the taxes were high; it’s that the taxes shouldn’t have existed in the first place. It’s not that colonists needed (or didn’t need) to drink tea; it’s that the taxation on tea was symbolic of Great Britain’s right to tax the colonies at all.
The parking situation is not remotely analogous to the American Revolution, and trying to repeatedly draw tenuous links between the two unreasonably glorifies the former at the expense of demeaning the latter.
@Lokys: I humbly stand corrected, then.
I will venture that I believe the parking meter changes are ultimately a form of unfair taxation as they are a natural monopoly that the taxpayers corporately paid to have installed, maintained, and enforced, and they have been sold to a private corporation over our objections, a private corporation which is, by definition, not answerable or accountable to the citizens.
But beyond both issues being ones of tax-related civil disobedience and destruction of property, you are right they are not as similar as I believed.
@Lokys:
I suppose a small correlation could be present in that they feel they should not be feed for the roads they already paid for through their taxes. Granted they didnt have a problem with it when they were lower, but now they feel cheated. (I hate toll roads but I just choose not to use them)
And to all those who keep saying “we support vandalism now?” no, no I dont in theory. A random person vandalising for destructions sake is different than the people of chicago rising up against something they think is unfair. As much as I hate to draw a comparison to France after it is still seen in such a negative light here in the states but their they fear the peoples protest because they know they will do things like this, and it gets results. If their government doesnt listen to them they “protest” until their elected leaders listen to them, perhaps they are just taking a message out of Frances book, and I know that they are privatized now, but the roads and presumably the meters were build by taxpayer money.
Viva la Chicago!
@Lokys: Let me guess…you make well over 100K a year? It’s pretty easy to be snotty about things that cost a lot of money when you make a lot of it.
@oneswellfoop: Hey, my first ad hominem attack on The Consumerist!
Actually, I’m a grad student scraping by on whatever I make from TA work and editing in a given month (which usually ends up being just enough to cover rent, groceries, and laundry if I’m lucky). I don’t go out much, my main indulgence is a new book every couple of months, and I don’t even have cable TV.
I also don’t pay more than I can comfortably afford for parking. In my current town of residence, there are very few meters in the downtown area, and the private lots are expensive. So, rather than go around smashing in the glass of the parking attendant booths in some juvenile fit of pointless misdirected protest, I plan ahead and only go downtown on weekends, when I can get 2 hours of free parking in one underground garage by just validating my ticket at the awesome fresh produce market. And y’know what? If that free parking ever got cancelled for some reason, I would just take the bus.
Even if I *did* make 100K per year, I wouldn’t park at a meter that cost 28 quarters for two hours. But nor would I scream and wail and smash things like a 2 year old to get out of paying. I would just find an alternative place to park.
@Lokys: “I would just find an alternative place to park.”
Uhm, where would that be exactly? Please, let those of us who live here know so we can all go park there instead of at the meters.
@INTPLibrarian: Amen!
@Lokys: the people that conduct business and shop downtown need to park at those meters. I doubt there are alternatives to the meter.
This isnt a boycott of a store, its an entire area that is popular.
@wgrune: I think this gets the point across pretty damn well…
@wgrune: As i said before in another reply sabotage is a for of submersion or rebellion. There is nothing being ‘adult’ about not being rebellion. If anything you should submit ‘coward’ for ‘adult’.
@Randy Treibel: Did you mean “sabotage is a form of subversion”?
Did you mean “there is nothing ‘adult’ about not rebelling”?
Did you mean “substitute ‘coward’ for ‘adult’?
If so, then I disagree. Disruption and anarchy are not the only way to get things done. If you were even vaguely familiar with modern theories of justice, you would understand why vandalism is not an acceptable means of protest. Also, your posts are unreadable.
@ludwigk: But they’re often the best way. I wouldn’t go so far as to consider this anarchy, but good ol’ civil disobedience does have a long and storied history in this country. Technically the participants in lunch counter sit-ins were breaking the law as well. An unjust law, but a law nonetheless.
@Randy Treibel: what? get off facebook and pay attention in your english class, randy.
@wgrune: riiight… have you ever been to chicago?
@wgrune:
Wow, I had no idea that there were this many people on this site who think that because they don’t agree with something or the price of something that it is a legitimate reason to vandalize it.
Oh, and don’t compare this to the Bostom Tea Party. They two are in no way similar.
@wgrune: How many people in this comment string actually live and park in the area in question?
