City street sweeping and parking restrictions (Bellevue: house, buying, tax)

[Quiet-T]

I was looking at house in Squirrel Hill recently that has only on street parking.
Since I am often home during the day, the street sweeping parking restrictions are of interest to me.

The thing that makes this particular street somewhat unusual is that the opposite side of the street is rather narrow and is marked as No Parking any time. So simply parking on the other side of the street would not be an option.

How hard do you think it would be to try to convince someone in the relevant City department to remove that section of the block from regular street cleaning in the interest of making parking more reasonable?
And who might that person be?

[RedBall]

It would be easier to alter the orbit of the earth around the sun.

[ferraris]

I doubt you can get it changed easily, if at all. I don't consider it to be that large of an inconvenience though. Once a month for 8 months a year I think it is? Inconvenient on those 8 days, but it shouldn't weigh very heavily on your home buying decision.

[Goinback2011]

In Bellevue, they do street sweeping every week. I burn gas to move my car twice per week. Totally ridiculous and a benefit to one person only: the street sweeper.

I suspect it dates from the days when there was horse poop on the streets and survives because some municipal workers want it to.

[steeltowngirl]

Originally Posted by Goinback2011

In Bellevue, they do street sweeping every week. I burn gas to move my car twice per week. Totally ridiculous and a benefit to one person only: the street sweeper.

Good to know! We're moving into Bellevue from the North Side, where we have street sweeping once a month and both of us got tickets last month for forgetting. We'll set alarms when we move!

[ditchdigger]

Originally Posted by Goinback2011

In Bellevue, they do street sweeping every week. I burn gas to move my car twice per week. Totally ridiculous and a benefit to one person only: the street sweeper.

I suspect it dates from the days when there was horse poop on the streets and survives because some municipal workers want it to.

That post was supposed to be a joke, right?

I mean, do you really have an issue with the amount of gas it takes to move your car from one side of the street to the other? Moreover, do you really think, in this austere day and age, that the guy who operates the street sweeper dictates to the council and Mayor how often he'll sweep the streets?

Now, if you want to suggest that maybe the powers that be figure on the resultant parking tickets as a source of revenue...

[Goinback2011]

Let's see. I start my car, I drive around the block because I have to park on a fairly busy street.

Am I the only person living in Bellevue? That would be a 'no'. Am I the only person parking on the street? That would be no. How many people are moving their cars on Tuesday and Wednesday nights so some idiot municipal worker can pretend that the streets need to be swept? My guess is, a minimum of 500-1000 people are doing this twice per week.

I've never actually seen a ticket for this, though I'm sure they're given occasionally.

It's a stupid law that benefits one person and results in wastage of gas.

The good news is - I'm moving out of Bellevue on Thursday. The street sweeping ordinance is one reason I'd never buy a home in Bellevue. I'm sure I'm not the only person who feels like this. So....how would that affect tax revenues?

[ditchdigger]

I start my car, I drive around the block because I have to park on a fairly busy street.

I drive a big, thirsty pickup truck, because it's what I need for work. It gets 10 mpg. If it was a whole mile to go around your block, I could do it for 35 or 40 cents.

...so some idiot municipal worker can pretend that the streets need to be swept?

And again, do you really think, in this austere day and age, that the guy who operates the street sweeper dictates to the council and Mayor how often he'll sweep the streets? It's kind of a "yes or no" question...

[Tirade]

Originally Posted by RedBall

It would be easier to alter the orbit of the earth around the sun.

Done in one.

As someone who spent years swapping parking spaces back when street cleaning was TWICE a month, I have no sympathy. It takes less than five minutes to move the car and burns very little gas. It's more than worth it to not have to deal with broken glass and other hazardous junk piling up in the street.

EDIT: I should also mention that if you have the attitude of "I don't like this, therefore the city should do what I say," then city living is probably not for you. The only place that ****'s going to fly is in a development with a HOA.

[Quiet-T]

Originally Posted by Tirade

It takes less than five minutes to move the car and burns very little gas. It's more than worth it to not have to deal with broken glass and other hazardous junk piling up in the street.

EDIT: I should also mention that if you have the attitude of "I don't like this, therefore the city should do what I say," then city living is probably not for you. The only place that ****'s going to fly is in a development with a HOA.

I'm not totally against street sweeping...
Although I do tend to agree that it is mostly a revenue generating scheme. Apparently the city is considering using automated cameras for street cleaning enforcement so that the parking enforcement cars don't have to follow around the sweeper trucks to issue tickets...

The situation at this particular location caught my eye because it is not obvious to me where one would park during the restricted time period, since there is no parking on the opposite side of the street.