Lots of opinions for a place you don’t inhabit…
@RageTowers: Bucktown (Armitage and Hoyne). There, now I can complain all I want.
So we’re applauding vandalism now?
@HIV 2 Elway Resurrected: Mob rule, baby!
@HIV 2 Elway Resurrected: You’re surprised?
@HIV 2 Elway Resurrected: If the majority if people do it, it’s not vandalism. It’s the law.
@HIV 2 Elway Resurrected: Yes
@HIV 2 Elway Resurrected: More like civil disobedience than vandalism.
i’m going to start keeping rolls of pennies in my car now.
@Paul Pulkownik: That is by far the best solution. Technically it is in no way vandalism, pennies are legal tender and must be accepted as such. All they can do is install new machines that have a coin return. But I’ve never seen a meter with a return slot.
@Paul Pulkownik: the question is how many rolls doe it take? one roll of pennies is 50 cents so if it takes 7 rolls of bennies that 3.50 right there.
The Boston Tea Party was undoubtedly called vandalism by the owners of the tea.
@Urgleglurk: Terrorism!
@Urgleglurk: And it was.
I don’t condone vandalism. It *appears* to be a good way to effect change, but it’s less so than peaceable methods (and illegal).
When we’re not happy with customer service, the best way to be heard is an EECB, right? At least, that’s what I learned here… be reasonable and polite, and perhaps the company will listen. You don’t vandalize the company headquarters because your bill is wrong.
I agree that 28 quarters is too much, but isn’t there a better way to protest the policy? With your vote, with your respectful letters, with your protests?
Vandalism costs YOU money, because the government pays for the repair out of YOUR pocket. It costs ME money for the same reason.
@GuinevereRucker:
This is in Chicago, right? It doesn’t cost me a cent here in Los Angeles and provides me with lots of entertainment.
This is mainly because no one is poking fun at California for the moment.
@rworne: You’ll get your turn.
@Urgleglurk:
GuinevereRucker, the whole business was leased out to LAZ, from collecting fees to keeping them up so government does not pay to fix them.
@Urgleglurk: @exploded: Daley II has been king of Chicago for many, many years since a healthy Mayor Harold Washington mysteriously dropped dead at a politically convenient time for Daley.
I hope they catch one of these vandals and throw the book at him. Destruction of private property isn’t a reasonable response to anything. Daley sold the profits from these meters to a company (probably a politically-connected company if it follows the normal Chicago pattern) that now has a monopoly on parking on the street. Gee, I wonder why no one saw price increase coming? If Chicagoans are upset about this, they should not park at the meters and (better yet) not vote for this asshole Daley the next time around.
@HiPwr:
Daley may soon be exposed as dirty just like a lot of Illinois politicians*. It will work itself out.
* – Obama is not dirty.
@Yoko Broke Up The Beatles: Obama is SO dirty!
@HiPwr: I think the sales tax increase (10+%) and all the increases in fees may actually put Emperor Daley as risk.
@HiPwr:
Our governor sold some of our roads to a private company that gave him illegal campaign contributions and I refuse to drive on those toll roads. I also tell everyone who complains about the toll fee that our wonderful governor sold them and we won’t see them as a non toll for 100 more years. That is the way I boycott since I would never destroy property.
@HiPwr: Obviously this guy is not from Chicago.
Yeah, right… vote Daley out of office… ha ha ha
@elaineous: Yeah that made me laugh too
@HiPwr: Politics isn’t all town hall meetings and referendums. Sometimes politics is played for keeps.
Destruction of property is hardball, but it’s a legitimate means of public protest of government failure and sometimes the only way to get the attention of bureaucrats. The Founding Fathers dumped privately-owned tea into Boston Harbor as a means of showing they meant business and that the next step would be rioting.
If there is a serious mayoral contender in Chicago, that person should POUND the parking meter situation for the next election.
I doubt that will help though. Daley could declare himself King of Chicago, secede from the nation, and attack Milwaukee, and no one would be surprised.
@exploded: Chicago has already sued Milwaukee over it’s alleged pollution of Lake Michigan.
@HarcourtArmstrong:
I’m talking about a full on assault by land, sea, and air. The Glorious Chicago People’s Army (formerly known as the Chicago Police) would be a force to be reckoned with.
@YourTechSupport: So did anyone ever figure out what that website was about? I don’t really have the patience for ARGs.
@exploded: “The Glorious Chicago People’s Army (formerly known as the Chicago Police) would be a force to be reckoned with.”
Against the ravenous pack animals that are the Milwaukee Police? Frank Jude would like a word with you.
@716: Watch the video. It’s friggin hilarious.
@smackswell: I watched the video before, and all I learned is that the Godseed is buried under the Canning District(?) or something. Aren’t ARGs supposed to promote something once you dig deep enough? Am I supposed to buy more Pabst Blue Ribbon now? I don’t get it.
@716: Never buy PBR. It’s not a Milwaukee beer anymore. Even Miller is owned by SAB. I try to stick to local microbreweries just to keep money in town.
But regarding the video, none of it was filmed in Milwaukee. None of the references, (the canning district, substituting vermouth for tequila, the art and culture portion,) even resemble the city. It’s the absurdity of how messed up and backwards it makes Milwaukee seem that gives the clip a charming feel. Cuz in it’s own way, Milwaukee is that absurd place. Part of the reason I love the place.
While the whole ARG aspect is off putting, the video as a standalone device is hilarious to me. It’s so inacurate, but it feels so right.
@exploded: Unless The Flatlanders Army of Chi Town is bringing quality music acts and upscale shopping districts with them, I shall fight to the death.
@HarcourtArmstrong: The pollution was/is very real. Chicago was in the right to sue.
(I say this as a person who was born in Chicago, Grew up in Milwaukee, and has large amounts of family in both places)
@exploded: I’ve never liked Milwaukee and they’d never see it coming. I’ll support that invasion.
@ARP: Careful. Milwaukee will eff you up.
http://www.thisismymilwaukee.com/
@ARP: Milwaukee is actually pronounced “mill-e-wah-que” which is Algonquin for “the good land.”
@redkamel: I was not aware of that.
@nursetim: I learned that little nugget from Alice Cooper back in ’94.
@redkamel: Nice reference.
Isn’t Chicago Algonquin for “skunk swamp” or something?
@exploded:
I, for one, welcome our new Chicago overlords.
@exploded: oh, you mean like how the cubs have ‘wrigley north’ up in milwaukee?
@exploded: I’d be all for an invasion of Milwaukee. That city sucks. We could swipe their beer factory and call it a day.
The Boston Tea Party was vandalism.
@IphtashuFitz: No, it was “terrorism.”
@iphtashufitz: Complete fail. Please learn the difference between sabotage and terrorism.
@Randy Treibel: Direct action. Look it up, everyone will get educated, no more people throwing around incorrect terminology.
@PGibbons: The Boston Tea Party wasn’t designed to make innocent people fear for their lives as a means of blackmailing their leaders.
Somewhere Obama weeps for his city…
@joe.glass:
Hardly.
More like laughing all the way to the (nationalized) bank.
@edebaby: We wish. Rather than throwing good money after the “wrecking crew” baddies who created this mess.
@joe.glass: He’s too busy insulting all mentally handicap people right now.
Man, Chicagoans are a bunch of wusses…when I lived in Berkeley, people beheaded about half the meters in town.
@Nathan Yost:
Isn’t that rather hard to do? I don’t think a Baseball bat would work
@hypochondriac:
You’d probably use something like this:
[images.lowes.com]
@Nathan Yost: sure, berkeley: the home of all things badass. don’t believe you for a second, hippy facebooker.
@Nathan Yost: So someone avoided 3 cops and beheaded 12 meters? Impressive.
Can’t say I feel too bad for the company that is taking care of these meters. More power to the citizens of Chicago for taking a stand against these prices.
@Sunflower1970: I think its a bit unfortunate that the parking meter company is experiencing the brunt of frustration from Chicago residents who are fed up with all the fees and tax increases. We should be turning our attention against Daley who’s been fleecing us just to get the Olympics where’s we won’t make back a fraction of the money we’d spend on the event.
@ARP: From what I can tell (and that’s just from the articles on consumerist so I could come off as a complete idiot) but the company raised the prices independently of the city. The city of Chicago no longer has any say in the pricing. This sounds like the case of the predatory tow trucks where the city just sold a municipal function to the scummiest bidder.
@Coyote: Lincoln Park Pirates Redux!
@PGibbons: Damn it, you beat me to the reference! Man I love that song.
@Coyote: Nah, the prices raises were a political pump. The company pays large profits to the city of Chicago, which benefits from raising prices… they hand it over to a quasae-private company to absorb the abuse and reduce accountability. Massachusetts does the same thing with the Mass Turnpike Authority, who controls tolls.
@Coyote: 1972 Steve Goodman Song: “The Lincoln Park Pirates”:
[lyricsplayground.com]
[en.wikipedia.org]
@ARP: You know Blago is kicking himself for not getting his cut of this either.
Boston has its Tea Party.
Can Chicago have a Parking Meter Party–toss ‘em all into the river! I can has!?
“I hope they catch one of these vandals and throw the book at him. Destruction of private property isn’t a reasonable response to anything”
Actually it does solve something- it makes it cost ineffective to gouge the public in their little monopoly arrangement with the city.
@JGKojak: You got a point. Perhaps I’ll start torching county buildings until they realize that it’s more cost-effective to lower my property taxes than rebuild their buildings.
@JGKojak: “it makes it cost ineffective to gouge the public in their little monopoly arrangement with the city”
Wait, I didn’t know we were talking about Comcast again???
I wouldn’t personally deface the meters myself, but I sure as hell won’t shed any tears for LAZ.
Sometimes, living in Maine looks really good. Especially the free 2 hour parking.
Now, if I could only have high speed internet at home…
25 cents for 15 minutes? Quiet down, Chicago. That is what I have to pay here in Lansing, MI. I hate it, but I am not spray painting the meters (no matter how much I would like to)
@Yankees368: Downtown Lansing or residential Lansing. Are they the same? What if you had to pay $1.00/hr to park in the street in front of the house? That fee is for residential. Downtown is much more expensive.
@ARP: I don’t think there are meters in any residential areas intended for the residents. Would you like to go out every two hours to feed the meter where you lived? No the meters are in front of businesses. Yes there are tenants often above the businesses but depending on where you are there is either unmetered street parking a block or so away, street permit parking a block or so away, or none so you need to lease a space in a garage. There are areas, the gold coast for example, where every street corner has a business and condos and apartments are the rest. The meters are intended for the businesses on the corner.
@Yankees368: that’s $1/hr in areas where it was once 25 cents per hour. the downtown area is now $3.50/hr, scheduled to be $6.50/hr in a few years with the planned increases.
It has to start somewhere
It has to start sometime
What better place than here
What better time than now
All hell cant stop us now
While I can’t fully condone the destruction, it’s nice to see Chicagoans finally standing up and giving their government (and its subcontractors) the what-for.
The city government has been screwing its residents for years, favoring the support of various irrelevant social causes to keep up with the NYC and West Coast Joneses.
I sure hope the meters aren’t insured by AIG.
All of this could be solved if they just got rid of the meters and installed boxes that accept dollar bills and credit cards.
@Gene Gemperline: and what exactly would be solved? the rates would still be high at $3.50/hr downtown and scheduled to hit $6+/hr in a few years.
@Gene Gemperline: Wouldn’t people deface the newfangled boxes too, or am I missing the point?
@parkavery: @stre: You’re right – the rates would still be higher, but people wouldn’t have to carry around so many quarters. I know many people (myself included) that are more irritated that they have to shell out a ridiculous amount of quarters to park anywhere. Higher fares have always (at least in my opinion) been an inevitability. And it’s probably the best way to fix our city’s budget deficit. I just don’t agree with the abrupt way they’ve carried out the transition.
or just do that
@perfectoon_0901: They don’t make jails like they used to… The jails in this movie are much better!
@perfectoon_0901:
RIP, Reg Dunlop.
/cries.
Intense. I love Chicago.
If you don’t destroy those meters the terrorists win.
Asking for quarters only at these prices is absolutely ridiculous.
I park in a municipal lot for the LIRR. It costs a quarter per hour. Most people who park there, park for 12 hours. So every day, you have to make sure you have 12 quarters. It is a pain in the ass. You have to get rolls of quarters, since you can’t pay with bills. It used to be a quarter for two hours, which is reasonable considering the distance the lot actually is from the train.
Also, there are only two meters for the whole lot. SO you have to remember your spot number, and then, since most people are following the train schedule, you have to wait on line. If you are in a rush to make the train, you can easily forget your spot number by the time you get to the front of the line.
It is just very inconvenient, amd the price hike really pissed people off. As a result, the meters were vandalized several times. I would never vandalize anything, but I can’t say that I don’t understand why someone would.
Sometimes you have to break the rules to make a statement that you don’t like something and you won’t simply tolerate it.
In this case, the only thing getting harmed are the parking meters, which are the direct source of the frustration, so I’m all about it.
If vandals were keying cars for parking at the meters and supporting the system, that’d be a different story.
As it is, it’s a prime act of civil disobedience.
Isn’t this how “Cool Hand Luke” got started…
@mbd: I was thinking the same thing. “What he have here is a failure to communicate…”
I don’t use the word “heroic” very often, but if vandalizing public property because one feels entitled to cheap parking doesn’t qualify, well, I’ll eat my shoe with a side of dog squeeze.
@zibby: It’s not public property, it’s private property.
Which doesn’t invalidate your point; just pointing it out.
Yet another perfect example of how “Privatization” of public resources and need (parking enforcement) works out. Government doesn’t need to make a profit – but companies like “LAZ” sure do. Instead of the City just upping the price themselves (if that was the intent), they give away the store to a private, unaccountable company that is free to screw the citizens and steal our commonwealth.
Yet another warning we need to kill off the private insurance cabal and finally institute single-payer health coverage ASAP. It’s a falsehood that private industry is “less expensive” than just having the general public (via government) do it – UNLESS that government has been allowed to become corrupt from private industry.
Daley’s from the “New Democrat” school, and is willing to sell off Chicago’s assets to the highest contributor.
How did anything like this get approved?
Want to take a stand against parking meters? Here’s a completely legal way to do it. There was one guy in Montreal who went around the streets that had parking meters and checked if any cars were in infraction or meters about to expire and fed the machines quarters preventing the city from collecting any parking tickets. Parking tickets are as valuable to collect funds as the meters themselves, if not more so. People who caught the guy saving their butts from getting a ticket gave the man at least the money he spent others gave more.
@fluf: Believe it or not, that’s actually illegal (!) many places. Hmm, I wonder why? [www.google.com]
@fluf: Spray painting them is easier and faster. And doesn’t involve giving them money.
@fluf: It’s quite amazing how it’s illegal to feed a parking meter for other people. It prevents by threat people from being nice to other people in that manner. It’s quite sickening. I didn’t know it was legal anywhere to do that. Where are you referring?
@Gokuhouse: Most cities have such an ordinance. If they don’t, they pass one as soon as someone starts feeding meters in protest.
Portland, OR has such an ordinance, if you want an example.
I’m surprised to read that not being able to see the meter or read a missing sticker is a legal defense. Years ago I parked in my home town, and when I got out to put money in the meter, I saw that it was broken & wouldn’t accept any coins. I went about my business, and I came back just as the meter maid was about to place a ticket on my car. I asked her what she was doing, and she said my time expired. I pointed out to her that the meter was broken and that there was no time TO expire. She proceeded to tell me that as soon as I saw the meter was broken, I should have driven on and found another spot!
She finally tore up the ticket, but she wasn’t very happy about it.
@redskull:
Thankfully Philadelphia states right on the meter that if it’s defective to refer to the posted time.
@redskull: It boggles my mind how they can make it illegal to use a spot because a meter is broken. People shouldn’t have to lose available parking because the meters suck or aren’t fixed quickly.
@redskull: It probably varies by location.
I always thought that in Chicago a broken meter meant you didn’t have to pay it, but only because I never got a ticket when I was at a broken one, which only happened a few times.
@redskull: FYI. Just found this quote
“Motorists should be able to park without being ticketed at a meter that says “FAIL,” according to city officials.”
on a Chicago Tribune story about the new meters at
[www.chicagotribune.com]
The pennies I have been collecting in a 5 gallon water jug finally have a purpose now.
This is the greatest thing I’ve read all day! GO GO GO!
I really hope these vandals get caught, and the fine far outweighs what they could have simply paid for a CTA pass.
@JosephFinn: As if the CTA is a real solution to the city’s transportation problems.
Mark my words: the mismanagement, inefficiency, unreliability and general awfulness of the CTA in all of its forms will be among the top reasons that Chicago doesn’t get the Olympics for 2016.
@MMD: @MMD: @MMD: @DillonSketch: There are no rush hour fares in Chicago. Train fares are always 2.25. Nice try, though.
@MMD:
“General awfulness?” Listen, I’m not saying the CTA is perfect, but for a relatively cheap flat rate you can get to within half a mile of anywhere in the city. You try doing that with 100% efficiency.
This is beginning to sound like people who complain about that 1 package in a million that gets mis-delivered by the USPS.
@JosephFinn: Oh, and I can also tell you that the USPS lost about 1 in 3 of my packages before I wised up and started having stuff shipped to work to keep it from going through my local post office. So there goes that logic, too.
@JosephFinn: They just raised the fare to get on a train by over 25% during rush hour this year. They are next…
@JosephFinn: You must not live on the south side. Move to the south side, then tell me how much you like the CTA.
@MMD: I already live on the south side and take the CTA every day and have no desire to own a car. You had a point, didn’t you?
@Red_Flag: Good for you. Talk to me when you get a new job that would require 5 buses and 3 hours each way to commute to and then tell me you don’t need a car. My point, which you would have understood if you would deign to look past the six inches in front of your face, is that your experience is not everyone’s experience. I’ll concede that the CTA serves select segments of the population. The rest of us need cars.
@MMD: No, you said, “Move to the south side, then tell me how much you like the CTA.” I fit the requirement and don’t need a car. I may be a part of a “select segment” or I may be the norm. In any case, your assertion that merely living on the south side makes daily travel via CTA impossible is wrong. It may not work for you, and if you need or want a car, knock yourself out. I’ll stick with my monthly pass, thank you very much.
@MMD: He’s a jobber for the CTA. I wouldn’t doubt if he works for them.
His presumption is that everyone lives withing a few short blocks of an L station, has a bus stop right outside their front door, and/or goes to work in a place that is conveniently located within a short walk to the various forms of CTA. What he fails to understand is that some people work hours other than 9-5 and sometimes waiting 20-30 minutes for a bus or train to show up isn’t the safest thing to do.
In his experience, it’s an anomaly if trains and buses run late and you’ll hardly ever have to put up with panhandlers and belligerent drunks while on the trains. I presume he lives somewhere off the brown line.
In my case (and that of many others), I take the CTA to work and transit time is roughly 35-40 minutes – 15 of which is spent on the Belmont platform waithing to transfer trains. If I drove to work, which I don’t because of the ridiculously expensive parking rates, I could make the drive in 12 minutes.
@Clevelander: So your transit time is still well below the Chicago average, and you pollute less, and your commute is cheaper. I’m sorry, what was the complaint again?
And no, I don’t work for the CTA. Unlike most of the Internet, I’m not afraid to use my real name when stating my opinions, and you can feel free to check with the CTA to confirm that.
When the parking rates got too high in Toronto, I just started taking the subway instead. Faster and cheaper, once you take into account the traffic congestion and the parking rates.
That being said, it seems like the complaint in Chicago is both the price of parking, and the bag of quarters you have to haul around.
Yeah, plastic is an option, but I hate to use plastic unless absolutely necessary. The real robbery would be the service fees for paying for an hour of parking with your bank card.
Maybe this is one of the reasons why your government floats the idea of dollar coins every now and then. Trust, me, they’re not so bad; and they sure make meter money easier to carry.
This town is slowly being run into the ground…like Detroit. We need a new mayor…
I cant agree with breaking the law and destroying property. If you dont agree with the price, dont use the service, it is that simple. If a store is too expensive, you dont destroy it, you just dont shop there. I cant believe the consumerist is condoning this type of behavior.
Oh, and where I live, $1/hr is pretty common… and in many places, you arent even allow to park for more than an hour so its a non issue.
@xtc46: They (consumerist) are reporting a story, not condoning behavior.
@xtc46: Sabotage is a form of rebellion.
1. Destruction of property or obstruction of normal operations, as by civilians or enemy agents in time of war.
2. Treacherous action to defeat or hinder a cause or an endeavor; deliberate subversion.
“subversion”. Sabotage is an effective and rational response.
Filling the meters with pennies is such a great idea. Cities and towns near Boston bumped up their meters but not by much, if this happened around me, I’d fill up nearly every meter on the block with pennies… spend $10, 1,000 pennies and just pack them in on Saturdays and Sundays. What cop will stop you, you look like you’re just paying the meter… and it’s legal tender, so by what right can they decide what American coinage they take?
Wouldn’t it be great if a side loading Garbage truck came down the street (The kind that pick up and empty garbage CANS automatically) and yank each of the signs out of the ground for the entire block. City owned would be WONDERFUL if you guys have them! I doubt anyone would notice a thing! (substitute back-hoe, forklift, etc…
Not that I want to give anyone any ideas or anything.
Idiots.
Why weren’t they tossing molotov cocktails at the local Shell stations when gas was four bucks a gallon?
@vliam: because it makes sense that gas would go up if the supply goes down, but not that parking meter rates are aribtrarily raised when all they need is enforced limits or wait for people to realize how bad the parking is?
@vliam: Because gas went up everywhere and this caused by actual economic forces. It didn’t go up because of a backroom deal which has resulted in a monopolistic power working to actively screwing people over.